How Puerto Ricans are coping in the wake of Hurricane Fiona

Geoff Bennett:

People in Puerto Rico continue to struggle in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. Power outages are widespread, flooding washed out roads and toppled homes and residents are frustrated and scared. We heard from people on different sides of the island about how they're coping.

On the southwest side of the islands, banana trees snapped in half, a mangrove forest near Joyuda where Janette Ramos Garcia lives with her granddaughter, Italia, couldn't absorb water fast enough to protect the area from flooding.

Janette Ramos Garcia (through translator):

When the water came in, it had nowhere to go. So, it built up in this area to the point where the water here could easily have been four feet, running into the neighborhood and out onto the road, a road that had never been flooded in its life, this time it did flood. It is very sad to see hardworking people who've lost their homes, who've lost their belongings. They tell me that no one from the government has come to give them any kind of help, and it's been several days.

Geoff Bennett:

Luis Perez Binet lost nearly everything. He had to evacuate two of his children in the middle of the night as rain from the storm took over his house.

Luis Perez Binet (through translator):

I got water in my house and everything was damaged everything, the fridge all of the furniture, it damaged everything. That's musical equipment. That's a dance floor which all of it was filled with at least two feet of water, at least, all these containers at the bottom, all of these were destroyed. And here we are trying to do everything that you can do and trying to save everything that I can.

Geoff Bennett:

Loiza is a community on the northeast coast of the island known for its rich Afro Puerto Rican heritage. Until today it wasn't eligible for individual disaster aid from FEMA.

Tania Rosario Mendez, Executive Director, Taller Salud:

We are in the sixth and the water has not come down yet. So, we have communities three, four feet of water right now, with dead animals, with — you know so, water that is septic already so it can't be pumped out. It's just a huge mess.

Geoff Bennett:

Tania Rosario Mendez runs a nonprofit focused on health inequities. Her team of volunteers was hard at work putting together care packages of food for residents that she says are desperately needed.

Tania Rosario Mendez:

Our governor saying that supplies were enough and that asking our diaspora to not bring supplies because it represents the logistical problem while we have communities under water, like those kinds of just plain cruelty in how you treat the emergency and just lack of sensitivity from elected officials.

Geoff Bennett:

For more on the ground in Puerto Rico, I'm joined by Danica Coto. She's the Caribbean Correspondent for The Associated Press, who has been covering Fiona and the islands recovery. Thanks for being with us.

Danica Coto, Correspondent, Associated Press:

Thank you for having me.

Geoff Bennett:

And more than half of Puerto Rico is still without power more than five days after Fiona struck. What are you seeing on the ground there, on the island?

Danica Coto:

Immense frustration, I mean, people you know, have already been through Hurricane Maria. And after that storm people — some people were up to a year without power. And this time, they were not expecting that. I mean, Fiona what — what did they was dropped historic amounts of rain, but the winds weren't the problem. So, no one expected, you know, to be without power five days, almost six days after the storm. And in addition to that, it's more than 290,000 clients without water. So, you can imagine more than five days after the storm, no power, no water, long lines for diesel, long lines for gasoline, for water for food, and some people feel like they're reliving Maria, you know, in some way.

Geoff Bennett:

Puerto Rico's electrical grid was taken over by a private company called LUMA last year, but they as I understand it haven't been clear about the status of what's happening. Based on your reporting, give us a sense of what's going on?

Danica Coto:

Well, it's hard to say. I spoke with an expert yesterday who said he's an electrical engineering expert and a professor and he said he doesn't understand what the delay is, why there's not, you know, more power restored several days after the storm and a lot of people are feeling that frustration when you go to press conferences, you know, it feels like they're evading the questions. They're not answering them directly, we have not been given any details about the extent of the damage or what exactly has been damaged. You know, there's sort of up and down, you know, one day they announced — for two days, they actually announced that a vast majority of people would have power. And the first thing people, you know, hoping that that would happen, believe them by the second day, you know, that had tremendously annoyed people who realize that, you know, restoration of power was far off.

So, we don't have a clear sense of exactly what Fiona did and where it did it and why. We do know that the southern part of the island has been the hardest hit. And the central areas as well, but — and there's about 50,000 clients of LUMA, who lived there. So, the governor today said it will take "some time for power to be restored in those areas." But no one has given sort of more definite dates, except to say, it will not be months and it will not be yours.

Geoff Bennett:

What about the federal response? Because FEMA has said that they have more resources, they were better prepared to respond to Fiona than they were to Maria. And Maria, of course, was a more powerful storm. Why have there been so many issues with the federal response?

Danica Coto:

I think overall people have been satisfied for now, I mean, it still remains to be seen how quickly the island recovers, but FEMA early on sent hundreds of additional crews to Puerto Rico. And under the enormous administration, you know, with U.S. President Joe Biden, compared with President — former President Donald Trump with Maria, some people say that they have seen a faster response. The President did declare both an emergency disaster declaration and a major disaster declaration, which allows for more federal assistance.

There was some grumbling because when the major disaster declaration was declared, it did not cover several of the hardest hit municipalities. That has since changed, they've been added, you know, under that declaration, so hopefully, help will be coming in soon. And I know that some neighborhoods have already seen FEMA crews coming through and meeting with people and asking about the extent of damage to their homes.

Geoff Bennett:

As we wrap up our conversation here, I want to draw you out a bit more on the frustration that you say you're hearing from people, because it's not just Fiona, there was of course, Maria, there were earthquakes in 2020. The island has grappled with the pandemic. There is obviously a sense of frustration as you spoke to but there's also a sense of resilience, I would imagine.

Danica Coto:

There is, but I think Puerto Ricans are very tired of hearing that word. They don't want to be resilient. They just want to have, you know, working power grid. And you know, resilience was a word that was thrown around after Hurricane Maria, because they went through credibly tough times. And again, with Fiona, many people are going through a similar situation, but they don't want to be — they don't need to be resilient. They don't want to be resilient. What they want is a government that clearly tells them what the damage was, where it was, how long will it take to repair and more than anything, they were — there was sort of this general expectation of Puerto Rico is going to be bounced back faster from Fiona than Maria. And that sort of, you know, was a big letdown and big frustration. And more than anything, people are feeling that even after Fiona even after, you know, the recovery phase that nothing will change. And that remains to be seen, you know, on the 2024 elections, but many feel that it's just, you know, the same thing over and over with nothing changing as a result of, you know, lessons learned.

Geoff Bennett:

Yeah, it's a good point. People are tired of needing to be resilient what they wanted the resources that they deserve as taxpaying citizens. The Associated Press' Danica Coto, thanks so much for being with us.

Danica Coto:

Thank you.