It is a feeling I am still getting used to, the one that comes with waking up to another category 4 hurricane ravaging Puerto Rico less than two weeks after Irma, rendering my homeland unrecognizable overnight. Maria has since lodged itself in my bones, refusing to leave. Every day I build more space for it as its slow devastation continues.
Be Part of the Solution
Become a Citizen member.Although the storm made landfall 27 days ago, its aftermath has no foreseeable ending. Puerto Ricans are suffering, hungry, sick, and dying. The official death count is at around 45, but some credible news outlets are saying the actual toll could be over 450. Around 87 percent of Puerto Rico is without power, and restoring electricity to the 3.6 million islanders will take months. While 65 percent of hospitals have been re-energized, they are connected to an unstable grid; all 69 are suffering medicine and supply shortages. More than 35 percent of homes have no potable water. FEMA reports a daily deficit of 1.8 million to 5.8 million meals for the over 2 million with uncertain food security. Only 25 percent of cellphone towers survived the storm, and almost half of the island still lacks coverage. Over 4,000 refugees still have nowhere to go.
My immediate family is safe at home, but dozens of friends and family members have scattered. This story is not unique. Since October 3rd, Florida alone has received over 10,000 Puerto Ricans. Everybody has a parent, a child, a sibling, a cousin, or a friend who has left. Many will never return. El Yunque, our national rainforest, is broken and brown. Its once lush peaks may take over a century to recover their full foliage. We are people who love our land, and the land has been destroyed.
Puerto Ricans around the world are working together to coordinate hurricane relief efforts. Home to over 135,000 of us, Philadelphia holds a unique position, as well as a responsibility, to create a new future for Puerto Rico.
It’s a new and uncharted Puerto Rico after Maria. From the island and from the diaspora, we are learning how to navigate this emerging reality—which includes a bureaucratic and inadequate government response that has exposed the systemic inequalities that plague the U.S. territory on a local and national scale.
In light of this, citizen action and grassroots organizing are key to helping Puerto Rico get back on its feet. Puerto Ricans on the island and around the world are working together to coordinate hurricane relief efforts. Home to over 135,000 of us, Philadelphia holds a unique position, as well as a responsibility, to create a new future for Puerto Rico. The city has already been a host to a slew of post-Maria aid initiatives, and there are many opportunities to get involved. Here are some ways to get started.