Hurricane Fiona Hits Puerto Rico: The State of the Storm & Ways to Help
On Monday, September 19th, Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico and other islands in the surrounding area. This is not the first hurricane to hit the island. Five years ago, Hurricane Maria washed Puerto Rico causing 3,000 deaths, and destroyed the power grid in 2017. The island has not since recovered, resulting in having very little means to build back from Maria. The result of Hurricane Fiona will lead to an immense amount of hardship for the island to rebuild.
Source: APNews
Hurricane Fiona
Hurricane Fiona has been reported to be a Category 3 hurricane or greater. President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency, calling the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts for residents. The storm began in Turk and Caicos and then traveled to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The storm has stripped pavements from roads, torn off roofs of homes, and massive floods. Hurricane Fiona has left 2,300 people in shelters throughout the island. The storm is still expected to rain up to 15 inches causing an increase in floods and power outages.
The Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi has provided an unclear statement in which the electricity will be fully restored; all he has stated is it is “a question of days.”
The National Weather Service has also made multiple announcements for residents to “MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!” Ernesto Morales, a weather service meteorologist in San Juan, says, “It’s important people understand that this is not over.” He goes on to say that flooding is reaching ‘historic levels’ and encourages people to evacuate. There are reports of hundreds of people being rescued across Puerto Rico.
In addition to the power shortage, water services were cut for more than 837,000 customers, which is two-thirds of the total population. Authorities are patrolling flooded streets in boats using a megaphone to alert people that water pumps have collapsed and urging them to evacuate.
Source: APNews
Ways to Help
Brigada Solidaria del Oeste is the Puerto Rican mutual aid group. They are asking for donations of emergency essentials, including first-aid kits, water filters, solar lamps, and water purification tablets. They are also accepting monetary donations as a form of support.
Global Giving is a non-profit that has launched the “Hurricane Fiona Relief Fund”. Their goal is to raise $1 million to help residents across the Caribbean. The donations raised will be used to provide food, shelter, fuel, clean water, and hygiene products to the residents of these islands.
Hispanic Federation is another non-profit organization that provides support to Hispanic communities experiencing natural disasters. They are already in Puerto Rico and helped provide emergency relief services and essential supplies to communities across the island. The organization has stated, “Because Puerto Rico is still rebuilding from the damage of Maria, the flooding and power outages caused by Fiona are already far more severe and life-threatening than they should be.”
Another way to help Puerto Rico during this time of natural disaster is to advocate for more press coverage and Government support. The island is in a vulnerable state of emergency and as a territory of the United States, they need our aid.
The state of Puerto Rico is still to be determined with the state of the storm not being over. You can follow live updates on Hurricane Fiona provided by the New York Times here.