Effects of Hurricane in Puerto Rico

Last September Puerto Rico was hit with a devastating hurricane that left the country in a humanitarian and environmental crisis. Many residents fled the country and sought out shelter with family or independently in the United States or other safe countries. The remaining residents endured power outages for months, water contamination, homes they lived in destroyed, and a loss of self. A full circle year later and some residents are still experiencing power outages lasting one to two days, roofs are still off houses and graves for the 3,057-people deceased from the hurricane remain.

Puerto Rico was widely majority under the poverty line before the hurricane hit, and after the hurricane wreaked havoc on the area they faced some serious economic depression. Roads and businesses are beginning to recover but a statistic shows roughly 90% of a customer drop for businesses in the last year, this means that hardly and revenue is being brought into the local economy and that business owners aren’t going to recover.

This also means that consumers can’t contribute to the economy and will likely put a hold on the economy of the state for a long time.

Loss of necessities impacted the people of Puerto Rico. People went 84 days without power, 68 days without water, and 41 days without cell service, on average. Now with electricity and clean water the quality of life is still questionable. One report says that for months after water had been restored residents were told to boil their water to remove any bacteria or harmful particles, because the quality of clean water was low.

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Many homes were so severely damaged that there is no going back to them now. This left so many homeless or seeking shelter, or entirely dislocated from all normalcy in their lives.

Despite this tragedy there is still a chance for normally elsewhere for the people who were impacted by something they had no control over. People deserve to have access to schools and clean clothing and clean water and a place to sleep. It’s the role of other neighboring countries who can step in in these times of need and lend that hand and financial support as well. Last year while I was working at a different Publix location we got two new hires. Juan and Yessica, they had both come to the United States to live with family after the hurricane and were given the opportunity to continue education at TCC and FSU. These two were the hardest working individuals I have ever met. You name a job and they would not only do it but do it so proficiently that it was astounding, their work ethic was stellar. I believe that what these two and what many other refugees, if you will, work hard and do a good job and are welcome here. Because we have safe and clean and accessible education and basic human rights, they deserve to be in a situation where they can thrive and move up. Barely knowing English, they learned quickly, and they made such an effort. These two would send part of their paycheck back home to the family they had in Puerto Rico and they were living with family an hour away from work in a two-bedroom apartment with a family of 6.

By the time I had transitioned to the current store I am at now, Juan has since been able to move out into his own apartment with his sister and he was able to afford for his fiancé to come live with him in the united states as well. Their drive and work ethic and restoration even though they lived through what would be considered one of the worst and most devastating storms in all of history is inspiring. This is one success story but I’m sure there are hundreds like this and that there is hope for people who survived that storm. I wish to communicate that there is hope even when you have lost everything you can recover from a tragedy. The people of Puerto Rico are not forgotten or over looked, and I as well as many supporters welcome the idea of diversity and opportunity in the United States. Set forth on a path that is kind, compassionate and hardworking and you can conquer things you had only dreamed of.