Five years after the federal government failed to respond to Puerto Rico’s catastrophic Hurricane Maria, the U.S. agency tasked with responding to major disasters is under pressure again after Hurricane Fiona this week destroyed the territory’s infrastructure, flooded communities and left the island without electricity.
As the slow-moving storm headed north after a punishing push across the island, top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials issued repeated promises: This won’t be the last time. They insisted that FEMA was far better prepared for Fiona than it was in 2017, when Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, plunging the island into one of the largest blackouts in US history and claiming thousands of lives. In a post-action report, the agency acknowledged systemic failures during the humanitarian crisis.
“We’re in a much better position today than we were before Maria,” Keith Turrie, FEMA’s assistant administrator for recovery, said in an interview.
Early Tuesday, rain in Puerto Rico eased as the storm began pounding the Turks and Caicos and threatened Bermuda with winds that strengthened, making it a Category 3 hurricane. But even as Fiona moves on, it leaves a frightening path to recovery in Puerto Rico. Torrential rains will also continue in some parts of the archipelago, worsening already dire flooding and further complicating the response. Officials said at least four people had died there, but warned that the death toll could rise once emergency workers were able to assess the full extent of the damage.
Residents still struggling to rebuild after Maria will be watching the recovery process closely in the coming weeks and months, many skeptical about the government’s ability to help, with billions of dollars in promised federal relief funds still unpaid half a decade after – late. On Sunday, President Biden issued an emergency disaster declaration, and Puerto Rico officials on Tuesday said they expected Biden to upgrade it to a major disaster declaration, which would unlock more federal resources for response and recovery.
“Biden has promised to give quick attention to our request,” said Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi. The damage was “catastrophic”, he added, especially in southern and central areas.
“The devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona has been devastating for many people,” Pierluisi said.
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico 5 years ago. The recovery had in many ways just begun.
FEMA chief Dean Criswell traveled to the Big Island on Tuesday to assess the impact, and she said the agency plans to send hundreds of additional personnel to help with the recovery. “Our partnership with the government of Puerto Rico has never been stronger,” she said in a statement.
Criswell said her agency’s top priorities are saving lives and restoring power. Federal resources will be key to both ends, especially when it comes to maintaining the island’s patchwork electrical grid, which was completely knocked out when Fiona made landfall over the weekend.
By Tuesday afternoon, power had been restored to nearly 1 in 5 homes and businesses in Puerto Rico, according to Luma Energy, the private company that manages the island’s power transmission. About 1.2 million customers were still without power, relying on generators or left in the dark.
In any emergency response, power restoration is key, said W. Craig Fugate, FEMA administrator during the Obama administration. Once electricity comes back online, localities have a much easier time meeting the needs of the community. Concentrated flooding after Fiona could make roads and other areas inaccessible to utility workers, delaying recovery, he said.
About 20 percent of power restored at this point is “a good sign,” Fugate said, but the process could drag on as crews move across the island.
“In general, recovery proceeds quickly for areas of limited damage and then slows as repairs become more complex in hard-hit areas,” he said.
It’s still too early to gauge the intergovernmental response to Fiona, Fugate said, but FEMA appears well prepared. Fugate recalled visiting an agency warehouse in Puerto Rico during his tenure that did not include the Maria response and finding the shelves inside “barren.” The team there had stocked up based on what they needed during previous responses, but Fugate said FEMA needed to be prepared for the “worst case scenario” on the island.
The agency’s post-Maria report acknowledged that FEMA is suffering from a critical shortage of relief supplies that were taxed during the response to an earlier Hurricane Irma, which passed near the island shortly before Maria hit. Officials also struggled with logistical problems and staff shortages. One year later, Puerto Ricans rated the response as a failure at every level of government.
But FEMA officials say they have learned from the experience and increased their preparations.
“We have 10 times more food and water and three times more generators on the island today than before Maria,” said Turi, the agency’s assistant administrator for recovery.
About 700 FEMA employees are based in Puerto Rico to help with Maria’s recovery efforts, he said, and they can help with Fiona’s response if needed.
Although the extent of the damage is still being assessed, early reports indicate that the southern part of the big island and its central mountainous regions suffered the worst damage, with flash floods and mudslides. Much of the territory received more than 20 inches of rain, with several pockets recording more than 25 inches. The intense rain caused rivers and canals to overflow, washing away bridges, such as the one over the Guaonica River in Utuado, a town in the central highlands.
In the Ponce area, the hurricane dumped more than 32 inches of rain. Expected rainfall in the coming days could also push rainfall totals in other areas up to 30 inches. And to the southwest, the Guanajibo River near the town of Ormigueros topped 29 feet, well above the major flood threshold and higher than its previous record level of just over 28½ feet set during Maria.
“What Hurricane Maria brought was wind, a lot of wind — as opposed to the one that brought too much water,” said Eric García Flores, a member of a rescue team in Caguas, a mountain municipality that suffered extensive damage.
FEMA officials said they could not yet assess the extent of the economic impact on the island, but stories of losses emerged from several towns.
In Yauco’s Susua Baja neighborhood, Radames Ramirez and Kaylee Sanchez’s house survived Hurricanes George and Maria. But not Fiona.
The couple, their daughter and pets had to leave the property, located about 60 miles southwest of San Juan, on Saturday after part of their wooden and zinc-coated roof collapsed, they told Primera Hora newspaper.
When the couple returned Monday morning to assess the damage, there wasn’t much left. The floor was flooded and water seeped through the walls. The couch, a recent gift, was so waterlogged that they had to throw it away.
“It wasn’t a castle, but it was my home and it made me feel happy,” Ramirez said in an interview with the outlet.
In the central town of Sidra, Gabriela Colón Arzola described a harrowing escape from her flooded home with her two children. Water was rising in the house, threatening to trap them, she said in a video posted by el Nuevo Día.
When she finally opened the door, she saw her car covered in water and washing machines floating down the street. The three climbed to the top of a nearby hill and found shelter in a neighbor’s house.
On Tuesday, Colon Arzola told the newspaper that she returned to her home to assess the damage. All she managed to save was her baby’s crib.
“I have no diapers, I have no clothes, I have nothing,” the woman said. “I’m starting from scratch.”
Juan S. Dávila in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and Arelis R. Hernández and Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
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