Hurricanes Irma and María impacted Puerto Rico
on September 2017 and caused nearly complete
devastation to the Island. On September 6th, Hurricane
Irma, a category five storm, skirted the northern part
of the Island, causing significant flooding and leaving
more than 1 million people without electric power. Two
weeks later, on September 20th, Hurricane María, the
tenth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, passed
east-to-west across the whole Island. Hurricane María
left the entire Island without electricity, and it damaged
thousands of housing units, as well as telecommunication
towers, roads, bridges, schools, and 80% of the Island’s
crop value. Furthermore, Hurricane María impacted
the physical structure of all hospitals and health clinics,
affected 70% of Puerto Rico’s potable water treatment
and distribution system, and caused immense suffering
to all Puerto Ricans. The Government of Puerto Rico’s
damage assessment estimated that the Island would need
$94.4 billion to fully recover1.
