Hurricane Maria Disaster Response Update

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HURRICANE MARIA DISASTER RESPONSE: 6-YEAR UPDATE Puerto Rico, U.S.A A Shelter from Future Storms Daniel (name changed) is one of many Puerto Ricans who lost his home during Hurricane Maria. As an elderly person with few resources, Daniel needed a place to live after the storm and pulled together a makeshift building of tin and wooden debris to call home. He lived there for six months.

Local organizations such as World Renew’s partners in Puerto Rico, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Puerto Rico and Stronger Than Maria, began to assist residents with recovery in the aftermath of the hurricane. They identified homeowners who were in crisis like Daniel.

“Thousands of homes like Daniel’s were destroyed during Hurricane Maria,” said Bob Laarman, World Renew DRS director. “Your financial support made an immense difference in his and others’ lives. Your gifts also paved the way for World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) staff and volunteers to serve Puerto Ricans after Maria. The home repairs we completed in partnership “I can’t thank with ADRA and Stronger Than Maria changed the lives of you enough for many families after Hurricane Maria.”

my new home,” Daniel said.

“It’s a relief to have a shelter from future storms.”

DRS volunteers and our partners visited Daniel and took an inventory of his needs. Then World Renew DRS volunteers built a new home for Daniel from the ground up. With caring hearts, they poured the foundation, framed the walls and windows, put up drywall and roofing, and finished it inside and out.

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Steady Floors for Games and Play José, his wife, and family, including their newborn daughter, Amy, rode out Hurricane Maria by sheltering on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The whole island had already endured heavy rain in previous weeks from tropical storms Emily and Irene.

When Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, the saturated ground couldn’t hold more water and islandwide flooding affected the whole territory. José’s home took on nearly a foot of water and the family couldn’t afford to make repairs. They lived with the rotting floors and the health risks that come with mold and mildew. The couple also welcomed another baby girl, named Mia, into their family during those years.

Hurricane Maria Fast Facts in Puerto Rico • Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico as a strong Category 4 hurricane in September 2017. It registered 155-mph sustained winds, dumped 30 inches of rain, and spun off three tornadoes.

• Maria sunk more than 300 boats, affecting the fishing industry and tourist livelihoods as well as damaging natural habitats and endangered species.

• The governor’s office reported that 2,975 Puerto Ricans died during the storm and many more residents were injured or stranded.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown travel in 2020, World Renew DRS had to suspend its response programs. As soon as health officials cleared residents for travel in the US and Canada, our volunteers and partner in Puerto Rico, Stronger than Maria, continued our work, including repairs to José’s house. Working alongside Jose, World Renew DRS volunteers removed the rotted flooring, replaced it with new floor panels, and built a wall to give the girls separate bedrooms.

“World Renew volunteers gave my family a safe home to live in and my girls a steady place to play,” José said.

• Hurricane Maria caused $94.4 billion in damage in Puerto Rico, making Maria the fourth-costliest hurricane in US history after hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, and Ian. • Hurricane Maria destroyed more than 80-percent of Puerto Rico’s agricultural crop value in 2017, resulting in $780 million in economic loss to the plantain, banana, and coffee industries.

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Students Rebuild Hope When Hurricane Maria dumped heavy rain onto the already saturated Puerto Rican landscape, dangerous rivers of mud and debris began to flow down the hillsides, washing out roads, tearing apart homes, and destroying everything in its path.

Residents of the town of Lares, Puerto Rico, were forced to evacuate their homes because of the unsafe conditions. Utility and municipal crews got to work rebuilding roads and bridges and restoring public services in the region. Six months later, a group of young adults from Third Reformed Church (RCA) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, spent their spring break helping Hurricane Maria survivors clean up and repair their homes through the World Renew DRS Groups Program and our Puerto Rico partner, Stronger Than Maria. The students installed new siding, drywall, and flooring in Lares, finishing projects that other groups began when they volunteered with the Groups Program there.

Diana Marquez, volunteer program manager for World Renew DRS, said that the young adults who give their time to help disaster survivors across the US and Canada are a joy. “With just a week of their time, the students completed repairs that gave homeowners a glimpse of hope on the horizon.”

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A Home that is Safe and Dry Rain driven by hurricane-strength wind like Hurricane Maria’s can rip off roofs and destroy homes. In Puerto Rico, homes often have tin roofs that fit the climate but are not hurricane-proof. The tin roof on Elena’s house was completely torn off in the storm. Then she found herself in a different kind of storm when, in the midst of the COVID-19 shutdown, she received a diagnosis of cervical cancer.

Hurricane Maria Response During World Renew’s 3-year response to Hurricane Maria, with a pause from 2020 to 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, your gifts and prayers changed the lives of the people in need in Puerto Rico.

• 34 reconstruction teams, comprised of trained and skilled volunteers, worked with our response partners, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Stronger than Maria.

World Renew’s partner in Puerto Rico, Stronger Than Maria, found Elena while assessing needs in her area.

They referred her case to World Renew DRS, and soon our volunteers were installing new floors, building a structural ceiling and anchored roof on Elena’s home.

“I’m grateful that I can go to sleep and wake up dry,” Elena said. “As I focus on my cancer treatment, these repairs were what I needed to give me hope.”

• We provided hurricane survivors with 20,000 hours of volunteer labor to help homeowners who were unable to complete repairs on their own to make their homes safe and livable again.

• Repaired or rebuilt 53 homes in Puerto Rico, installing new floors, walls, roofs, windows.

THANKS to your generous gifts and others totaling $916,000, World Renew DRS volunteers rebuilt homes and offered hope to families in Puerto Rico.