Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 25 SepteMber 2017

Puerto Ricans hunt for precious Wi-Fi and cell signals

By DANICA COTO they said was a lack of canceled. It was resched-
Associated Press communication from cell- uled for Thursday, but Clare
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) phone providers about said she had no way to
— Margarita Aponte and which towers were working confirm whether that was
her relatives cleared the so they could drive in that still the case.
road in front of her house direction. “The only think I can do is
with two oxen Sunday, “They’re not giving us any text,” she said. “We’re try-
then drove an hour from information,” said Ricardo ing to leave because we
her devastated hometown Castellanos, a business can’t work without inter-
in central Puerto Rico to consultant. “We’re in a net ... We only have half a
the old telegraph building state of emergency.” tank of gas. We’re running
in the capital of San Juan. Castellanos visits the Wi-Fi out of cash. It’s just getting
There, thousands of Puer- hotspots twice a day to try harder.”
to Ricans gathered for to reach his two daughters Jenniffer Gonzalez, Puerto
a chance at a resource in the central town of Gu- Rico’s non-voting represen-
nearly as precious as pow- People congregate at a wifi hotspot in the aftermath of Hur- rabo and has been able tative in Congress, urged
er and water in the wake ricane Maria with many cellphone towers down in San Juan, to send a few pictures to people to remain calm,
of Hurricane Maria — com- Puerto Rico, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017. Associated Press friends on social media of noting that the towers of
munication. the devastation the hurri- one cellphone provider
“It’s ringing, it’s ringing, it’s cane left behind. that had constant cover-
ringing!” Aponte, a janitor, cans opted to pull over to more than 30 relatives in As people continued to age after the hurricane
screamed as her phone the side of the road along Puerto Rico but she is es- search for a connection in collapsed Sunday.
connected to free Wi- various highways where pecially concerned about silence, some occasionally “Don’t become desper-
Fi and her Facetime call cellphone signals were her 66-year-old mother, Mil- spoke up to offer unsolic- ate,” she said, adding that
went through to the main- strongest. dred Rodriguez, who has ited advice. “I didn’t move if anyone was in danger,
land. Carlos Ocasio, a mainte- diabetes and pulmonary my phone around, and local officials would have
Her eyes filled with tears as nance worker, picked his hypertension and lives in I got a signal,” said one been notified by now.
she talked with nephews, way through tree branches Hormigueros on the island’s woman to a man com- Only about 25 percent of
uncles, brothers and sisters and broken glass bottles west coast. plaining that he was in a towers were working in the
in Florida and Massachu- as he found a spot with a Rodriguez last spoke to her dead zone. San Juan metro area.
setts for the first time since good signal. Soon, he was family before the storm and Nearby, retiree Sylvia Cale- Cell service provider T-Mo-
Maria destroyed nearly able to reach his brother in her relatives were plan- ro tapped her phone with bile said it reached a deal
every cellphone and fiber New Jersey. ning on being together for impeccably manicured with other providers to help
optic connection on this “My throat got a little it. Since then, calls to their bright orange fingernails reconnect their customers,
U.S. territory of 3.4 million choked up and I couldn’t cellphones have gone to as she tried to reach three saying callers should use
people. talk for a minute,” he said. voicemail. brothers and three grand- the roaming data option to
The low murmur at one of “They’re calling me from “I’m absolutely numb at children in the hard-hit find a connection. Officials
two government-provided everywhere, asking when this point. It’s a rollercoaster coastal town of Aguadilla said customers would not
free Wi-Fi hotspots is oc- I’m going to arrive.” of emotion,” she said. “Not in northwest Puerto Rico. be charged extra.
casionally interrupted by Others in Puerto Rico and knowing is extremely ago- She spent an hour walking Claro was installing 40 gen-
the cheering of someone abroad called a local nizing.” up and down the upscale erators to power up its tow-
getting through the large- radio station to provide Her mother-in-law is in the Condado district unable to ers, and expected 50 more
ly jammed network. Most names, numbers, exact San Juan area and some- find a signal before driving generators to arrive from
spend hours frowning at addresses and pictures of how managed to connect to the free Wi-Fi hotspot. the Dominican Repub-
their phones, unable to their loved ones in hopes of with someone who works “Zero communication,” lic once a ferry from the
connect. reconnecting. for the mayor of Hormigue- she said. neighboring island is oper-
“There’s no communi- But for hundreds of thou- ros, who was able to tell Leaning against a board- ational.
cation. We’re in God’s sands of Puerto Ricans liv- Rodriguez that the area ed-up window, illustrator Gov. Ricardo Rossello said
hands,” Yesenia Gomez, ing on the U.S. mainland, where her parents live es- Avalon Clare from Colo- a major underwater cable
a kitchen worker, said as there has been only silence caped flooding. But she still rado worried about getting had been repaired, which
she left a message for her from the island. doesn’t know what the ac- off the island. She and her would allow people to
mother in the neighboring Shirley Rodriguez, a resi- tual conditions are like. partner were supposed to make long-distance calls
Dominican Republic. dent of New York’s Brook- Some in Puerto Rico ex- fly out of Puerto Rico on and improve internet ser-
Dozens of other Puerto Ri- lyn borough, said she has pressed anger over what Saturday but the flight was vice. q