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Friday 22 September 2017
Powerless: Irma, now Maria: US Caribbean
Puerto Rico faces weeks without electricity communities rush to send aid

By DANICA COTO back to the U.S. mainland happen given the vulner- By DEEPTI HAJELA dian ancestry in the United
Associated Press on Saturday to live there able infrastructure,” Gov. Associated Press States, according to the
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico temporarily. Ricardo Rossello said. NEW YORK (AP) — From U.S. Census.
(AP) — The sky was darken- Like many Puerto Ricans, The Federal Emergency parties where the price of “It’s an interest of anyone
ing Thursday afternoon as Llanos does not have a Management Agency admission is a donation, to who lives in the Caribbe-
10-year-old Sarah Jimenez generator or gas stove. said it would open an air fundraising drives and on- an,” said Alexander, who
line wish lists for collecting hails from Trinidad and To-
needed supplies, West In- bago. “I haven’t heard of
dian communities around anybody not taking this se-
the United States are step- riously.”
ping up to get help for the Nixon agreed, saying that
islands of the Caribbean those who come from the
ravaged by the wind and Caribbean understand
waters of hurricanes Irma that those whose home
and Maria, including those countries weren’t affected
in places in the southern as much this time around
United States that were hit could be hit in another
hard themselves. storm. “Wherever we can
Irma, once the most pow- help, we do,” she said,
erful hurricane ever record- “because we know our
ed in the open Atlantic, time will come.”
wreaked havoc in parts of That extends to Caribbean
the region — Antigua and Americans who are deal-
Barbuda, Anguilla and St. ing with the fallout of Irma
Martin, the U.S. and British themselves.
Virgin Islands, Turks and Ca- In South Florida, Caribbean
icos, the Bahamas and parts communities organizing
of Cuba — leaving more relief efforts for the islands
than three dozen people found themselves target-

Power lines are down after the impact of Hurricane Maria, which hit the eastern region of the is- dead and turning vaca- ed by the same powerful
land in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. tion island paradises into hurricane.Godwin Carty,
(AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) devastated landscapes. president of the Anguilla
There was no respite for the Progressive Association of
laid out three plastic buck- “The only thing I have is a bridge from the mainland Caribbean, either, as Maria New-Florida branch, has
ets on her grandmother’s flashlight,” he said, shaking on Friday, with three to four slammed into Puerto Rico been collecting genera-
patio in hopes of capturing his head. “This is never go- military planes flying to the on Wednesday with heavy tors, canned food, baby
rainwater. ing to return to normal.” island every day carrying winds and rains, causing at supplies, macaroni, rice,
“We can use it to at least Maria’s death toll across water, food, generators least 15 deaths across the flour, cleaning supplies
flush the toilets,” she told the Caribbean, mean- and temporary shelters. Caribbean. such as mops and disin-
her grandmother. while, climbed to at least “There’s a humanitarian “What Irma didn’t do, Ma- fectants and equipment
A day after Hurricane Ma- 19, nearly all of them on emergency here in Puerto ria went and finished,” said to help secure tarps atop
ria ravaged Puerto Rico, the hard-hit island of Domi- Rico,” Rossello said. “This Jean Alexander, executive buildings after roofs blew
flooding towns, crushing nica. is an event without prec- director of the Caribbean away. Caribbean diaspora
homes and killing at least As of Thursday evening, edent.” American Center of New associations in New York
two people, millions of Maria was moving off the He said his administration York, a social service agen- and New Jersey quickly
people on the island faced northern coast of the Do- was trying to open ports cy in Brooklyn. “You don’t began collecting and ship-
the dispiriting prospect minican Republic with soon to receive shipments know who to help because ping relief supplies, but
of weeks and perhaps winds of 120 mph (195 kph). of food, water, generators, everybody needs help.” South Florida communities
months without electricity. The storm was expected to cots and other supplies. “I’ve been an emotional had to put those activi-
The storm knocked out the approach the Turks and The government has hired basket-case because you ties on hold to wait out the
entire grid across the U.S. Caicos Islands and the Ba- 56 small contractors to want to do everything for storm and assess their own
territory of 3.4 million, leav- hamas late Thursday and clear trees and put up everyone,” said Nicole Ber- damage, Carty said.
ing many without power early Friday. new power lines and poles trand Nixon, 39, who lives His parents and siblings in
to light their homes, cook, From there, it is expected and will be sending tanker in Rockville, Maryland, but Anguilla survived, but lost
pump water or run fans, air to veer into the open At- trucks to supply neighbor- grew up in St. Thomas in the their roof and expect to be
conditioners or refrigera- lantic, no threat to the U.S. hoods as they run out of U.S. Virgin Islands where her without power for a long
tors. mainland. water. The entire island has parents still live. She helped time — which puts his two
As a result, Sarah and oth- In Puerto Rico, the grid was been declared a federal gather toiletries and other days without power in the
ers hunted for gas canis- in sorry shape long before disaster zone.Mike Hyland, items for an initial collec- Miami area into perspec-
ters for cooking, collected Maria — and Hurricane senior vice president of en- tion of necessary supplies tive, Carty said.Desiree
rainwater or prepared Irma two weeks ago — gineering services for the and spread word about Barnes, president of the
themselves mentally for struck. American Public Power As- organizations that people Antigua and Barbuda As-
the hardships to come in The territory’s $73 billion sociation, a utility industry can support with their dol- sociation of South Florida,
the tropical heat. Some debt crisis has left agen- group that is sending re- lars.The desire to help has said Irma interrupted plans
contemplated leaving the cies like the state power pair crews into the Carib- brought together people to collect donations, but
island. company broke. It aban- bean, refused to speculate who trace their roots all community members in
“You cannot live here with- doned most basic main- on how long it would take over the Caribbean, not South Florida still donated
out power,” said Hector tenance in recent years, to restore power in Puerto just from the affected is- money to relief efforts,
Llanos, a 78-year-old re- leaving the island subject Rico.”Let’s see what the lands, said Alexander. even though they were
tired New York police of- to regular blackouts. facts tell us by the end of There are almost 3 million rushing to buy plywood or
ficer who planned to go “We knew this was going to the weekend,” he said. q people claiming West In- evacuate. q