Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico
On the anniversary of Hurricane Maria that killed over 4,600 people in 2017, Puerto Rico was once again experiencing catastrophic flooding and an island-wide blackout after a Category 1 ripped through the island. Even more challenging was how Hurricane Fiona directly impacted our response as many of our team members are based in Puerto Rico. As a result, we were experiencing this unprecedented mix of ‘surviving and responding’. This hurricane once again left the island without electricity and water in addition to a gas shortage, ongoing landslides, and a heat advisory.
Food, Solar Lights with Mobile Chargers, Clean water
As the year comes to an end, Puerto Rico continues to lose electricity on an ongoing basis due to a weak infrastructure. This is a deliberate shutdown of power to enable the island to share electricity with other regions. Unfortunately, every time this occurs, lives are lost and Deaf people are cut-off from communications and vital resources.
We have also implemented clean water filtration systems throughout the island in addition to ensuring Deaf families have access to solar lights with mobile chargers and a network of over 100 humanitarian groups operating at each level of the crisis.