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Puerto Rico looks to go local to reduce food import dependence

Jan 10, 2024
One reason that food prices are high on the island is that under the Jones Act, only U.S. ships carry food to the territory.
Puerto Ricans are working to improve access to fresh, affordable food. The territory imports roughly 90% of its food. Above, farm workers secure tomatoes to wooden stakes in Guanica.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

Delayed relief shipments to Puerto Rico rekindle debate over a century-old shipping law

Sep 30, 2022
The Jones Act requires that only U.S. ships carry goods between U.S. ports. It also raises costs in Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
People waited to get gasoline in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 20. A temporary waiver of the Jones Act is allowing new fuel shipments to be delivered.
Jose Jimenez/Getty Images

Puerto Rico struggles with water for residents — again — in the wake of another hurricane

Sep 23, 2022
What will it take to make sure that Puerto Rico can fix its infrastructure to become more resilient?
This aerial picture taken on September 20, 2022, shows a flooded area in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, after the the power went out with the passage of Hurricane Fiona.
Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images

Puerto Ricans who thought hurricane insurance covered flooding may have a rude awakening

Sep 20, 2022
Did wind or water cause the damage to their homes? That's up to the insurance adjuster.
In the wake of Hurricane Fiona, an estimated 80% of Puerto Rico's population still lack electricity. Many people are stranded after more than 30 inches of rain fell in some areas.
AFP via Getty Images

Hurricanes Fiona and Maria, 5 years apart, underscore needs of Puerto Rico's grid

Sep 19, 2022
Emergency repairs were made after electricity network went down during Maria. But investments in resilience have been slow to come.
A power line battered by Hurricane Fiona. The storm, which hit nearly five years to the day after Hurricane Maria, caused power outages across Puerto Rico.
Jose Jimenez/Getty Images

How a Puerto Rican coffee farmer is rebuilding, years after Hurricane Maria

Feb 17, 2021
The storm destroyed 80% of the island's coffee crop. It also revealed a hidden "gold mine."
Storms have ravaged Puerto Rico's coffee farms. But Hurricane Maria also presented an opportunity for one grower.
Nicky Loh/Getty Images

Puerto Rican businesses hang on in an economy shaped by disaster

Feb 3, 2021
Entrepreneurs have endured natural disasters and political crises — and now COVID-19. “You have to be super, super tough," a business owner says.
A medical worker stands at the entrance of a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in March.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

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"You work twice as hard to make half as much”

Oct 21, 2020
For Puerto Rico’s restaurant industry, COVID-19 is just the latest in a series of challenges.
Chef María Mercedes Grubb and her brother John Mercedes, outside their restaurant Gallo Negro in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Gallo Negro's original location closed in December 2019.
Courtesy of María Mercedes Grubb

Puerto Rico wagers on privatizing power grid

Jul 10, 2020
Three years after Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico's electric grid, the island is still dealing with unreliable service and intermittent power outages, especially in rural areas.
Solar panels at a hospital in Vieques in 2017. Puerto Rico's electric power system has been plagued by the damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

Puerto Rico struggles to prepare as Dorian gains strength

Aug 26, 2019
Sixty percent of the island's population doesn't have the resources to prepare for the storm, one expert says.
People walk across a flooded street in Juana Matos, Puerto Rico, in September 2017. The U.S. territory faced dangerous flooding and an islandwide power outage following Hurricane Maria.
Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images)