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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

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

"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

FEMA officials in the hot seat over disaster preparedness

Jun 12, 2019
The agency's acting chief and President Trump's nominee for the permanent job face questions as recovery from past disasters drags on.
Activists rally in support of Puerto Rican families displaced by Hurricane Maria, on the steps of City Hall, April 19, 2018 in New York City.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

How a chef helped serve 3.6 million meals in Puerto Rico

Sep 13, 2018
“Every time we made contact with a community, we kept going back, and we kept going back, every day without missing a beat,” José Andrés says.
With schools closed or only open for a short time, children across the island were a priority.
Photo courtesy of World Central Kitchen

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It’s official: FEMA wasn’t equipped to handle the devastation of Hurricane Maria

Sep 5, 2018
A new report by the Government Accounting Office doesn’t bode well for future disaster relief.
 A flooded street is seen as people deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria on Sept. 25, 2017 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

For a recovering restaurant in Puerto Rico, sometimes it's just about making it through the day

Aug 29, 2018
An executive chef in San Juan describes life in the food industry post-Hurricane Maria.
An American flag and Puerto Rican flag fly next to each other in Old San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Thousands of families displaced by Hurricane Maria are living in hotels. The FEMA program that pays for that is about to end

Jun 15, 2018
Since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico in September 2017, thousands of people have fled the island to come to the mainland. Many of them — some 1,600 families — have been staying at hotels paid for by the Transitional Shelter Assistance program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the program will expire at the end of […]