Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria

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[The following text is the full text of a letter received from Mrs. R.M., a letter which we publish with her permission after having reviewed the final draft.]

As you probably know, Hurricane Maria left the island with no electrical power; no potable water, no TV stations, one radio station, no mobile phone communication, very little land line phone communication, very few gas stations in operation ( if they had gas to pump, only those with power generators could function), very few ice plants in operation, very few supermarkets in operation, no ATM or banking operations, very few pharmacies in operation, no Internet, a great number of bridges and roads destroyed, every single river out of their natural banks caused by 30 inches of water - after approximately 18 continuous hours of hurricane rain, more than 100,000 wooden houses lost (disappeared - by wind or by flood - or without roof).

Hospitals were in crisis due to the fact that there was no diesel fuel dispatched for their generators. Hurricane Maria was a new experience for our generation. The death toll directly associated to the actual passing of the hurricane was very low. We were all very Thankful to God for that - a monster had just passed and we survived.

Three days went by before the majority of the population could get out of their immediate communities. Every single one had to cut trees and remove debris in order to make their way through their neighborhood.

Then.... after those three days, real chaos began.

We began the survival process: Entire communities were isolated due to destroyed bridges and/or roads, hour-long lines for the acquisition of gasoline and ice while all transportation and port activity collapsed.

Buying food with the remaining cash (we were accustomed to keep 3 days of supplies of food in our homes in case of emergencies) was difficult and the lines were long. Existing inventories of every-day supplies in the stores were low due to the taxes on inventory charged by the government. There were long lines for getting potable water - therefore, we began to collect rain water as well as water from natural springs and creeks. Laundry was done in nearby large bodies of water while the homeless refugees numbered in the thousands.

After a week, mobile phone communication began in only some areas. People, inside and outside of the island, were desperate trying to learn about the fate of their families. In many cases, two or three weeks went by before getting any information about one's family.

The control tower at the airport was damaged by the hurricane. Because of that only 6 flights per day were allowed; logically, the prices skyrocketed. The US military arrived after the first or second week (I do not remember with clarity right now) and was dedicated to: (a) escort fuel tanks trailers to gas stations, hospitals and communication towers (for mobile phone and radio retransmission); (b) dispense water and food supplies to the whole island - the 78 municipalities - by land or by air; and (c) to make an inventory of the damages suffered by the utilities infrastructure of the island. Several weeks went by before banking operations began.

The FCC regulations made the above mentioned communication towers use a new technology. They discarded the previous technology leaving them fully dependent on electrical power for retransmission. The only radio station that was on the air during the hurricane was the one that maintained the older technology. To make the situation worse, those towers did not have power generators to operate. After the emergency, the island did not have the required power generators necessary to operate more than 1600 towers.

After the first month people continued in the same survival mode. Eventually about half a million residents abandoned the island leaving behind the elderly, their remaining possessions and their pets. The flights of refugees were paid by the U.S. government as part of a FEMA assistance program. The majority of homeless moved with relatives or left the island with their own resources. As of now FEMA has 10,000 refugees staying in hotels in the U.S. mainland.

The toll death related to the hurricane began to increase, this time due to the limited availability of electrical power. Normal work routine did not begin maybe until the end of second month. School system resumed on November. Some people had to bury their loved ones on their yards because the governmental procedures had collapsed.

After six months, the normal water supply was restored to most of the island, TV and radio stations, as well as mobile phone service were also restored. However, electrical power and fixed line telephone service are far from full recovery. Suicide and crime rates have gone up, as well as elderly mortality. Hundreds of business and the jobs associated with them have disappeared. Road communication is complicated due to bridge damage or their complete destruction and the economy of the island worsened (as if that could ever be imagined due to the bankruptcy situation that we had prior to Hurricane Maria).

In three more months we will be again in the hurricane season with all the systems in fragile condition.

The government of Puerto Rico was not prepared for the kind of emergency caused by Hurricane Irma and then Hurricane Maria struck. But the US government was not either.

We have a area of 8,870 sq. Km (3,425 sq. miles) with about 3 millions residents at the moment of the impact. We were the sign, if you allow me the metaphor, to the continental US as to what could happen to them in a catastrophic situation. We were the training camp for emergency response and recovery procedures. In both, Puerto Rico and the US have failed.

We are the showcase of the limited real power and limited resources of both governments, for those with eyes to see. I believed their enemies are taking notes. I believe we were one of the first pangs of the childbirth of the woman, occurred 3 days before the sign in the sky on the 23rd of September: that is kind of prophetic.

I believe the pangs will be more intense and more frequent in the continental US until the war arrives. One of our primary problems is to believe that the government saves. Because of that I believe God is allowing more troubles trying to call our attention to Him only. But people are blind. This past weekend, we faced historical tides (of 30 feet high), worst than those of Hurricane Maria: the north coastal roads were closed and the coastal houses and business were flooded by the ocean.

Most of my children left Puerto Rico. Only one was with me during the storm. My wooden house remain, but windows, road, electric system and water system were affected. I am not able to stay there yet although I am working - to the extent that I am available - to solve it. I am not sure if God wants me the return. I am waiting an answer to my prayers in that point.
Then, I will act as He moves and allows me.

Until last December some of my personal belongings were in my car - it was my "home". Since January I have a temporary place. God always provided a secure roof for sleeping and economic provisions because I could not work until the last week of November. And that work was provided by Him during only five weeks.

I saw the hand of Our Father during all those months. Yesterday He made one more miracle for me: In the morning I received a notification that the $1281.00 reimbursement of taxes from 2014 was sent by the government to the bankruptcy process court yet, in the afternoon mail I received the check payment of $1281.00 from the government.

I am happy, detached of material things, living one day at a time, without future plans. My wish is not to recover the previous normality, but to leave my eyes fixed to Him. It is the only possible way of walking through all the chaos left by the hurricane and to come in the future.

For a moment, I lost the focus on Him and I admitted it and repented to God because the worst in me (to my own dislike) appeared. Focusing on the chaos and our problems and tiredness is destructive. We must remain focused on His promises, hope, His justice, His righteousness, Our eternal Home, His plan, His love for us, and move in His flow and His will with confidence.

We are not the main character of this story, He is. And He takes care of His sheep's (we are the secondary characters). This does not mean we are immune to the suffering of others: the tears that I have shed are not by my own cause or situation, but by those who lose hope. I am learning and accepting that that is the way His Heart is. There are so many situations of suffering and the only thing we could do is to pray with faith.

Mrs. R.M.