Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria was a devastating natural disaster that hit the Caribbean and Puerto Rico in September 2017. It resulted in catastrophic damage that the affected areas are still struggling to recover from more than a year and a half later. Specifically, the low-income population of Puerto Rico was disproportionately affected by this natural disaster. This event was particularly interesting due to the number of headlines and media coverage it inspired and the public response issued by the U.S. government when Puerto Rico reached out for aid and resources.

Hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean and Puerto Rico while they were still recovering from Hurricane Irma, which hit a few weeks before (Contreras, 2018). It developed on September 16, 2017 and officially hit on September 18th(Contreras, 2018). While it hit Puerto Rico and Dominica, it affected the northeast Caribbean in general. The official death toll during the storm was tallied at 64 but the aftermath resulted in more than 4,600 deaths in Puerto Rico (Contreras, 2018). The hurricane affected the island’s entire population of 3.4 million because they lost all power after the storm (Esquivel, 2018). While power was restored in some areas, about 62,000 people remained without power up to 7 months after the storm hit. (Esquivel, 2018). According to Puerto Rican authorities, the hurricane caused $94 billion in damages (Ortiz, 2018). Specifically, their food source was devastated and their two main sources of income, agriculture and tourism, were greatly affected by the storm. Additionally, majority of their hospitals and government buildings now lay in complete ruin.

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