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Articles on Hurricane Maria

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Hurricane Fiona drenched places like Salinas across Puerto Rico in September 2022. AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo

More than 60% of Puerto Ricans seeking FEMA aid after Hurricane Maria had their applications denied – will the agency approve more this time?

Within two weeks of Hurricane Fiona, FEMA had accepted most Puerto Rican housing aid applications. Nearly all those early approvals cover only $700 in assistance and won’t pay the tab for rebuilding.
A worker cuts an electricity pole downed by Hurricane Fiona in Cayey, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 18, 2022. AP Photo/Stephanie Roja

Puerto Rico’s vulnerability to hurricanes is magnified by weak government and bureaucratic roadblocks

Hurricane Fiona will set back efforts to restore Puerto Rico that date back five years to Hurricane Maria. Two scholars explain how the island’s weak institutions worsen the impacts of disasters.
A banner reads “Fuera Luma” (Luma out), opposing the company managing Puerto Rico’s electric grid, at a May Day protest in San Juan on May 1, 2021. Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

Puerto Rico has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a clean energy grid – but FEMA plans to spend $9.4 billion on fossil fuel infrastructure instead

Four years after Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, federal money to rebuild its electricity system is finally about to flow. But it may not deliver what islanders want.
Extreme flooding during Hurricane Maria in 2017 was hazardous for the Puerto Rican people. But a new study finds that it helped native fish populations rebound after years of drought. AP Photo/Alvin Baez

Caribbean fish love catastrophic hurricanes

Big storms with lots of flooding, like hurricanes Dorian and Maria, actually restore the Caribbean’s delicate balance between native and nonnative fish species, new research finds.
People wave Puerto Rican flags as they attend a rally to celebrate the resignation of Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 25. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Puerto Ricans unite against Rosselló – and more than a decade of cultural trauma

Rosselló’s corruption is just the latest in a string of disasters for Puerto Ricans – but it also created an opportunity for a stressed community to come together.
A Monmouth County, N.J. home in 2015. Jack L. Harris

It takes years to fully recover from big storms like Sandy

Getting everyone whose lives were thrown off-track back takes a lot of personal effort, paired with work done by a constantly shifting mix of nonprofits and governmental agencies over many years.
Floodwaters surround farm equipment in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence near Trenton, N.C., on Sept. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Trump’s ‘all-out effort’ on climate is derelict and risky

Donald Trump claims his administration has carried out an “all-out effort” in preparing for the effects of climate change. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Children are among the most vulnerable victims of any natural disaster. Some 645,000 young Puerto Ricans experienced the trauma of Hurricane Maria. Reuters/Alvin Baez

Hurricane kids: What Katrina taught us about saving Puerto Rico’s youngest storm victims

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, forever changing the lives of the children who survived. Their stories can help Puerto Rico identify and aid the kids most traumatized by Hurricane Maria.
Some Puerto Ricans had to restore downed power lines themselves after Hurricane Maria. Alvin Baez/Reuters

Puerto Rico has not recovered from Hurricane Maria

It’s been one year since a Category 4 storm turned Puerto Rico into a disaster zone. Today, nearly every pillar of society — including the economy, health care and schools — remains hobbled.
Loading new furniture donated to Hurricane Irma survivors in Chokoloskee, Fla. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Sending help where it’s needed most after disasters

The billions of dollars worth of aid dispatched every year to alleviate the suffering and damage after earthquakes and hurricanes would do more good if it didn’t get clumped up.
President Donald Trump tosses paper towels into a crowd at Calvary Chapel in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico in October 2017 following Hurricane Maria. Trump congratulated Puerto Rico for escaping the higher death toll of “a real catastrophe like Katrina.” A new study suggests almost 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Politics and paper towels: Disputing disaster death tolls

As Trump fumes about the Hurricane Maria death toll, it’s clear that politics and political considerations often play an important role in how death toll estimates are communicated to the public.
Roberto Clemente State Park employees in New York, with donated bottled water bottles bound for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

Want to help after hurricanes? Give cash, not diapers

If you would like to assist from afar, let the professionals procure goods and services.
Some of the damage cause by Hurricane Maria, months after it hit. Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

How Puerto Rico’s economy is holding back recovery: 3 essential reads

While the hurricanes last year dealt devastating blows to Puerto Rico, its challenges predate the storms and continue on today. They also offer new opportunities.

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