In September of 2017, two category 5 hurricanes appeared in the Atlantic Ocean moving towards Puerto Rico. The first of the two hurricanes, Hurricane Irma, passed very close to the island bringing with it damaging winds and substantial amounts of rain. The effects of this hurricane were severe but not disastrous, taking out parts of the electrical grid and damaging the already lacking infrastructure. Thirteen days after Irma, Hurricane Maria, a category 4 hurricane, passed directly over the island. Rain and wind continued for close to two days leaving millions of Puerto Ricans without power, clean water, cellular connection for up to 6 months and in worst case scenarios for up to a year.

This combination of storms was one of the harshest to ever hit the island, due to the conditions of our infrastructure the hurricane easily destroyed roads, homes, the entire power grid, and left many millions of people vulnerable for months. The effects of the hurricane were so severe that areas are still recovering to this day and some areas never recovered at all displacing thousands of people. I will never forget that in the days before the hurricane we had multiple family members come to stay with us in Texas before and after the storms. However, the family I have over there that didn’t leave due to the hurricane suffered for a couple of weeks even though they had all the resources necessary to prepare before and to recover after.

In Puerto Rico there are thousands of people living below the poverty line and in conditions not able to withstand category 4 and 5 storms. It was these people that suffered the most and longest due to the fact that first aid and rescue teams focused on on the more populated areas of Puerto Rico. People living in more rural and hard to access areas waited many months for aid and resources meant specifically for them.

Both the Puerto Rican and U.S. government did not adequately respond to the disaster. findings from a Washington Post poll show that the Puerto Rican people believed that both the U.S. and local government did not respond adequately to the suffering caused by the storms. When Trump arrived on the island to give a press conference he threw paper towels at the people who were there as if that would resolve such a major issue. Government money meant to be used for restoration efforts has slowly made its way to people up to today, meaning that some people haven’t been able to fully repair their homes until recently.

Even though the storms were close to 7 years ago, the effects it had on the people can still be felt. There are still areas where one can see homes covered in tarps whose owners are still waiting to collect insurance money for repairs. The government is still criticized for its lackluster aid efforts and for the way it treated the whole disaster. It is important to understand what not to do when natural disasters like this occur and how to properly help those in need.