Puerto Rico, Trujillo Alto – Road blockage by electric wires: To get from A to B you had to takes extra long routes, because often roads were blocked so you had to turn back and find another way- 21.09.2017Puerto Rico, Trujillo Alto – Fallen public lamp: The other challenge for the locals was lack of electricity. In some parts of the island after hurricane Irma, public services didn’t come back before hurricane Maria hit. It means that those people were without water and electricity for a week already. Experts say that for the whole island to get back electricity, it can take up to a year. The government is now planning to put the wires underground to prevent similar situations in the future. However, this can result in even longer and slower recovery. – 21.09.2017Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras – Poorer neighbourhoods suffered more serious damage: Those people living in the so called ‘Caserios’ (like Favelas in Brasil), had living conditions already less ideal but after the hurricane their houses suffered more serious damage, because they were built from less quality materials and had not been taken care of – 20.09.2017Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras – The neighbouring house after it was tortured: The roof got damaged as well as the car that didn’t fit in the garage. Flying objects deformed the body of the SUV – 20.09.2017Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras- The vegetation disappeared completely: The power of the wind was 240km/h. This speed of wind makes all the trees naked. Sadly the result is not only a miserable landscape, but also a suffering wildlife: without flowers and leaves insects and bugs can’t find food, if they die lizards and other smaller predators disappear because of famine and this pattern continues up the food chain… – 2017.09.20.Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras – The community recreation park ‘opened its gate’: In Puerto Rico people who are in higher or at least in the middle financial range live in gated communities. This means that the community is surrounded by a fence and has an elected leader. The one where Ana’s grandparents live is one of the oldest in the island, and established in the ’70’s. Communities are not only important for safety (helping to protect individual properties) but also because of neighbours who watch out for each other. This gives a belonging feeling. In the photo you can see the recreational park which had a gym and place for kids to play. After the hurricane it suffered serious damage, giant trees fell. The rehabilitation of this part of the community wasn’t in priority right after the hurricane since individual properties had to be repaired first – 2017.09.20.Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras- Fallen tree in front of a house and a lucky car: ince the houses are made out of concrete and their architects calculated with hurricanes in the region, the houses didn’t have serious damage. However, trees hadn’t designed for such strong wind. As a result the main task in the island was to cut trees and clear the roads -2017.09.20.
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