(WUSA9) — Puerto Rico's power company is rushing to restore electricity to more than 1.4 million customers after an island-wide power outage hit the U.S. Territory on Wednesday.
Even before Wednesday’s black-out, much of the grid and many of its islanders, more than three-million Americans, have been struggling to recover since September 20, 2017.
WUSA9 Reporter Stephanie Ramirez has family in Puerto Rico and she went last week for her cousin’s wedding. While there, she got a firsthand look at the mangled wires and cement still sitting on the curb in a small town on Puerto Rico’s East Coast called Punta Santiago.
Generators roared outside of one building.
“Trying to study or doing your things at home…and that’s the noise you listen to every night,” said Dania Reyes, a member of a non-profit called, Proyecto P.E.C.E.S. Inc.
Ramirez met Reyes, her husband and a colleague when they came to D.C. about a month ago. The group came to lobby House Speaker Paul Ryan and other members of congress for more aid.
“Government aid has been very, very slow. FEMA has denied aid to many, many homes that were flooded,” said a nun leading P.E.C.E.S., Sister Nancy Madden.
They took Ramirez to the home to one of the homeowners who they say FEMA rejected twice: once for aid and once for a loan.
“It’s hard to deal with it, yeah because, you know first of all my wife she’s 85-year-old and she’s uh, I’m afraid all the right might come into the house she might fall or anything like that…even me,” said Roberto Rivera Padilla.
Padilla told WUSA9 his roof is in such bad shape, when there’s a storm outside it’s practically raining inside.
He also said FEMA won’t even give him a loan because his father purchased the home, even though ownership documents also list the children’s names.
P.E.C.E.S. is now trying to help him get aid but they are all suffering. The group told WUSA9 they did not get power back until Easter Sunday. That’s more than six months after Hurricane Maria struck.
“If your aluminum roof, your tin roof blew off, and they only give you a small amount of money, well then you’re just going to put an aluminum roof back on, you’re not going to put a cement roof on…housing is just not being fixed up or being repaired and we’re less than two months away from the next hurricane seasons,” said Sister Madden.
Parts of the town look like the hurricane hit yesterday. Other parts are open, beautiful and needing of tourists to help revive the economy.
