Everything is dark, pitch black, because if you are lucky, you were
able to shield your windows.  You hear this horrible howling and
banging, the whole night.  It is horribly frightening.  You are not
sure when to come out, because you have no contact to the world
outside of the space that you have worked on to keep you safe.  When
you venture out, you see devastation.  Some have no house where one
was standing only a few hours before, others are lucky to have a
structure but nothing else.

When I was asked to write about Hurricane Maria and how it impacts my family and the people of Puerto Rico, who I hold so dear to my heart, I gave a lot of thought to what my community knows of Puerto Rico.

Studies show that more than half of our country does not know that Puerto Rico is home to 3.5 million American citizens. Yes, that is correct. Most people do not know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. In fact, prior to Hurricane Maria, our major networks frequently and erroneously referred to Puerto Ricans who moved from, let’s say, Carolina, Puerto Rico to Chicago, Illinois, as immigrants.

My mother (who was born in Puerto Rico), my grandparents, great-grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins, (some who live stateside and some who still reside in Puerto Rico), are all American citizens.

Puerto Rico is a territory of the US and, there is significant debate (within our national government and even among the people of Puerto Rico) whether it should or should not become the 51st state of the US.

As American citizens, they should not have to feel “grateful” (although they are) for “our national government’s assistance.”  They are entitled to the same help as victims of Irma in Florida, or Houston.  We are talking about American citizens, whether they are in Florida, California, or Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Maria was a category 4 hurricane, with winds  up to 165 mph.  The hurricane, which was approximately 50-60 miles wide, enveloped Puerto Rico from the Southeast to the Northwest of the island.  As records go, this was apparently the fifth strongest
storm to ever hit the US.   

Areas in Puerto Rico had more than 30 inches of rain during the storm. There was no electricity on the entire island.  In addition to the devastation of the power grid, the
cell phone towers were destroyed, roads and airports were damaged, hospitals lost power and some of their patients who were on life support died as a result of the power outage. The only tropical rainforest in the US, known as El Yunque, with beautiful waterfalls, orchids and a wide range of wildlife, was decimated by Maria.

Our President was on the island a few weeks later.  He held a press conference, and he talked about how well efforts are going in the island, while throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans to catch, as if they were T-Shirts at a Sixers game.  Here is a first hand account as of October 3rd of the situation in the island, as described by a family friend:

For those wondering if the news from Puerto Rico is fake news, my name is Leslie and I live in San Juan.  There is no fake news here. Gasoline is limited, as well as food, water, supplies.  Many of us are still without power.  We have to stand in line to get gas, water, use ATM machines, go into a drugstore, grocery store, and even the bank, All providing limited hours of service with minimal supplies at hand.

Babies and adults are dying, due to lack of shelter, food, water, medications, lack of diesel to run the generators that help with the life support or dialysis treatments, HIV patients needing meds, diabetic patients needing insulin and dialysis,  as well as
psychiatric patients running out of meds and calling the local radio stations worried that they will commit suicide. 

We have lost our coffee and plantain crops, we are now at risk of infections and disease due to the loss of one of our largest chicken producers and all the chickens that died, not including cows, horses, pigs, dogs, cats, and other animals.  Waters are filthy from garbage, sewage, and other components.  Flights are limited in and out of PR because
the airport is working with generators and limited capacities and especially so that we can receive the airplanes bringing us aid. 

The shipping docks are full of containers waiting to be delivered and there is a union problem preventing this, as well as the truck drivers, who are trying to take care of their families.  Cellular communications are very limited and you will see many of us going to
high places, like our roofs, high buildings, and the airport to get some signal and be able to check messages, and post messages, like I am doing now and call family and friends.  My family is completely unemployed at this point, as well as many others, because businesses have suffered much damage and have to get back up on their feet.

There is looting and hold ups in many places.  Neighbors get together to watch out for each other’s homes, like my husband and I do, while our fellow neighbors stand in line for hours to go to get $15 worth of gas or get whatever supplies are available and we pool our groceries together and figure out what will be cooked and when.  I have been doing the bulk of the cooking these past days. 

We are grateful that as each day passes, the sun rises and sets, and that each day gives us
new hope as we go through the daily motions of heat, sweat, rashes, headaches, worrying about jobs, financial strapping, health issues and everything else that personally ails us. I so treasure the running water in our faucets (a rare thing these days)  so we can shower, stay clean and cool off, I hand wash my clothes, sheets, and towels and
hang them to dry. 

I ration my dogs’ food so that they don’t go hungry, I thank G-d each and every moment.  So, at the end of the day, no, this is not fake news.  This is real news.  But like many others, we will come through with flying colors, high and mighty.  Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.

If you would like to help, we will be collecting non-perishable items through the Hispanic Action Club.  Puerto Rico will rebuild, because we are a strong, resilient people.  However, we need our fellow American citizens to use their vote and voices to help us.