On September 18th Hurricane Fionia hit the Island of Puerto Rico. With winds of 85 MPH, the category 1 storm has essentially dismantled the country's health care system, clean water reserves, and electrical power infrastructure. The island-wide blackouts seem to be the most critical aspect of this humane dilemma that has garnered international attention. Hence, debates and protests regarding who should be held responsible have only intensified. Several residents of Puerto Rico have voiced their displeasure with Governor Pedro Pierluisi, who once assured the people that their power grid was stable. In contrast, others have shifted a large amount of the blame to LUMA Energy (the company that operates the power grid) and the United States government, which controls Puerto Rico (from a territorial standpoint) but doesn't allow the people to vote in Presidental elections or have representation in Congress.
According to PowerOutage.us, nearly 600,000 customers on record remained without power as of Monday. LUMA Energy has indicated the expectation that 77-91% of customers should have their electricity restored by Friday. But for many on the island, the damage has already been done, as residents of PR have endured weather temperatures in the 80s and 90s (along with high humidity levels) for nearly half a month now.
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden declared that he would fund the financial cost related to Hurricane Fiona relief, in Puerto Rico, for an entire month. FEMA is also said to have touched down on the Island about a week ago.
“I’ve authorized 100% — 100% federal funding for debris removal, search and rescue, water restoration, and shelter and food for the whole month,” Biden said. “To the people of Puerto Rico who are still hurting from Hurricane Maria five years later, they should know that we are with you. We’re not going to walk away. I mean it.”
For more on Puerto Rico's ongoing nationwide power/clean water outage, stay tuned.
Source: MSN
