On September 20th 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall on the Southeastern coast of Puerto
Rico, and proceeded to tear across the island leaving unprecedented devastation in its wake.
With wind gusts up to 155 mph, and rainfall totals measured not in inches but in feet, the island
suffered massive storm damage from the winds and rain that left thousands of people dead,
and hundreds of thousands more without shelter, food, or access to emergency services. Long
neglected the islands entire energy grid was destroyed leaving Puerto Rico’s entire population
of 3.4 million people without power. The high winds destroyed communications equipment,
ripped roofs off of buildings, and the rains and floods that followed destroyed entire towns,
crippled the islands roads and highways, and plunged the island into a state of disaster.

THE AFTERMATH

While the damage caused by Hurricane Maria was catastrophic, it is important to recognize
that it was, in-part, also a man-made disaster. Decades of neglect and mismanagement of the
island’s electrical, transportation, and communications infrastructure had left them vulnerable
to severe damage, and the ability to be quickly repaired. When they collapsed under the force
of the storm it left large portions of the island’s population cut off from emergency services,
and struggling to survive without electricity, clean water, sufficient food, and with no access to
basic health care. Further compounding the problem was that decisions made immediately
before and after the storm hit meant that the emergency services were delayed in arriving, and
what did arrive was often woefully inadequate.

Scrambling for basic necessities

Delays in supplies and restoring vital infrastructure

THE FEDERAL RESPONSE

In the hours and days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, it became apparent how
catastrophic the situation was, and how urgent the need for emergency relief was. Once again,
the Federal and local response was underwhelming, and possibly corrupt. FEMA, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, in charge of coordinating federal disaster relief in the United
States hurriedly contracted a one-woman company to provide 30 million meals to Puerto Rico
for $156 million. Months later, after subcontracting the work to an 11 person catering
company, FEMA finally cancelled the contract after only 30,000 meals had been delivered.
Similarly, emergency generators required to power hospitals, and other emergency services
either were not in place, or were slow to be delivered. Contracts to rebuild the islands
electrical grid proved often to be equally problematic. The local power utility PREPA, already
bankrupt before the storm, awarded contracts often based not on experience working in
disaster conditions, but instead to the lowest bidder. It would be almost a year after the
hurricane that all of the islands residents were reconnected to the electrical grid. More
problematic than inexperience and ineptitude, several companies and government officials
have been investigated and arrested for corruption in awarding contracts. Cobra Acquisitions,
the primary company contracted to repair the electrical grid, was awarded a contract for $1.8
billion. Subsequently, two of the top FEMA officials overseeing the reconstruction were
arrested and charged with taking bribes from the former president of Cobra Acquisitions in
exchange for awarding the contract.