Ricky Junquera, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org
Puerto Rico - Yesterday, Hurricane Fiona made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico and in no time left all Puerto Ricans without power. Today, Sierra Club organizers on the ground are assessing the damage in communities across the island while being themselves without power or drinkable water.
Five years ago today, Hurricane Maria ripped through Puerto Rico leaving many without power for months. Grid reliability was at issue then, and five years later the situation has not improved.
From the New York Times:
“As of last month, the island’s government had spent only about $5.3 billion, or 19 percent, of the $28 billion in funding that FEMA has committed for post-2017 recovery projects, according to Christopher P. Currie, a director in the Government Accountability Office’s homeland security and justice team. A large majority of this spending — 81 percent — has gone to emergency relief, such as debris removal, Mr. Currie said. Considerably less has gone toward permanent works such as improvements to roads and utilities.”
In response, Sierra Club President Ramon Cruz released the following statement:
“As a native Puerto Rican, my community has been a sacrifice zone. The climate crisis causes more severe storms, and Hurricanes Maria and Fiona are no longer the exceptions but the norm.
“Reflecting on Hurricane Maria and the island’s recovery serves little purpose today, as we witness the devastating impacts of Hurricane Fiona. At landfall, Fiona caused the entire grid to fail, leaving already vulnerable Puerto Ricans without power.
“After Maria, federal funding was allocated to address the dire need for a more resilient, clean, and decentralized grid in Puerto Rico. Instead, Puerto Ricans have only seen a recently privatized and deficient electric company making conditions worse. Efforts by the current state government to bring more imported dirty fuels to the island exacerbate those problems. Unfortunately, Hurricane Fiona arrived before promising plans of recovery and grid resilience ever became a reality. This is yet another wake-up call to legislators in Washington, D.C. and federal agencies to devise policy and implementation solutions to ensure that a grave power outage does not happen again.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.