Five years after the federal government bungled its response to catastrophic Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the U.S. agency tasked with reacting to major disasters is under pressure again after this week’s Hurricane Fiona battered the territory’s infrastructure, flooded communities and left the island without electricity.
As the slow-moving storm headed north after a punishing push across the island, top officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued repeated promises: This won’t be like last time. FEMA, they have insisted, is far better prepared for Fiona than it was in 2017, when Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, plunging the island into one of the largest blackouts in U.S. history and claiming thousands of lives. In an after-action report, the agency admitted to systemic failures during the humanitarian crisis.
“We are much better positioned today than we were before Maria,” Keith Turi, FEMA’s assistant administrator
for recovery, said in an interview.
By early Tuesday, the rain in Puerto Rico had eased as the storm began lashing Turks and Caicos and threatening Bermuda with winds that had increased in speed, making it a Category 3 hurricane. But even as Fiona moves on, it leaves a daunting path to recovery in Puerto Rico. Downpours will also continue in some parts of archipelago, aggravating already dire flooding and further complicating the response. Officials said at least four people have died there but have warned that the toll could rise once emergency workers are able to assess the full scope of the damage.
Residents still struggling to rebuild after Maria will be closely tracking the recovery process over the coming weeks and months, many skeptical of the government’s ability to help, with billions of dollars in promised federal relief funds still not disbursed half a decade later. On Sunday, President Biden issued an emergency disaster declaration, and Puerto Rico officials on Tuesday said they expected Biden to upgrade it to a major disaster declaration, which would unlock more federal resources for response and recovery.
“Biden promised to give our request expedited attention,” Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said. The damage is “catastrophic,” he added, especially in the southern and central regions.
“The havoc caused by Hurricane Fiona has been devastating for a lot of people,” Pierluisi said.
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico 5 years ago. Recovery in many ways had just begun.
FEMA’s chief, Deanne Criswell, traveled to the big island on Tuesday to assess the impact, and she said the agency plans to send hundreds of additional staffers to help with the recovery. “Our partnership with the Government of Puerto Rico has never been stronger,” she said in a statement.