HARTFORD, Conn. — It’s been five years since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, destroying the power grid and killing nearly 3,000 people.
Five years later, more than 3,000 homes on the island are still covered by blue tarps.
“The five-year anniversary kind of got blurred with what’s happening right now in the island,” said Aura Alvarado of the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC).
This week, the anniversary of the Category 4 hurricane that the island has yet to recover from, it feels like déjà vu for Puerto Ricans in Connecticut as they watched Hurricane Fiona barrel through the Isla Del Encanto this past weekend.
“Who would have thought that we would have almost been in the same place. I know it’s not a level five like Hurricane Maria was or higher, but it still reminds you that there’s a lot of work to do,” said Alvarado.
After Hurricane Maria, Alvarado and Maria Martinez of the San Juan Center were on the frontlines of helping Puerto Rico evacuees feel at home here in Hartford.
“This center served over two hundred to three hundred families who came from Puerto Rico at that time,” Martinez.
CREC along with their partners raised more than $160,000 to help families.
“It just brings you back to yes there’s been progress. We helped many families here in Connecticut, specifically here in Hartford, but there’s still a lot of things that need to get done,” said Alvarado.
After Hurricane Maria, it took the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority more than 11 months to fully restore power. Five years later, Puerto Rico is still working to rebuild its power system, with roughly $12 billion dedicated in federal funds.
With the potential of Fiona evacuees, organizations in Connecticut are using lessons learned from Maria to better help.
“Now we can get more organized, act quicker because we already have the contacts already,” said Martinez.
“We will be ready to help and assist anyone who’s fleeing the island or at least come here for a short period of time,” said Alvarado.
RELATED: “It was pretty ugly” | Travelers return from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona rips through island
While this week echoes in similarity to September 20th, 2017, resilience is echoing too.
“So tragedies for us may look like destruction, but I think we get up even stronger and this will not be the exception,” said Martinez.
Right now, it is a wait-and-see game as to how they are going to be able to help, but they both said they’ve been making calls and will do fundraisers for the island.
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