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Project November 19, 2017

Puerto Rico: Crisis in the Caribbean

Author:
Rosalda Olma, a wife and mother to three kids, opens the front door to what remains of her home in Loiza. The entire home and contents were destroyed by the hurricane, and the family is living in a nearby school for the time being. “It’s hard getting used to these living conditions,” she said. “All five of us are trying to fit inside a single room.” Image by Ryan Michalesko. Puerto Rico, 2017.
Rosalda Olma, a wife and mother to three kids, opens the front door to what remains of her home in Loiza. The entire home and contents were destroyed by the hurricane, and the family is living in a nearby school for the time being. “It’s hard getting used to these living conditions,” she said. “All five of us are trying to fit inside a single room.” Image by Ryan Michalesko. Puerto Rico, 2017.

Nearly a month after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, residents continue to battle for the essential food, water, gas, and electricity. Most still have no reliable source of water, and only a fraction of the island's power grid has been restored.

Four deaths are suspected as a result of leptospirosis–a bacterial infection spread by animal urine in the groundwater. However, the deaths won't be certified as "hurricane related" until the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the victims became infected by contact with contaminated water.

Adding another layer to the difficulties, many Americans don't realize that what happened in Puerto Rico is a domestic disaster, not a foreign one. A poll of 2,200 adults taken in September by Morning Consult found that only 54 percent of Americans know that people born in Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States, are U.S. citizens.

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