Puerto Rico could be without power for months

Sunday, 22 Sep, 2017 0

Parts of hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico could face months without power.

Hurricane Maria was the biggest storm to hit the US territory for nearly a century and knocked out the entire electricity grid as well as demolishing numerous buildings.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said the scale of the devastation was unreal.

"The San Juan that we knew yesterday is no longer there," Cruz told MSNBC.

"We’re looking at four to six months without electricity."

Puerto Rico has a population of about 3.5 million and generates about $4 billion in tourism related income.

"Months and months and months are going to pass before we can recover from this," said Felix Delgado, mayor of the city of Catano.

Delgado said in one district, 80% of homes were destroyed.

The three airports in San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce were closed until late Friday at the earliest due to flooding.

Joel Santos, president of Puerto Rico’s hotel association, said Maria did not devastate tourism infrastructure, but there is likely a long road ahead before the industry gets back on its feet with other more pressing priorities.

"We are at a critical moment in the effort to help thousands of Puerto Ricans that urgently need aid and to assess the great damage caused by Hurricane Maria," said Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

"Maintaining public order will be essential."

The New York Times reports at least 10 deaths so far and the National Hurricane Center says there is still the danger of flash floods.

President Donald Trump pledged to visit Puerto Rico soon and approved emergency federal disaster funds for recovery efforts.

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TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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