Still reeling from Hurricane Maria’s devastation six months prior, Puerto Rico continues to suffer widespread destruction. Many communities beyond tourist destinations remain in ruins, with some residents having endured power outages since Hurricane Irma struck first. The crisis weighs heavily on Chelsea’s substantial Puerto Rican population—thousands of whom were born on the island or have family connections there.
Chelsea’s Record photographer Keiko Hiromi journeyed to Puerto Rico in late March to document conditions on the ground. This followed the community’s robust response last fall, when Chelsea mobilized thousands of pounds of supplies and organized multiple truckload deliveries for relief efforts.
Upon arriving at the airport, Hiromi observed conditions that seemed largely normal, but venturing away from urban centers revealed a starkly different reality. Throughout the countryside, structures remained as damaged as they had been immediately after the hurricane struck. “When I landed at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport on March 21, everything looked normal as if nothing had ever happened,” she said. “As I spent five days travelling through Puerto Rico, sometimes away from the functioning tourist areas, I witnessed Puerto Rico in recovery. Many raw scars were still unmended: debris on roads, houses without roofs. Yet, at the same time, I encountered the faces of resilient, strong, patient people, compassionate for each other.”
Concerns about fading public attention weighed on Director Gladys Vega and Program Manager Sylvia Ramirez of the Chelsea Collaborative. Both expressed dismay that many have moved on despite minimal recovery progress for affected residents. “I knew that the island was going to be devastated, and at the same time I am shocked how citizens of the United States are so ignored,” she said. “In the next few months, the hurricane season is going to be starting again, and Puerto Rico is nowhere near able to take their normal storm season. One thing I was extremely sad about is we are not getting any help. The news has forgotten about Puerto Rico and moved on to other things. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico is still in devastation. People are suffering, they have no housing and they’re hungry.”
Ramirez echoed these sentiments. During the immediate aftermath, she coordinated the Collaborative’s relief operations and helped facilitate the arrival of families seeking sanctuary in Chelsea. She emphasized that although conditions there have barely improved, this reality escapes media attention.
“I think the lack of coverage in the news doesn’t really portray the reality of what’s happening there,” she said. “People go on with their lives and they focus on their kids, they go to work, Christmas came and went. It’s no longer a priority because it’s not in the news. Our plan here in Chelsea is to do another call for action in June or July to bring attention to the situation. The worry for everyone is that nothing is being done to prepare for this year’s hurricane season.
“People go on with their lives, but there are still parts of the island absolutely devastated and nobody is talking about that,” she continued.
That is exactly what Hiromi reported firsthand. In Toa Baja, just outside of San Juan Hiromi found Miguel Anjel Mericado at his home. His home still had a collapsed roof that had not been fixed and was open to the elements. Beams rested on the floor and electricity was spotty. He collected items that he could find in order to continue the efforts of fixing the home. Hiromi also visited Yabucoa, where Maria first made landfall. In Vega Alta, a rural community in the mountains, she visited a family that had no electricity since Hurricane Irma – the first storm to hit Puerto Rico last year even before Hurricane Maria. Herberto Rivera, a school bus driver there, had been powering the family home with a generator they purchased months ago. They hoped that power would come back to the community before the next hurricane season.
Back in Chelsea, the refugee crisis demands immediate attention. Ramirez explained that the Collaborative currently assists 55 families who fled Puerto Rico following the hurricane, with 18 still residing in FEMA hotels. Across Massachusetts, nearly 700 families occupy hotel accommodations after the storm, 530 of them in FEMA-funded rooms. In Chelsea, Ramirez said they are currently working with 55 families who came to the city after the hurricane for refuge, with 18 of them still in FEMA hotels. Statewide, she said, there are nearly 700 families in hotels who arrived after the storm, and 530 are in FEMA hotel rooms. The dire need is that FEMA will stop paying for those rooms on April 20. Already 123 families have used up the FEMA payments and are being paid for by the Red Cross. She said they are still collecting furniture for those refugees moving into apartments, and they are still trying to secure more stable living conditions. At the same time, the identical fight continues on the island of Puerto Rico.
“There are still a lot of people without electricity and with blue tarps on their roofs,” said Ramirez. “That’s the reality.”