{"id":10311,"date":"2017-10-28T07:34:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-28T07:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10311"},"modified":"2017-10-29T07:48:45","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T07:48:45","slug":"im-a-librarian-in-puerto-rico-and-this-is-my-hurricane-maria-survival-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/im-a-librarian-in-puerto-rico-and-this-is-my-hurricane-maria-survival-story\/","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m a librarian in Puerto Rico, and this is my Hurricane Maria survival story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/evelyn-milagros-rodriguez-413510\">Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez<\/a>, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-puerto-rico-humacao-3265\">University of Puerto Rico &#8211; Humacao<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always been fascinated by storms, particularly Puerto Rico\u2019s own history of them. I think it\u2019s because I was born in September 1960 during <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.lib.noaa.gov\/rescue\/hurricanes\/Qc9452d6h81960.pdf\">Hurricane Donna<\/a>. In its wake, that storm left more than 100 dead in Humacao, the city where I am now a special collections librarian at the University of Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n<p>In 1990, Israel Matos, the National Weather Service Forecast Officer in San Juan, told me that, \u201cThe tropics are unpredictable.\u201d That comment only increased my interest in storms. Now, with the people of Puerto Rico still reeling from Hurricane Maria <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/puerto-ricos-bankruptcy-will-make-hurricane-recovery-brutal-heres-why-84559\">more than a month after it hit the island<\/a>, his words seem prescient.<\/p>\n<p>Today I have \u2013 if not the honor, then the duty \u2013 to describe, firsthand, what it is to live through the aftermath of the worst storm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/capital-weather-gang\/wp\/2017\/09\/23\/harvey-irma-maria-why-is-this-hurricane-season-so-bad\/\">of this brutal hurricane season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Academic crisis<\/h2>\n<p>Since the storm I haven\u2019t been able to go to work at the library on the Humacao campus. At 88,000 square feet and three stories, the biblioteca is the biggest building on campus, and it\u2019s among the worst damaged by Maria. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/191722\/original\/file-20171024-30587-1knkggl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">The library at the University of Puerto Rico, Humacao.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Evelyn M. Rodr\u00edguez<\/span>, <span class=\"license\">Author provided<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s mold-infested and the roof is leaking, so there\u2019s a lot of work to be done in both repairs and cleaning before students can use it. The mold has gotten into our collection \u2013 from books and papers to magazines \u2013 and most of the furniture and computers will have to be replaced. <\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elvocero.com\/educacion\/da-os-a-la-upr-ascienden-a-millones\/article_67a77ae0-b2d6-11e7-8701-cf1f348f6895.html\">general damage report for the University of Puerto Rico<\/a>, the infrastructure in all 11 campuses of the university system suffered severe losses.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-right \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/192083\/original\/file-20171026-13349-1ygq6yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">H\u00e9ctor Rios Maury, chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico\u2019s Humacao campus, speaks to staff and students after the storm.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Evelyn M. Rodr\u00edguez<\/span>, <span class=\"license\">Author provided<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Humacao campus, located on the island\u2019s eastern side, was the hardest hit, with damages calculated at <a href=\"http:\/\/dialogoupr.com\/ascienden-32-millones-los-danos-en-upr-humacao\/\">more than US$35 million<\/a>. Classes will start again on Oct. 31.<\/p>\n<p>Students at the R\u00edo Piedras campus, <a href=\"https:\/\/baeuprrp.com\/2017\/10\/05\/carta-circular-a-la-comunidad-universitaria\/\">which has been partially closed<\/a> since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/storyline\/hurricane-irma\/hurricane-irma-skirts-puerto-rico-lashing-it-powerful-winds-flooding-n799086\">Hurricane Irma skirted Puerto Rico on Sept. 6<\/a>, have had only a week of class so far this year. <\/p>\n<p>Five weeks after Hurricane Maria, all the campuses have now reissued their academic calendars and classes are resuming, though in some places the first semester will run through January to make up for lost time. <\/p>\n<h2>A culture of catastrophe<\/h2>\n<p>Starting on Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria swamped Puerto Rico with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/capital-weather-gang\/wp\/2017\/09\/19\/category-5-hurricane-maria-is-a-disaster-scenario-for-puerto-rico-and-virgin-islands-jose-to-brush-by-new-england\/?utm_term=.c525af151c1a\">20 inches of rain and battered it with 150 mph winds<\/a> for over 30 hours.<\/p>\n<p>The resulting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/science-and-health\/2017\/9\/26\/16365994\/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts\">humanitarian crisis<\/a> has been widely reported worldwide: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/19\/us\/puerto-rico-electricity-power.html?_r=0\">80 percent of the island is still without electricity<\/a> and there is not <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/10\/13\/us\/puerto-rico-superfund-water\/index.html\">enough drinking water<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Communications \u2013 radio, television, telephones and internet \u2013 are now recovering slowly, after weeks of near nonexistence. Having said that, it took me more than two weeks just to write this article, between finding somewhere to charge my laptop and locating an internet connection strong enough to research the data and send a file by email. Eventually I discovered a Starbucks near my house with both electricity and Wi-Fi. Nothing is easy.<\/p>\n<p>What outsiders are unable to see, perhaps, is that an entire culture has arisen around the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Maria \u2013 one with typically catastrophic traits: material scarcity, emotional trauma, economic catastrophe, environmental devastation. <\/p>\n<p>Puerto Ricans are now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/24\/us\/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-coping.html\">facing a dramatically different way of life<\/a>, which means our relatives and friends in the diaspora are, too.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing about life resembles anything close to normal. An estimated 100,000 homes and buildings were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.listindiario.com\/la-republica\/2017\/10\/10\/485835\/danos-del-huracan-maria-en-puerto-rico-abren-puertas-a-mano-de-obra-dominicana-para-reconstruccion\">demolished in the storm<\/a>, and 90 percent of the island\u2019s infrastructure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/energy-and-environment\/2017\/9\/30\/16384176\/army-corps-puerto-rico-iraq-hurricane-maria\">is damaged or destroyed<\/a>. Not only are there shortages of water and electricity but also of food, highways, bridges, security forces and medical facilities.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unsafe to venture outside at night. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.infobae.com\/america\/america-latina\/2017\/09\/20\/el-gobernador-de-puerto-rico-declaro-el-toque-de-queda-tras-el-paso-del-huracan-maria\/\">island-wide curfew<\/a> was lifted last week, but without streetlights, stoplights or police, driving and walking are dangerous after dark.<\/p>\n<p>The official tally of missing people varies, with police tallies ranging from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.primerahora.com\/noticias\/policia-tribunales\/nota\/bajaa60lacifradepersonasdesaparecidastrasmaria-1251791\/\">60<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elnuevodia.com\/noticias\/locales\/nota\/buscandesaparecidostraselpasodelciclon-2368133\/\">80<\/a> right now. Considering Puerto Rico\u2019s hazardous conditions and limited health care services, that number is sure to rise. We are well aware that epidemic diseases, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/science-and-health\/2017\/10\/18\/16489180\/water-crisis-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria\">including leptospirosis and cholera<\/a>, could come next. Health concerns are further stoked by the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/is-racial-bias-driving-trumps-neglect-of-puerto-rico-85662\">delays and disarray of the various federal agencies tasked with handling this emergency<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A deep uncertainty looms over our futures. There is <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-mental-health-toll-of-puerto-ricos-prolonged-power-outages-85941\">post-traumatic stress<\/a> involved in surviving in an overwhelming situation like this, so as a people we\u2019re now waking up to that psychological pain, too.<\/p>\n<h2>The outlook from here<\/h2>\n<p>In short, Hurricane Maria has changed the modern history of Puerto Rico. For those who, like me, are curious about such things, the last storm of this caliber was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/sfl-ahurricane14sep14-story.html\">San Felipe II<\/a>, in 1928. <\/p>\n<p>Known in the U.S. as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/mfl\/okeechobee\">Great Okeechobee Hurricane<\/a>, that massive storm was so destructive that it basically plunged Puerto Rico and Florida into the Great Depression <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/sfl-ahurricane14sep14-story.html\">a year before the rest of the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/192109\/original\/file-20171026-13327-1rgx4aq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">The aftermath of the Great Okeechobee Hurricane in Florida, 1928.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><a class=\"source\" href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/17\/1928_Okeechobee_Aftermath_12.jpg\">NOAA<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In some ways, though, Puerto Ricans are well prepared for these challenges, for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/travel\/puerto-rico-history-and-heritage-13990189\/\">history of the island<\/a> is one of uncertainty and trouble.<\/p>\n<p>Puerto Rico has never had a sovereign government. Instead, it has always been bound to some other larger and more powerful state. First it was Spain, which <a href=\"http:\/\/gsp.yale.edu\/case-studies\/colonial-genocides-project\/puerto-rico\">colonized our territory in 1508<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Then, since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/puerto-rico-invaded\">the 1898 invasion<\/a>, it\u2019s been the United States, a country with which Puerto Rico enjoys a tricky political relationship. That\u2019s very clear right now, as the Trump administration wavers in coming to our aid.<\/p>\n<h2>Mired in uncertainty<\/h2>\n<p>Even before the hurricane arrived, Puerto Rico was facing uncertainty around another major challenge: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/03\/business\/dealbook\/puerto-rico-debt.html\">bankruptcy<\/a>. Considering lost pensions, jobs and savings, the real financial costs surely exceed by billions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/investor\/2017\/07\/07\/whats-at-stake-in-a-puerto-rican-bankruptcy\/#77f87ddb4247\">the official sum of $123 billion in unpaid government debt<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Hurricane Maria has deepened this economic crisis, creating a ripple effect that touches everyone across all levels of society. <\/p>\n<p>Everyone is mired in uncertainty. What is the solution to this cascading set of problems? How long will recovery take? What could actually make life better for us? What will we miss? Will anything ever be the same?<\/p>\n<p>Among all this concern and confusion, though, some things have become clearer since the storm. On this once-green island, the hurricane <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/09\/24\/us\/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-agriculture-.html\">blew down<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/10\/01\/554753135\/after-hurricane-s-wrath-puerto-rico-s-green-forests-turn-bare-brown\">shredded<\/a> thousands and thousands of trees. <\/p>\n<p>The sky is more visible now. Houses once hidden are exposed, and we discern entire communities that that we rarely saw before.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/191724\/original\/file-20171024-30565-11dpyxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">A graffiti-scrawled reminder in Puerto Rico: \u2018Behind the trees live a lot of people.\u2019<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Evelyn M. Rodr\u00edguez<\/span>, <span class=\"license\">Author provided<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s graffiti popping up across the island, written by someone identified as \u201cJC,\u201d who reminds Puerto Ricans, as a kind of consolation, that \u201cBehind the trees live a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just as new environments are created in areas opened up by the hurricane, with trees and plants sprouting afresh, over time we\u2019ll find that our current uncertainties also fade and transform. A brand new way of life is emerging among all Puerto Ricans \u2013 those who stayed, those who left, their relatives and their friends. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/86426\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><em>Leer <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/soy-bibliotecaria-en-puerto-rico-y-sobrevivi-el-huracan-maria-esta-es-mi-historia-86195\">en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/evelyn-milagros-rodriguez-413510\">Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez<\/a>, Research, Reference and Special Collections Librarian, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-puerto-rico-humacao-3265\">University of Puerto Rico &#8211; Humacao<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published on <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a>. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/im-a-librarian-in-puerto-rico-and-this-is-my-hurricane-maria-survival-story-86426\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez, University of Puerto Rico &#8211; Humacao I\u2019ve always been fascinated by storms, particularly Puerto Rico\u2019s own history of them. I think it\u2019s because I was born in September 1960 during Hurricane Donna. In its wake, that storm left more than 100 dead in Humacao, the city where I am now a special [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":10313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[3144,3401,3023,264,1869,1686,1602],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10312,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10311\/revisions\/10312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}