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How to Help Puerto Rico in the Aftermath of Hurricane Fiona
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What are you doing for others?’ ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Here, in the archipelago of Borikén (our Indigenous name), we are no strangers to severe storms. Since the 16th century, our people have known the fiery of la naturaleza (roughly translated as Mother Nature).
On 16 August 1508, Tropical Storm San Roque was the “first tropical cyclone” recorded in Puerto Rico. It is said to have been “reported by Juan Ponce de León when his ship was brought to the shore by the high winds and waves in the southwest coast of Puerto Rico.”
One of the most deadly dated 8 August 1899 was San Ciriaco. Being the first hurricane under which Puerto Rico was a U.S. territory, it holds another major significance: it claimed the lives of 3,369.
Fast forward to 20 September 2017, Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico. Becoming a Category 4 storm, its devastation (power outages, over 4,000 deaths, flooding, homes lost) left trauma triggers still felt today.
So that when this past Sunday, Category 1 Hurricane Fiona reached our shores, many of those feelings left over from Maria resurfaced.
