Today Marks the Seventh Anniversary of Hurricane María, the Storm that Ravaged the Puerto Rican Archipelago
Its impact on their psyche remains.
In honor of every one of the 4,645 who died as a consequence of María and for each puertorriqueñe who left, but still hasn’t returned home.
Regret maintains a certain grip on my heart and mind. This is because — while I donated children’s clothing at Taino Towers and took canned food to the Fire House in El Barrio — I still feel it wasn’t enough.
I was in touch with family members who lived here (back then I was living in New York City) and was heartbroken to hear their stories of being days and weeks, (for some) months without electricity. Hundreds of thousands, if not the entire population of some three million people, were without water.
They waited hours in line for a bag of ice. Roads, infrastructure, homes — damaged beyond belief! One of my cousins recorded the 150mph-plus winds outside her home in Trujillo Alto — tears streamed down my face as I watched it via WhatsApp.
I rarely ask friends, family, or neighbors about Huracán María. There’s no need to because (a) nearly everyone is still traumatized by it and (b) whenever someone mentions María, there’s an accompanying somber and gloom — on their…
