Emergency Response to Hurricane Irma and Maria

As street signs and roofs across Puerto Rico began to rattle on September 19^th as Hurricane Maria barreled towards the island, residents of the neighborhood of La Charca feared for the worst. Located in a ravine in the foothills of central Puerto Rico, the town had experienced significant flooding during previous storms, all of which had been less powerful than Hurricane Maria. Over the course of next two days, the storm would go on to drop up to 20 inches of rain on the region, much of which poured down the hillsides, submerging La Charca in floodwater.

Helminia and her sister, Mercedes, were two survivors of the floods. The hurricane submerged the bottom floors of both of their houses in blackwater–water contaminated by untreated sewage– and ripped the roof off of Mercedes’ home. Today, over five months after the storm, Helminia is still sleeping on the top floor of her home due to damage from the flood. Mercedes comes over to her house at night to sleep as her own house, made mostly of wood planks and plywood, is still missing its roof.

International Medical Corps visited Helminia and Mercedes in December to check their health and provide them with hygiene kits as a part of our support of Florida Medical Plaza, a local health care clinic serving vulnerable populations in the Florida municipality. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, we provided the Florida Medical Plaza clinic with a generator and fuel to help them keep their doors open and provide uninterrupted health care services to hard-hit communities like La Charca.

To support individuals like Helminia and Mercedes who are continuing to recover from the storm, International Medical Corps is working with local health clinics to operate mobile medical units (MMUs) in remote locations of the island. To date, we have provided to consultations 995 patients through our MMUs, many of whom are suffering from chronic disease and are unable to travel to heath facilities.

Helminia and Mercedes have lived in La Charca for over thirty years and intend to stay despite the damage to their homes and community. To help ensure that they are better prepared for the next disaster, we provided them with important information on how to maintain their health and hygiene after an emergency.

We thank the GlobalGiving family for their ongoing support of vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico as we continue to help them recover from the devastating September hurricanes.