Hurricane Maria News: Puerto Rico Power Supply Left Damaged; Storm Caused at Least 16 Deaths
Puerto Rico's source of power was severely damaged when Hurricane Maria hit the United States territory. Meanwhile, Hurricane Maria has claimed at least 16 lives in three different nations.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello announced that Hurricane Maria — which regained strength enough to become a Category 3 storm again — caused critical damage to the U.S. territory's energy grid that it resulted in a complete shut-down of their power system.
The governor added that no one in Puerto Rico has access to electricity, CNN confirmed.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
However, Rossello explained that they won't be able to determine the full extent of the damage Hurricane Maria has caused on their infrastructures until they conduct a flyover.
But because Puerto Rico has "a little bit old, mishandled, and weak" power grid that they weren't able to develop due to debt and a recession, Rossello believes that it will take them months to restore their infrastructures.
Meanwhile, other officials think that only the distribution systems were disrupted by Hurricane Maria and that not all of their power structures were critically damaged by the storm.
If this is the case, Rossello points out that there's a chance their power systems will be up and running sooner than later.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Maria has claimed at least 16 lives in the nations of Puerto Rico, Caribbean Islands, and Dominica.
Rossello confirmed that at least one person died in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria, while the spokesperson for the Dominica government — Charles Jong — said that 14 people passed because of the destruction caused by the storm.
On the Caribbean Islands, Time confirmed that one person died due to the impact of a falling tree triggered by the strong winds of Hurricane Maria. Meanwhile, two other people are missing after their boat disappeared in Guadeloupe.
Hurricane Maria has left most of the Caribbean Islands and Puerto Rico submerged in inches of flood water, as seen from the images provided by Time.
