Puerto Rico (The United States of America)

Release date:  June 22, 2018 Release Number:  213

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico – FEMA awarded more than $34 million in Public Assistance grants for Hurricane María recovery in Puerto Rico.

To date, the FEMA Public Assistance program has obligated $2.4 billion in total funding to the Government of Puerto Rico and municipalities for debris removal and emergency protective measures.

Release date: June 20, 2018

Release Number: 210

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico – Carmen López spent eight months working to open a restaurant catering to health-conscious customers in the picturesque mountain Municipality of Orocovis. A week before launch, Hurricane María took aim at Puerto Rico and practically destroyed her dream.

Three months later, López opened Pueblo Sano (Healthy Town). She was able to serve only a few fruits and vegetables she could acquire locally.

Up to 50 percent of Puerto Rico's 1.2 million homes are thought to be "informal" - built on land the inhabitants do not own

By Sebastien Malo

NEW YORK, June 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Puerto Rico should use some of the billions of dollars in aid pledged after a deadly hurricane last year to fix a flawed land ownership system that is hampering reconstruction, community leaders said in a report published on Wednesday.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Aids Cause

Portland, Ore. – Fueled by its belief that a better world is possible, the global organization Mercy Corps is joining with Google.org, the Hispanic Federation and Lin-Manuel Miranda to provide ongoing relief to the people of Puerto Rico.

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico – With billions of federal dollars being allocated for Hurricane María recovery, FEMA officials are reassuring the government of Puerto Rico and its mayors that the island is better prepared to withstand any new storm.

Alejandro De La Campa, FEMA’s Capacity Building sector chief, told mayors attending the Preparedness and Disaster Management Conference that FEMA is providing training exercises and technical assistance to both the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency (PREMA) and the island’s 78 municipalities.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear SAMS members and supporters,

Global Organization Focuses on Preparedness in at-Risk Locations

PORTLAND, Ore.—The scars of last year’s Atlantic hurricane season are still fresh but Mercy Corps has put people and plans in place for the start of the 2018 season, with a focus on promoting preparedness in at-risk locations such as Haiti and Puerto Rico.

Release Number: 189

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico – FEMA has awarded nearly $219 million in additional Public Assistance grants for Hurricane María recovery in Puerto Rico.

As of May 30, the FEMA Public Assistance program has obligated $2.2 billion in total funding to the government of Puerto Rico and municipalities for debris removal and emergency protective measures.

Plan Includes Fixing Churches and Homes and Bringing a New Power Source to One Hard-Hit Community

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, May 29, 2018—As hurricane season approaches people across Puerto Rico are still reeling from last year’s devastating storms—Irma and Maria. That’s why international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse is announcing a multi-year recovery plan aimed at rehabilitating more than 390 homes and 55 churches in central and southern Puerto Rico.

El informe, publicado en la revista científica 'New England Journal of Medicine', cree que la cifra oficial de fallecidos es una infravaloración de la verdadera mortalidad.

Hurricane Maria claimed more than 4,600 lives in Puerto Rico last year, more than 70 times higher than the U.S. government's official death toll of 64, according to a study published Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings, based on a survey of thousands of Puerto Rican residents conducted by researchers from Harvard University and elsewhere, show the fatalities occurred between September 20 and December 31, 2017.

BY: CHRIS MORRILL

“I don’t believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charity is so vertical. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other person. I have a lot to learn from other people.” — Eduardo Galeano, author of Open Veins of Latin America

It has been six months since the end of last year’s hurricane season, and the Caribbean is still picking up the pieces.

Partnership provides critical health services, and diabetes and nutrition education

San Juan, PR, May 23, 2018

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico – FEMA recently awarded more than $194 million in additional Public Assistance grants for Hurricane María recovery in Puerto Rico. To date, the FEMA Public Assistance program has obligated $2.2 billion in total funding to the government of Puerto Rico and municipalities for debris removal and emergency protective measures. Emergency protective measures are actions taken to eliminate or lessen immediate threats either to lives, public health or safety, or significant additional damage to public or private property in a cost-effective manner.

ATLANTA (May 22, 2018) – AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, today announced a donation of $100 million to two organizations, Habitat for Humanity International and Direct Relief, to strengthen access to housing and healthcare in Puerto Rico. The organizations will receive $50 million each. This donation is an extension of the more than $4 million AbbVie provided following the unprecedented natural disasters of 2017.

Many Latin American countries, states and cities are facing a chronic public security crisis. In spite of more than a decade of modest economic growth, crime and victimization rates are rising, not dropping. Nevertheless, recent information of 2017 show some signs of improvement. Criminal violence is routinely singled out as one of the top concerns of citizens from across Mexico, Central America and South America. And there are warning signs that the region ́s high rates of criminal violence and victimization will continue rising if nothing is done.

Release Number: 160

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – As Puerto Rico explores how to rebuild after back-to-back Category 4 hurricanes, the people who will collaborate on those solutions were asked to envision innovative construction methods that will have a real and lasting impact.

"True innovation can change and transform the course of Puerto Rico," said Glorimar Ripoll, chief innovation officer for the government of Puerto Rico. "We are not just rebuilding bridges, buildings, roads and houses. We’re also, and most importantly, rebuilding a society."

Release Number:
159

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – Today FEMA approved Gov. Rossello’s request to extend the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program for approximately 1,700 survivors whose benefits were scheduled to end. Partnership in recovery is critical to success and Puerto Rico must lead the way in establishing and executing their recovery goals. FEMA looks forward to this continued partnership and supporting the government of Puerto Rico and Maria survivors.