Many Puerto Ricans are living without reliable power, water and cellular coverage as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers implements a temporary relief system for critical infrastructure and works to stabilize the spillway of a hurricane-damaged dam.
“We have 2,400 miles of transmission lines and 30,000 miles of distribution lines in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority [PREPA] estimates that 80% of those are destroyed,” says Jose Sanchez, director of contingency operations and homeland security for the Corps. “We have 30 substations, and some haven’t been able to be assessed due to the location and lack of communication.”