Una pesadilla para los puertorriqueños conseguir hogar, mientras otros acaparan propiedades

“Es una misión imposible buscar casa en Puerto Rico”. Así la pediatra Cynthia Miguel resumió su experiencia al intentar encontrar una propiedad donde vivir con sus tres hijos en San Juan. “Vi como 10 propiedades en San Juan, siete u ocho walkups y apartamentos. Me topé con listas de espera de hasta 15 personas para verlos. Hubo ‘realtors’ que me dijeron que me llamarían para avisarme cuándo podrían mostrarme la propiedad.

A Nightmare for Puerto Ricans to Find a Home, While Others Accumulate Properties

“Searching for a house in Puerto Rico is mission impossible.” That is how pediatrician Cynthia Miguel summed up her experience trying to find a property to live with her three children in San Juan. “I saw about 10 properties in San Juan, seven or eight walk ups and apartments. I ran into waiting lists of up to 15 people to see them. I had realtors who told me they would call me to let me know when they could show me the property. I never got any calls back,” she recounted.

No Solutions to Prevent Blockages in Irrigation Channels During Severe Floods in Puerto Rico

Communities around the irrigation channels, whose conditions worsened due to the flooding caused by Hurricane Fiona, will continue to be at risk because there are no immediate solutions to prevent obstructions during extraordinary rainfall events, experts and the government of Puerto Rico told the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI, in Spanish). Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) set aside $62 million in Hurricane María recovery funds for permanent work projects for this network of irrigation channels, the process is still in the design stage, one of the steps required by the federal agency to allocate the funds and, eventually, disburse them. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) submitted three permanent works projects to FEMA in October 2021 for the three irrigation districts it manages in Patillas in the South, Isabela in the North and Lajas in the southwestern coast. These structures belonged to the former Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority (PRWRA), created in 1941 to manage the reservoirs used for electricity generation. Irrigation channels are part of that system and now provide water for agriculture in those areas.