Hurricane Maria has decimated housing across Puerto Rico, affecting residents of all income levels. Early estimates of the number of completely damaged homes range from 25,000 (the local housing department) to 90,000 (the local homebuilding association).

Among the blows to the island’s infrastructure is the damage to its large stock of public and assisted housing, a situation that threatens to leave tens of thousands of residents homeless. Several local public housing authorities that administer Housing Choice Vouchers are still not operational, and little is known about the state of the commonwealth-wide Puerto Rico Public Housing Authority’s units. Nearly a month after Maria struck, nearly 5,000 residents are still living in temporary shelters, with others leaving Puerto Rico to find stable housing in states like Florida and Texas.

Puerto Rico has the second-largest housing authority in the US, behind only New York City. According to US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) figures, before Maria hit, about a quarter of a million Puerto Ricans lived in subsidized housing. The island had more than 50,000 public housing units, roughly 30,000 households using Housing Choice Vouchers, and 18,000 households living in project-based Section 8 units. The island’s housing was already in need of significant investment.

Read the source article at Urban Institute