A full two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit, I was finally able to get in touch with some members of my family living in Puerto Rico. Communications by phone were and still are, impossible. We managed to connect sporadically through Facebook messenger, which has been the only lifeline for many. They are able to get infrequent and slow connections to the internet and from time to time post updates, which allowed for some (delayed) communication.

There was talk of the family pharmacy having to close due to shortages of medicine. Five of their pharmacists have already left for the mainland. A bridge collapse has severely limited the ability to get around town. Traffic and lines are terrible. Just getting the basics can take all day long, and there’s a curfew that starts as soon as it gets dark.

People who were civil in the early days after the hurricane, sharing food and resources, are starting to lose patience. Diseases are starting to break out and people are scared. They have seen little improvements a full month after the hurricane. Most communications are still down, electricity is still out throughout the majority of the island, and it’s expected to stay this way for months.

Read the full article by Abigail Golden-Vazquez about Puerto Rico Recovery from The Aspen Institute