Puerto Rico needs our help.
The island was hit by Hurricane Maria last week. The eye, holding the 10th lowest pressure of any Atlantic hurricane in history, went right through the middle of this tropical paradise I call home. It’s easy to say “the island is devastated and destroyed,” but it’s hard to comprehend the magnitude unless you know what’s really going on. I’ll try to put it into perspective.
Imagine that the whole state of Iowa (about 3.1 million people, compared to PR’s 3.5 million) was hit by 150+ mph winds for 12 hours straight.
Nobody has power. Cell phone towers are down and a week later, you might still not have heard from your family in Des Moines, in Okoboji, even in Mount Vernon. There’s no available drinking water.
Without power, not much works.
A week later, less than a dozen hospitals have power. A dozen hospitals, for a whole state that’s in a health emergency. Response workers are physically sweeping the streets to find people in need of assistance because they can’t call 911, the water is still to their roof lines, or they are simply trapped. Whole towns are physically cut off from the world because their roads are gone, their bridges have fallen, and they’re surrounded by a newly formed moat.
You go to one of the few grocery stores that is open. You can only buy one can of beans for your whole family and one gallon of water. Only one item per family. The little fuel that is being received is not being distributed because the roads are unavailable, the drivers cannot leave their homes, or they don’t even know where to go since communications are down. No one can come or go because the airport is still not functional. On top of all this, you can’t drive 12 hours to Colorado to find food, water,and fuel. You can’t even drive two hours without reaching salty water.
Imagine it’s been a week and it’s all the same.
There’s some help coming, but it’s been slow. Fuel is running short, while lines for food and water are long. There’s uncertainty for the future, for jobs to earn a living, for power to come back…for things to go back to “normal.”
Puerto Rico needs our help. Even $1 will make a difference.
Please, consider donating to United for Puerto Rico. It’s an initiative started by PR’s First Lady to help with immediate relief on the island. It’s also backed by the former presidents’ fundraising campaign One America Appeal.
Hurrican Maria Community Recovery Fund is another great place to help. 100% of funds collected will be used in the reconstruction of poor or lower resource communities.
We are all in this together. A sincere THANK YOU from all of us.
Make sure you never miss out on a parenting or community-related blog post: sign up to receive CRMB posts in your inbox. While you’re at it, join our VIP List to ensure you’re one of the first to know about upcoming Cedar Rapids Moms Blog events and promotions!!
