Relief and Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico

Cataño, PR, September 26, 2017 - Military tanker is filled with diesel fuel to deliver to hospitals that are functioning only on generators. Hospitals and Dialysis Centers are first in line to receive fuel. Yuisa Rios/FEMA

The latest on relief and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria.

Airports and Seaports

  • San Juan International and seven other airports in Puerto Rico are open, or open with restrictions — typically daylight operations only.
  • The Port of San Juan and seven other sea ports are open or open with restrictions.
  • Airports in St. Croix and St. Thomas are open for relief operations only.
  • A mobile air traffic control tower is scheduled for delivery to St. Croix today [9/26]. The mobile tower in St. Thomas is operational only during daylight.
  • Virgin Islands: Nine seaports are open.

Search and Rescue

Water and Power

Soldiers stationed at 783rd Maint. Co. in Toa Baja, P.R. transporting more than 6,000
gallons of water to the San José community, Sept. 24.
  • The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reports that generators on the island are operational; however 80 percent of the transmission system and 100 percent of the distribution system are damaged.
  • Approximately 44 percent of Puerto Rico’s population is without drinking water.
  • FEMA list of water distribution sites September 26, 2017
  • power was restored to St. Croix’s main water production plant and it is now producing water.
Guardsmen from the Puerto Rico National Guard, along with employees from the Aqueducts and Sewers Authority of Puerto Rico, distribute water for the communities of Utuado, P.R., Sept. 26.After the impact of Hurricane Maria, 2,175 service members, including the PRNG, had been mobilized in the territory to support the efforts of the government in the reconstruction of the island.(Photo by Sgt. Jose Ahiram Diaz-Ramos/PRNG-PAO)

Hospitals

  • Eleven of 69 hospitals have fuel or power.

Communications

Emergency communications vehicles in transit to Puerto Rico to support communications for search & rescue, medical, and other federal teams. Credit: Jeff Sandlin
  • FEMA is preparing to ship 350 satellite telephones
  • One C-17 and one C-5 is arriving in Puerto Rico with the Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) unit to provide mobile telecommunications, life support, logistics, operational support and power generation. There are four MERS units currently located in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and each unit includes approximately 20 personnel.

Personnel

The Puerto Rico National Guard begin providing support to the Puerto Rico Police bringing security at different gas stations, Sept. 26. More than 60 Citizens – Soldiers and Airmen, commanded by the 92nd MP Brigade were distributed in four regions, San Juan, Bayamón, Carolina and Caguas, covering the main gas stations in those regions of Puerto Rico where the fuel is being rationed by the lack of distributors and the few available stations that were not affected by Hurricane Maria. (PRNG photos by: Sgt. Alexis Velez / Released-PAO)
  • One Royal Canadian Air Force CC-177 Globemaster from 8 Wing Trenton is arriving in Puerto Rico with a U.S. DoD Civil Affairs Information Support Element (CAISE)
  • One C-17 Globemaster is arriving in Puerto Rico with the remaining Contingency Response Element (CRE) to establish airport operations. This unit includes more than 50 personnel.
  • One C-17 is arriving to Puerto Rico with the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This unit includes approximately 20 personnel with tactical trucks and utility trailers to provide site assessments.
  • One C-17 is arriving to Puerto Rico with the 63d Signal Battalion from Fort Stewart, Georgia. This unit includes approximately 15 personnel, tactical trucks and utility trailers to provide satellite ground communications capabilities.
  • Two C-130s are arriving in Puerto Rico with the FAA’s Incident Staging Base Cache from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia. This unit includes approximately 50 personnel and four heavy duty trucks and equipment.

New Deliveries

Virgin Islands National Guardsmen help hand out food and water to civilians at a distribution point on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Sept. 22, 2017, in Hurricane Irma’s aftermath. Army National Guard photo by Pfc. Chenelle Brady
  • U.S. Northern Command estimates being able to increase the airlift flow rate from 3-6 aircraft per hour to 10 aircraft per hour into Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — for a total of 240 aircraft per day over the next 24 hours.
  • Two C-5s are arriving to Puerto Rico with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to provide tactical airlift with eight helicopters.
  • DLA is providing more than 100 generators, three million meals ready to eat for federal workers, 29.9 million shelf stable meals for local residents and approximately 115 trailers with additional food, cots, bottled water, tarps and blankets to Puerto Rico.

Navy and Coast Guard Response

A U.S Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter transports Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) off the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) to Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean Sea, Sept. 23, 2017. The Department of Defense is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency, in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria to minimize suffering and is one component of the overall whole-of-government response effort. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Juan A. Soto-Delgado)
  • USNS Comfort will be underway in the next 4 days for Puerto Rico. It will take 5-6 days to arrive.

Sources

Department of Defense
Northern Command

Prior Posts

September 26 Hurricane Maria Relief News for Today
September 25 Puerto Rico versus Haiti

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