Hurricane Maria

On the morning of Wednesday, September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, devastating the island and plunging all of its 3.4 million residents into a desperate humanitarian crisis. The storm left thousands of families without homes and destroyed some communities entirely.

The scale of Maria’s destruction has caused as much as $94 billion in damage — a crippling toll for an island that was already billions of dollars in debt. But the effects of the storm will undoubtedly be felt most by the people themselves. While the official death toll is 64 people, new studies show this number may be over 1000.

More than four months have passed since Hurricane Maria made landfall, and clear evidence of the storm remains. The lack of electricity, running water and reliable communications remain central challenges to the Caribbean island as it struggles to return to a semblance of normal life.

Hurricane Maria is the worst storm to hit Puerto Rico in over 80 years, and arrived only two weeks after Hurricane Irma passed just north of the island and left 1 million people without power. The effect on Puerto Rican families — and the island’s infrastructure — will take many years to heal.