Puerto Rico’s governor on Saturday met mayors from around the ravaged island after surveying damage to an earthen dam in the northwestern part of the US territory that was threatening to collapse from flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
About 70,000 people who live downstream from the compromised dam, which has formed a lake on the rain-swollen Guajataca River, were under orders to evacuate, with the structure in danger of bursting at any time.
“We saw directly the damage to the Guajataca dam,” Governor Ricardo Rossello said in a Spanish-language Twitter message on Saturday while reinforcing his request that people leave the area as soon as possible.
Photo: AP
“The fissure has become a significant rupture,” Rossello said separately at a news conference on Saturday.
The US National Weather Service said on its Web site the dam was still in danger of failing and triggering life-threatening flash floods.
However, a spillway has eased pressure on the dam for now.
People across the island were struggling to dig out from the devastation left by the storm, which killed at least 25 people, including at least 10 in Puerto Rico, according to officials and media reports.
“To all Puerto Ricans, please know we will get back up,” the governor tweeted as he met mayors in the territory to identify their most urgent needs. “Together with the mayors, as one government.4Puerto Rico”
Severe flooding, structural damage to homes and virtually no electric power were three of the most pressing problems facing Puerto Ricans, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a tour of the island.
“It’s a terrible immediate situation that requires assistance from the federal government — not just financial assistance,” said Cuomo, whose state is home to millions of people of Puerto Rican descent.
“It is a dangerous situation today and it’s going to be a long-term reconstruction issue for months,” Cuomo told CNN.
Signs of the strain on Puerto Ricans were evident throughout San Juan, the capital.
Drivers had to wait up to seven hours at the few filling stations open on Saturday, according to news reports, and lines of cars snaked for blocks.
Rossello said there was no shortage of gas, but that distribution was hampered. He pleaded with residents to stay calm.
Hotels warned that guests might have to leave soon without fresh supplies of diesel to keep generators operating.
Water rationing also began on Saturday. Signs posted throughout San Juan’s Old Town informed residents that service would return for two hours each day, between 5pm and 7pm, until further notice.
Health-sector workers said the island was nearing a critical moment as some organizations ran low on fuel for generators.
Maritza Lamoso, executive director at Residence Senior Living in the Puerto Nuevo section of San Juan, said she had put out 20 calls for emergency diesel and been visited by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but as of Saturday afternoon, she still had no fuel.
“If the diesel doesn’t arrive today, I’m going to have to start removing people,” she said from the lobby of the center, adding that two other facilities in the same network were in similar circumstances.
Rossello said agencies were rushing to deliver fuel to hospitals, bring water, food and other aid to isolated communities.
“This is, without a doubt, the biggest catastrophe in modern history for Puerto Rico in terms of the damage to infrastructure and in terms of damage to the island as a whole,” he said. “Our consideration is not a fiscal consideration. It’s restoring people’s security and restoring normalcy.”
On an island marked by sharp income disparities, there was a notable ratcheting up of private security by those at the top.
At billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson’s hotels in hip Condado, workers turned away non-guests trying to get into the lobby for a burst of cool air or to charge a cellphone. Paulson’s organization said La Concha was being used as a FEMA headquarters.
The feeling was more desperate outside the capital. The north coastal town of Manati had run out of fuel and fresh water, Manati Mayor Jose Sanchez Gonzalez said.
“Hysteria is starting to spread. The hospital is about to collapse. It’s at capacity,” he said, crying, according to the Associated Press. “We need someone to help us immediately.”
Large amounts of US federal aid began moving into Puerto Rico on Saturday. The opening of the island’s main port in San Juan allowed 11 ships to bring in more than 6 million liters of water, 23,000 cots, dozens of generators and food.
Dozens more shipments are expected in upcoming days.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and AP
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