Hurricane Maria

FILE - Business owners turn to their power generators to be able to keep working during an island-wide blackout, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 7, 2022. A heavily criticized private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico secured a last-minute extension on its contract Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, despite widespread objection. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

Puerto Rico extends power contract amid outages, objections

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A heavily criticized private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico secured a last-minute extension on its contract Wednesday despite widespread objections.

FILE - Workers at Las Palmas Cafe work with the power of an electricity generator during an island-wide blackout, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

US to supply Puerto Rico with emergency power generation

FILE - Workers at Las Palmas Cafe work with the power of an electricity generator during an island-wide blackout, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

Top US energy official back to Puerto Rico amid power woes

President Joe Biden, with first lady Jill Biden, delivers remarks on Hurricane Fiona, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden tells Puerto Ricans he’s ‘committed to this island’

View of a house that was washed away by Hurricane Fiona at Villa Esperanza in Salinas, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, September 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Officials detail Hurricane Fiona damage to Puerto Rico grid

A man points to a home that was collapsed by Hurricane Fiona at Villa Esperanza in Salinas, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, September 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Biden vows US won’t walk away from storm-struck Puerto Rico

President Joe Biden says the full force of the federal government is ready to help Puerto Rico recover from the devastation of Hurricane Fiona.

Homes are flooded on Salinas Beach after the passing of Hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Fiona dumps more rain on Puerto Rico; troops rescue hundreds

Hurricane Fiona is dumping more rain on Puerto Rico. The deluge comes a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island.

A home is submerged in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Fiona in Cayey, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. According to authorities three people were inside the home and were reported to have been rescued. (AP Photo/Stephanie Rojas)

Hurricane Fiona rips through powerless Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona has struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coast as it unleashed landslides, knocked the power grid out and ripped up asphalt from roads and flung the pieces around.

Jetsabel Osorio leans against a doorway in her hurricane-battered home, in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. Nearly five years have gone by since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, no one has offered her family a plastic tarp or zinc panels to replace the roof that the Category 4 storm ripped off the two-story home tucked in an impoverished corner in the north coastal town of Loiza. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

5 years after Maria, reconstruction drags on in Puerto Rico

Nearly five years have passed since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of 3.2 million people.

FILE - Wilfredo Negron stands on the rooftop of one of his properties securing the zinc roof in preparation for the current hurricane season on July 13, 2020, in Corozal, Puerto Rico. Five years after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico and exposed the funding problems the Caribbean island has long faced, philanthropists warn that many of those issues remain unaddressed, just like the repairs still needed for the American territory’s physical infrastructure. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

Lin-Manuel Miranda, others seek Puerto Rico silver lining

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico five years ago and highlighted the funding problems the Caribbean island has long faced.

Puerto Rico unveils first power grid reconstruction projects

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials announced Monday that the reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s power grid is finally advancing nearly five years after Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory and devastated it.

Puerto Rico comptroller calls on US to probe hurricane case

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s comptroller on Wednesday called on federal authorities to investigate a newly released finding that the U.S. territory’s public bus authority gave more than $15,000 worth of gasoline to private citizens and unauthorized entities after Hurricane Maria hit in

FILE - Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority workers repair distribution lines damaged by Hurricane Maria in the Cantera community of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 19, 2017. Three federal agencies on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, have promised to help modernize Puerto Rico’s outage-plagued power grid and speed up efforts to strengthen it more than four years after Hurricane Maria razed it. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

US to modernize, speed up work on Puerto Rico power grid

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Three federal agencies promised Wednesday to help modernize Puerto Rico’s outage-plagued power grid and speed up efforts to strengthen it more than four years after Hurricane Maria razed it.

US allots $554M for post-Maria repairs in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. government has allotted more than $554 million to repair some 275 public housing complexes in Puerto Rico that were damaged by Hurricane Maria more than four years ago, officials announced Monday.

FILE - Electricity poles and lines lay toppled on the road after Hurricane Maria hit the eastern region of the island, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. A U.S. report released Tuesday, June 1, 2021, has found that abstract emergency response guidelines for the Federal Communications Commission could have caused confusion and delays after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2017. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

Report scrutinizes FCC response in Puerto Rico after Maria

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. report released Tuesday found that abstract emergency response guidelines for the Federal Communications Commission could have caused confusion and delays after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S.

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2017 file photo, destroyed communities are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. Researchers said on April 22, 2021, they are launching a survey of the causes of deaths following the Category 4 storm to clear up questions about a death toll that analysts so far have attributed to factors such as power outages, building failures, and damaged roads. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Scholars study why so many died after Puerto Rico hurricane

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Researchers said Thursday they are launching a survey of the causes of deaths in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria to clear up questions about why the toll of the 2017 Category 4 storm was so high.

Most Oregonians who applied for disaster aid denied

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — More than 24,000 Oregonians applied for federal disaster assistance after the catastrophic 2020 wildfires and about 57% of them were denied.

President Donald Trump arrives in the early morning hours, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, at the White House in Washington, after returning from a rally in Dalton, Ga. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump administration announces $3.7 billion for Puerto Rico

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it will award a $3.7 billion grant to help Puerto Rico rebuild water and wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and reservoirs damaged by Hurricane Maria more than three years ago.

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2018 file photo, Jennice Fuentes, right, of Power 4 Puerto Rico, speaks outside the White House in Washington, during a vigil commemorating the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is getting much of the money it needs to rebuild its power grid three years after it was wiped out by Hurricane Maria, the island territory's governor and the White House said Friday.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Trump shifts on Puerto Rico, releases aid as election nears

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced the release Friday of $13 billion in assistance to repair years-old hurricane damage in Puerto Rico and pledged to restore its economy, setting aside his past bitter treatment of the island and its leaders as he courts Puerto Rican voters in the U.S

Marian Colon, a single mother of two sons, inspects her hurricane-damaged house in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, July 14, 2020. Hurricane Maria tore off her roof and caused a nearby landslide that put her home in jeopardy, and nothing has been fixed or repaired for nearly three years. During that time, she has bounced from home to home thanks to the generosity of relatives, but she is anxious to settle down. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Thousands in Puerto Rico still without housing since Maria

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Nearly three years after Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico, tens of thousands of homes remain badly damaged, many people face a hurricane season under fading blue tarp roofs and the island’s first major program to repair and rebuild houses hasn’t completed a singl

Jose Cepeda takes orders from customers at at Alto del Cabro restaurant amid a government ordered quarantine aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus that is shuttering all non-essential businesses for two weeks in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday, March 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rico discovers protective supply cache amid COVID-19

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The suspected mismanagement of essential supplies during Hurricane Maria turned out to be a boon for Puerto Rico as it fights a rise in coronavirus cases.

In this Friday, Jan. 10 photo, children play on a hay farm where residents from the Indios neighborhood of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, have set up shelter after earthquakes and amid aftershocks in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. A 6.4 magnitude quake that toppled or damaged hundreds of homes in southwestern Puerto Rico is raising concerns about where displaced families will live, while the island still struggles to rebuild from Hurricane Maria two years ago. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

2 more Puerto Rico officials fired after warehouse break-in

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Gov. Wanda Vázquez fired the heads of Puerto Rico’s housing and family departments Sunday in the latest fallout over the discovery of a warehouse filled with emergency supplies dating from Hurricane Maria.

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017 file photo, Department of Homeland Security personnel deliver supplies to Santa Ana community residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Federal authorities said Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, that they have arrested two former officials of the Federal Emergency Management Authority and the former president of a major disaster relief contractor, accusing them of bribery and fraud in the efforts to restore electricity to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

Puerto Rico faces slow recovery 2 years after Maria

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Weekly power outages. Hundreds of uncleared landslides. More than 25,000 homes with blue tarps as roofs.

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017 file photo, Department of Homeland Security personnel deliver supplies to Santa Ana community residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Federal authorities said Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, that they have arrested two former officials of the Federal Emergency Management Authority and the former president of a major disaster relief contractor, accusing them of bribery and fraud in the efforts to restore electricity to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

FEMA officials, contractor accused of hurricane relief fraud

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal authorities said Tuesday they have arrested two former officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the former president of a major disaster relief contractor, accusing them of bribery and fraud in the efforts to restore electricity to Puerto Rico in

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2018, file photo, Idalis Fernandez walks to her hotel room provided by FEMA with her son Adrian, 2, at the Baymont Inn in Kissimmee, Fla. Fernandez moved to Orlando from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

Puerto Ricans who fled to Florida from storm face new storm

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jose Santiago was worried about his two adult daughters as Hurricane Dorian threatened Puerto Rico midweek.

Businesses learn hard lessons when not prepared for disaster

NEW YORK (AP) — When Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, Carlos Melendez couldn’t contact the staffers or customers of his San Juan-based technology firm, Wovenware.

Ex-New York City councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, center, joins protesters outside La Fortaleza, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, July 24, 2019. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico have been outraged by leaked, obscenity-laced online chats between Gov. Ricardo Rossello and his advisers, and have protested for nearly two weeks demanding his resignation. (AP Photo/Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

The Latest: Puerto Rico governor says he will resign Aug. 2

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The latest on the political crisis in Puerto Rico (all times local):

Puerto Rico Gov.

A woman flies a Puerto Rico flag during a protest to demand the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello from office, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday, July 22, 2019. Protesters are demanding Rossello step down for his involvement in a private chat in which he used profanities to describe an ex-New York City councilwoman and a federal control board overseeing the island's finance. (AP Photo/Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans demand governor resign

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Waving flags, chanting and banging pots and pans, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans jammed a highway Monday to demand the resignation of Gov.

Demonstrators protest against governor Ricardo Rossello, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday, July 19, 2019. Protesters are demanding Rossello step down for his involvement in a private chat in which he used profanities to describe an ex-New York City councilwoman and a federal control board overseeing the island's finance. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Besieged Puerto Rico governor goes quiet amid protests

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — In the Spanish colonial fortress that serves as his official residence, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is under siege.

Report calls on FCC to probe storm aftermath in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A consumer activist group released a report Tuesday outlining the collapse in communications that beset Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and it urged the U.S. government to investigate the problems to avoid a repeat of the situation as the island prepares for another s

A police officer aims a tear gas launcher during a May Day demonstration in Paris, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. French authorities announced tight security measures for May Day demonstrations, with the interior minister saying there was a risk that "radical activists" could join anti-government yellow vest protesters and union workers in the streets of Paris and across the country. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

The Latest: Thousands mourn for Puerto Rico at May Day rally

BERLIN (AP) — The latest on May Day events and rallies around the world (all times local):

9:15 p.m.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans marched to the rhythm of traditional music and tambourines while opposing austerity measures, with many demanding the ouster of a federal control board overseeing the U.S. territory’s finances.

Puerto Rico is rebounding after Hurricane Maria

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Nearly two years after a deadly hurricane season, tourists are visiting Puerto Rico in record numbers as the U.S. territory continues to rebuild from Hurricane Maria.

A woman fills out a form at a receiving window as others wait their turn at the Department of Family Affairs, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Friday, March 29, 2019. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are feeling the sting of what the territorial government says are insufficient federal funds to help the island recover from the Category 4 storm amid a 12-year recession. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Ricans struggle to buy food amid funding shortfall

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (AP) — Iraida Vargas can no longer afford the two kinds of insulin her aging mother needs and has stopped buying fresh fruit and vegetables as billions of dollars in federal funds that help Puerto Ricans buy food, get medical treatment and recover from Hurricane Maria dwindle de

This March 13, 2019 photo shows information relayed through the Clusterduck system which provides a low-frequency Wi-Fi connection in the event of a disaster, on Project OWL team leader Bryan Knouse's computer, during a field test in Isabela, Puerto Rico. Every couple of minutes, the computer dinged with messages that included names, location and details of the roving group that popped up on a map with messages such as "Help me please!" and "NEED WATER!!!" (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rico lures tech developers as hurricane season looms

ISABELA, Puerto Rico (AP) — In the dark and isolating days after Hurricane Maria, people across Puerto Rico invented new ways to communicate: Elderly couples in need of food or water would raise a flag at their home.

Puerto Rico Gov: Trump refuses meeting over hurricane relief

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has refused to meet privately with Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello, the governor said Friday, as he condemned the Trump administration for not providing more disaster relief in the 17 months since Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory and left thou