By: Mars McGraw 
5 years ago, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico with a devastating blow, flooding neighborhoods and destroying houses, cities, and Puerto Rico’s whole power grid. It took months to even get to some progress rebuilding the power grid. Then, Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico, once again taking electricity from the island and flooding it. Although the storm has settled, that doesn’t mean that the aftermath won’t take a toll on Puerto Rico and its power grid for years to come. What does this mean for not just Puerto Rico, but other countries affected by this natural disaster?
As of September 27th, according to the New York Times, over 345,000 residents in Puerto Rico are without power, and almost 20 deaths have been recorded as a result of the storm. This comes 5 years after the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017, which compared to Fiona, left 89% of the island without power and 44% of the island had no water service. The turmoil left behind from Fiona According to the World Economic Forum, solar energy options such as Casa Pueblo and Solar Responders make the plan to restore energy on the island.
However, even though Puerto Rico has, for the most part, been featured in the press, it isn’t the only island that has been affected by this disaster. Fiona dominated over many areas of the Caribbean. For example, Fiona swept the east of the Dominican Republic. Leaving parts of the island in mudslides, it was estimated to be the second most affected by Hurricane Fiona. Even parts of Canada had been affected by this hurricane.
On October 3rd, President Joe Biden made an announcement proclaiming that he was going to travel to Puerto Rico on Monday to survey the hurricane’s damage. “I’m heading to Puerto Rico because they haven’t been taken very good care of. They’ve been trying like hell to catch up from the last hurricane. I want to see the state of affairs today and make sure we push everything we can,” announced Biden to reporters. According to the New York Times, Biden will donate $60 million to help in hurricane relief, which includes creating a flood warning system for future storms. He will also survey the damage in Florida done by Hurricane Ian, which appeared not long after Fiona ended and just recently ended as well.