For Puerto Ricans Living On Public Wetland, No FEMA Help To Rebuild
Alberto Díaz lives surrounded by cars. After Hurricane Maria’s floods, none of them work. When Díaz built his house in Valle Hill, he raised his foundation so the home wouldn’t flood. But Maria still brought a few feet of water inside. Photo by Ryan Caron King for Connecticut Public Radio
Valle Hill is a neighborhood in Puerto Rico that shouldn’t exist.
It is a village of private homes on a public wetland. When it rains, it floods. Residents who have water or power probably have it illegally. Few if any residents here have title to their properties. And the water project that was to help the residents? It’s stalled, and so is the effort to build a dike to stop the floodwaters from rising again.
And then came Hurricane Maria, which only made a bad situation worse.