After 17 days, over 85 percent of
Puerto Ricans still have no electricity and drinking water is
difficult to find.
Some 700,000 children are
suffering from the effects of Maria in Puerto Rico after the
hurricane devastated the island on Sept. 20, according to Save the
Children.
"We know from decades of
experience that children are the most affected in emergencies and
disasters, and their needs often go awry," Casey Harrity,
the team leader at Save the Children in Puerto Rico, said in a
statement.
Harrity also stated that nearly
500 public schools were damaged as a result of Hurricane Maria. The
statement concluded with a plan to identify damages within public
schools and children’s centers on the island.
Save the Children has reported
that there are "children's spaces" being constructed inside
of shelters that will give children a sense of normalcy while they
wait to return to school.
After 17 days, over 85 percent of
Puerto Ricans still have no electricity and drinking water is
difficult to find.
U.S. President Donald Trump has
been criticized for his meager federal response to Hurricane Maria,
from failing to mention the disaster for several days to throwing
paper towels at residents on a short visit to the Caribbean island,
which is a colony of the United States.
Preemptive disaster relief
strategies such as resource pre-positioning proved to be insufficient
as the catastrophic event destroyed much of Puerto Rico’s
infrastructure.
At present, 36 deaths have been
reported directly resulting from Hurricane Maria and 8,349 refugees
have been reported.
According to the NGO, nearly 60
percent of children in Puerto Rico live below the poverty line.
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