SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) – A week after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, most of its 3.4 million residents are scrambling to find clean water, with experts concerned about a looming public health crisis posed by the island’s damaged water system.
But the island does not have nearly enough generators to perform this work, utility officials say, while fuel to run them is scarce.
At the water line in Canovanas, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of the capital San Juan, people dunked bottles into larger containers still filling with water to make the most of their turn at the tanker.
A woman drinks from a bottle after filling it with water from a tank truck at an area hit by Hurricane Maria in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, September 26, 2017.
Even before the hurricane, Puerto Rico had a troubled water system.
The situation has only become worse with Maria, which has crippled sewage treatment plants and made the island’s already leaky pipes even more prone to contamination.
Last year, it entered into an agreement to plead guilty to an indictment charging 15 felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act through the illegal discharge of pollutants from nine sanitary wastewater treatment plants and five drinking water treatment plants, U.S. authorities said in December.
Negroni, 72, said he figures they will not have water service or electricity restored for weeks.
“I can make coffee,” Negroni said.