More than half a million people in Puerto Rico remained without water service on Wednesday — three days after Hurricane Fiona slammed into the U.S. territory — sending many to line up for hours to fill jugs from water trucks and others to scoop water from mountain runoff.
Sweat rolled down the faces of people in a long line of cars in the northern mountain town of Caguas, where the government had set up a water truck, one of at least 18 so-called “oases” set up across the island.
Fiona dumped roughly two feet of rain on parts of Puerto Rico before blasting across the eastern Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos Islands. In Caguas, the air conditioning of Emayra Veguilla’s car wasn’t working, so the 34-year-old bus driver propped up a small fan in the passenger seat. Earlier that day, she had blasted the song “Hijos del Canaveral,” , written by Puerto Rican hip-hop star René Pérez as an ode to Puerto Rico and its people’s bravery.Hurricane Fiona pounds Puerto Rico, causing an island-wide blackout.
Reyes said he and his partner had been buying water since Fiona hit, but couldn’t afford to do so any longer. Power company officials initially said it would take a few days for electricity to be restored, but then appeared to backtrack Tuesday night, saying they faced numerous obstacles.
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