{"id":20531,"date":"2018-01-16T19:22:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T16:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/?p=20531\/"},"modified":"2018-01-16T21:03:24","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T18:03:24","slug":"traveling-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/traveling-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Puerto Rico,<\/strong> the sun-washed exotic paradise located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, next to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica is yet to be discovered by Greece’s outbound tourism with the extent of the relationships between the two countries remaining close to non-existent \u2013 except for a hit song in Greece by Vaya Con Dios: “Ay ay ay ay Puerto Rico<\/a>“.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides that, Puerto Rico has become popular over the years thanks to celebrities like Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez or by the 2017 song “Despacito” by the Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi who travelled to San Juan to film the song’s videoclip.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago, I started working on a project in collaboration with a Puerto Rican travel blogger, Arnaldo Santiago, who introduced me to the island’s spirit: “Maria”, he’d say, “you should visit Puerto Rico in December” and made me dream of spending Christmas in my swimsuit.<\/span><\/p>\n

This summer, I finally booked my tickets to spend 10 days at Puerto Rico during December. Then came another Maria; Hurricane Maria. In late September, the most destructive storm and worst natural disaster on record in Puerto Rico \u2013 a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with winds of 205km\/h.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The island was utterly transformed after the hurricane hit:<\/strong> from an exotic paradise to a devastated, unrecognizable land. Roofs were ripped, houses utterly destroyed, bridges and streets were cut in half, rivers flooded, vegetation shredded by the violent winds, trees uprooted while the island’s electrical grid was destroyed, the International Airport shut down with communication networks and water supply crippled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aftermath of the storm was disastrous.<\/strong> Friends living in Puerto Rico described the first few weeks after the hurricane hit as if they were living in a war zone. Waiting lines were an everyday reality: three hours were the minimum for transportation, two hours to get fuel from gas stations, four hours in line to the ATM, two hours to buy food and the list goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Almost two months after the hurricane hit, more than a third of the island remained in isolation without food, water or supplies due to the extensive damages in communications and the road network. The list of casualties was long and desperation was growing by the day. By the time the national airport reopened, it was too late; with unemployment skyrocketing and the tourism industry suffering irreversible damage, many Puerto Ricans fled the island for good with hopes of a better luck in the mainland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such was their desperation that finding ice was a god-sent gift in their eyes while shops with air-conditioning were meeting points for locals in search for a way to cool down. It’s shocking how in a minute you could lose everything. How you could be praying for the essentials, standing at the end of the freeway looking for signal to reach your friends and family or for a few minutes online.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t