Guardian | Large amounts of federal aid began moving into Puerto Rico
on Saturday, as the island tried to recover from a battering by
hurricane Maria. Local officials praised the Trump administration’s
response but also called for the emergency loosening of rules long
blamed for condemning the US territory to second-class economic status.
In the north-west of the island, people began returning to their
homes after a spillway eased pressure on a dam that cracked after more
than 1ft of rain fell in the wake of the hurricane. Though water
continued to pour out of rain-swollen Lake Guajataca, the dam had not
burst by Saturday night.
Upstream of the towns of Quebradillas and Isabela, the state of the
dam had prompted stern official warnings from Governor Ricardo Rossello
and the US National Weather Service (NWS). Federal officials said Friday
that 70,000 people would have to be evacuated, although Javier Jimenez,
mayor of the nearby town of San Sebastian, said he believed the number
was far smaller. Secretary of Public Affairs Ramon Rosario said about
300 families were in harm’s way.
The NWS extended a flash flood watch for communities along the
rain-swollen Guajataca River until 2pm local time on Sunday. If the dam
failed, the NWS warned, the flooding would be life-threatening. “Stay
away or be swept away,” it said.
The governor said there was “significant damage” to the dam and
authorities believed it could give way at any moment. “We don’t know how
long it’s going to hold,” Rossello said. “The integrity of the
structure has been compromised in a significant way.”
Some residents nonetheless returned to their homes on Saturday as
water levels in the reservoir began to sink. “There were a lot of people
worried and crying, but that’s natural, because the reservoir was about
to break through,” said Maria Nieves, 43. “They couldn’t open the
spillway until later in the night.”
The 345-yard dam, which was built around 1928, holds back a man-made
lake covering about two square miles. More than 15in of rain from Maria
fell on the surrounding mountains.
The aid effort quickened with the opening of the island’s main port
in the capital, San Juan, allowing 11 ships to bring in 1.6 million
gallons of water, 23,000 cots, dozens of generators and food. Dozens
more shipments are expected in upcoming days.
