Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – Around 86 percent of the projects that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated to address damage by Hurricane María have resources to reinforce their infrastructure, among other hazard mitigation measures that will prepare these facilities for future weather events.
To date, the agency has allocated over $31 billion for nearly 10,800 projects that are providing results for Puerto Rico’s recovery six years after Hurricane María.
“At this stage of the recovery, Puerto Rico is already showing the results of the billions FEMA has allocated for recovery six years after María. The agency’s staff continues with the same sense of commitment as day one and we will keep ensuring that projects already in progress comply with current building codes so that new infrastructure can sustain future weather events,” said Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José G. Baquero.
The YMCA’s Jaime Luis González Inclán Sports Center in San Juan is one of the projects that recently celebrated the start of the reconstruction of its facilities. The project has $1.2 million from the agency and the work includes mitigation measures to prevent water infiltration into the center.
In the field of water infrastructure, one of the projects already under construction is the trunk sewer line for the communities of Vistamar, Los Ángeles and Loíza Pueblo in Carolina and Loíza, respectively. According to the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), the progress of the reconstruction of the trunk sewer is currently at a 47 percent and the Authority expects to complete the work by March 2024.
This trunk sewer — which will have an updated system capable of withstanding future atmospheric events — is being reconstructed using a non-invasive method that avoids excavation in the adjacent communities and whose results will provide service for at least 50 years. Nearly $8.2 million from FEMA are contributing to the reconstruction of a system that will benefit some 15,000 customers.
Meanwhile, in downtown Corozal, residents and neighbors of the municipality are already enjoying a reconstructed movie theater, which now bears the name of the cuatro player from Corozal, Manuel Nieves Quintero. The facilities were developed as the Aurora Theater in 1921. Later, the structure housed different stores and then resumed its functions as a movie theater in 2017. Following Hurricane María, the municipality had over $55,000 in FEMA funds for the reconstruction and replacement of the theater’s equipment. Currently, the Cine Teatro offers a lineup of contemporary movies and also serves as a space for special events.
For the chairman of the Corozal Cultural Center, Martín Rosado González, the Nieves Quintero Movie Theater “is one of the most beautiful in Puerto Rico”. He also pointed out that the reconstructed facilities convey a message of the town’s life and that they are enjoyed by the youth of Corozal.
For his part, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency (COR3), Manuel A. Laboy Rivera, stated, “During the past years we have overcome multiple challenges together with FEMA and the subrecipients, eliminating redundant processes and implementing initiatives that have allowed the reconstruction of Puerto Rico to advance. The evidence is clear, there are currently over 2,834 projects in the process of construction that have obligations amounting to $1,92 million. Meanwhile, another 2,069 permanent works with FEMA allocations of approximately $476.4 million were completed. To promote the development of these permanent projects, COR3 has disbursed, since halfway of last year and at the request of municipalities, government agencies and non-profit organizations, over $1.2 billion through the Working Capital Advance pilot program. I reaffirm COR3’s commitment to continue working as a team in search of alternatives that allow us to continue advancing the reconstruction.”
For more information about Puerto Rico’s recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4339, fema.gov/disaster/4473 and recovery.pr. Follow us on our social media at Facebook.com/FEMAPuertoRico, Facebook.com/COR3pr and Twitter @COR3pr.
Loíza/Carolina, PUERTO RICO (March 14, 2023) – In the field of water infrastructure, one of the projects already under construction is the trunk sewer line for the communities of Vistamar, Los Ángeles and Loíza Pueblo in Carolina and Loíza, respectively. According to the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), the progress of the reconstruction of the trunk sewer is currently at a 47 percent and the Authority expects to end the work by March 2024. Photo FEMA/ Eliezer Hernández
Corozal, PUERTO RICO (March 23, 2023) – Meanwhile, in downtown Corozal, residents and neighbors of the municipality are already enjoying a reconstructed movie theater, which now bears the name of the cuatro player from Corozal, Manuel Nieves Quintero. Following Hurricane María, the municipality had over $55,000 in FEMA funds for the reconstruction and replacement of the theater’s equipment. Currently, the Cine Teatro offers a lineup of contemporary movies and also serves as a space for special events. Photo FEMA/ Eliezer Hernández