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Puerto Rico faced extensive and deep-rooted stressors prior to the 2017 hurricane season

• Puerto Rico experienced a decade of economic decline and a debt crisis prior to the hurricanes, which contributed to a lack of investment in its physical and natural infrastructure.
• Increasing migration of young people and working-age adults away from Puerto Rico and a declining birth rate have led to a population downturn.
• An increasing share of Puerto Rico's remaining population has faced poverty or other social challenges.
• Puerto Rico has struggled to provide effective and transparent governance for its residents.

Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage to Puerto Rico's lifeline infrastructure systems and housing

• Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the commonwealth's electricity grid. It took more than 200 days to restore power to all Puerto Rico residents.
• Approximately 90 percent of households applied for postdisaster assistance, with initial estimates of housing damage ranging from $14.1 billion to $18.3 billion.

Prehurricane conditions and damage to lifeline infrastructure affected response and recovery in every sector

• The lack of electricity meant that even facilities that the hurricanes did not damage directly were still inoperable.
• Failure of communication infrastructure delayed critical emergency services and hindered emergency coordination between agencies.
• Puerto Rico's debt crisis hindered initial damage assessments, inspections, repairs, and recovery.
• Many assets showed adverse impacts from aging even before the storms, which made prioritizing repair difficult.
• Debris in roadways made initial damage assessments difficult. It limited transport of fuel supplies for weeks. People could not access physical or mental health care.

To establish an evidence-based foundation for the congressionally required short- and long-term recovery and resilience plan for Puerto Rico following the 2017 hurricanes, the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center assessed the damage from the 2017 hurricane season and remaining needs across the commonwealth in collaboration with federal agencies, the government of Puerto Rico, and other stakeholders. The experts examined what happened during and after Hurricanes Irma and Maria but also how the effects of the hurricanes exacerbated and were exacerbated by predisaster challenges and stressors.

This report provides a comprehensive summary of the commonwealth's challenges and status before and after the storms hit, including their effects on Puerto Rico's people and communities; economy; built and natural environments; and education, health, and social services.

Before the hurricanes, Puerto Rico faced an economic crisis, a shrinking, aging population, substandard public education, poverty, poor housing stock, governance challenges, neglect of infrastructure and resources, and environmental degradation. Hurricane Maria's direct and devastating landfall on Puerto Rico in September 2017 only exacerbated these challenges.

The research team identified short- and longer-term needs for Puerto Rico's recovery and resilience. In the short term, Puerto Rico needs to repair damaged critical infrastructure; improve governance and fiscal accountability; update emergency-preparedness plans; clearly delineate responsibility for infrastructure, assets, and services; and repair damaged and destroyed homes. In the longer term, Puerto Rico will need to systematically address its economic challenges; scale its social services and infrastructure systems for current and future populations; reinforce its infrastructure against natural hazards and build it to modern standards; reduce building-permit and code-enforcement breaches; report timely and accurate data on its economic and fiscal status; and gather further knowledge to inform long-term resilience decisions.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Puerto Rico Before the Storms

• Chapter Three

  An Overview of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria

• Chapter Four

  Methods Used for the Damage and Needs Assessment

• Chapter Five

  Puerto Rico's Economy

• Chapter Six

  Puerto Rico's People and Communities

• Chapter Seven

  Puerto Rico's Energy Systems

• Chapter Eight

  Puerto Rico's Communications and Information Technology

• Chapter Nine

  Puerto Rico's Water

• Chapter Ten

  Puerto Rico's Transportation

• Chapter Eleven

  Puerto Rico's Housing

• Chapter Twelve

  Puerto Rico's Public Buildings

• Chapter Thirteen

  Puerto Rico's Cultural Resources

• Chapter Fourteen

  Puerto Rico's Natural Resources

• Chapter Fifteen

  Puerto Rico's Education, Health, and Social Services

• Chapter Sixteen

  Puerto Rico's Recovery and Resilience Needs

• Appendix A

  Summary Tables