Residents raise concerns about tropical storm approaching Puerto Rico

Residents of Puerto Rico are raising the alarm about an approaching tropical storm amid nervousness just two years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, according to WTSP.

“There are families who still don’t have power since Maria, so what’s going to happen now with [Tropical Storm] Dorian?” said Jeannie Calderin, the president and founder of charitable organization Somos Puerto Rico Tampa. “Another two years?”

{mosads}”I already know that many places ran out of water, so there’s no water, there are very long lines at the gas stations and the Doppler [radar] out of Puerto Rico, it is not working,” Calderin said.

A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch have been issued for the island, and Dorian may pass the island as either a hurricane or tropical storm as early as Wednesday, according to the Weather Channel.

Wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or more, which constitute hurricane conditions, are possible for Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic over the next 48 hours.

A particularly damaging storm could exacerbate the damage from Maria to the island’s infrastructure, which activists say was never adequately handled at the time.

“Nothing has been done. Nothing has been done, as a matter of fact, I went to Puerto Rico two months ago, and you could still see the light poles on the street. They hadn’t been fixed properly,” Calderin told WTSP.

“I have many pictures when I was getting to Puerto Rico and you could see the blue tarps on roof as we were approaching the island. So I think after two years, not enough has been done,” she added.

President Trump and his administration faced heavy criticism for the federal government’s response to Maria, while Trump has attempted to defer blame for issues following the storm to many of those critics, including San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.

The island’s government, meanwhile, is still recovering from a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and the arrest of several officials.