Eight months after the storm Puerto Ricans were still being injured and killed by falling trees and electrical poles. (Photo: Bobby Bascomb)

Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico in September of 2017 and left a trail of devastation in the wake of its 165-mph winds. Living on Earth's Bobby Bascomb travelled to the island nine months after the storm to learn more about how the island was recovering. She filed a series of stories about the devastation and slow government response that followed. But she also found a renewed sense of community and resilience among the Puerto Rican people. In this special series she's joined by Adnelly Marichal, a Puerto Rican documentarian who lived through the storm and shares her personal insights on each of the five stories Bobby reported.

Part 1/5: “Pa’lante”: Puerto Rican Resilience After Maria
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Published: September 20, 2019

Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, taking roughly 3,000 lives. Many died not from the storm itself but from morbidity linked to such causes as treatable infections, unsafe water and accidental electrocution. But as Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb reports, some communities are looking at Hurricane Maria as a call to be more resilient the next time around.

Part 2/5: Rebuilding Puerto Rico’s Battered Farms
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Published: September 20, 2019

Even before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico imported nearly all of its food, and the powerful storm left many Puerto Ricans with no choice but to skip meals and live on canned food for months. But volunteers and farmers are working together to rebuild Puerto Rico’s small and devastated farming sector.

Part 3/5: Resilience In Puerto Rico’s Tropical Forests After Hurricane Maria
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Published: September 20, 2019

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, the direct hit turned a green island brown – destroying every ecosystem on the island from mangroves to cloud forests. But as Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb reports, forests that evolved in the hurricane belt have ways to cope and are coming back.

Part 4/5: Volunteers Test Drinking Water in Puerto Rico
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Published: September 20, 2019

Hurricane Maria crippled Puerto Rico’s water systems and jeopardized access to safe drinking water across the island. To avert water-borne diseases, one citizen science group in Rincón, Puerto Rico rallied to help test drinking water sources.

Part 5/5: Repairing Puerto Rico's Corals
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Published: September 20, 2019

Roughly 10 percent of Puerto Rico’s corals were broken and damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Corals are a first line of defense against storm surges and a critical habitat for juvenile fish but face an uphill battle against warming seas, ocean acidification and ship groundings. As Host Bobby Bascomb reports, Puerto Ricans are finding ways to give corals a fighting chance by reattaching healthy fragments.

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