It has been a month since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm and pummeled the island with sustained winds of 155 mph, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The storm devastated Puerto Rico’s water system, power grid, road network and cellphone infrastructure, and Maria is now responsible for at least 48 deaths. Highways and bridges suffered heavy damage, cutting off some towns and hampering delivery of relief supplies such as food and water. Of Puerto Rico’s 5,073 miles of road, 392 were open earlier this week (including passage on an outer ring of the island), according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Further complicating the recovery: access to cash. Many bank branches and many ATMs are out of service. Those operating often draw long lines of people. The cash crunch is hurting commerce, in part because many businesses can’t take credit cards because they have no electricity or internet service.
