Puerto Rican residents opting to stay stateside after Hurricane Maria

After Hurricane Maria flooded her home in Dorado, Puerto Rico, Cristina Fuentes, her husband and three children fled to the mainland to begin a new life full of uncertainties.

“I lost everything,” she said late last month with a heavy sigh.

Fuentes and her small family traveled to Connecticut in need of food, medicine, and school for the children, knowing that they might never return to their homeland.

It’s been a nomadic two years, bouncing from a hotel, to a church shelter, and finally to their current East Hartford apartment, but ultimately, Fuentes said moving here was a good decision as her family received aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Salvation Army, and other organizations during the transition.

And despite the language barrier, she said her husband managed to find a job. Her family is settled in an apartment with donated furniture after months of housing instability. Now, Fuentes said she has no intention of moving back to Puerto Rico.

Read more: https://www.journalinquirer.com/connecticut_and_region/puerto-rican-residents-opting-to-stay-stateside-after-hurricane-maria/article_1fb41a80-8413-11e9-bf90-7bf4839e0caa.html
(Manchester Journal Inquirer)