Two years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, residents were still struggling to rebuild. Then, just days into 2020, earthquakes began to rattle the island, leaving even more damage behind. Now one of the U.S. territory’s top architects is making the case for short-term assistance combined with long-term vision.
“Remember, two years ago, we went through two hurricanes, not one,” said Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz, chairman of the architectural firm Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón and a member of the Construction Council of Puerto Rico. “There is a lot of PTSD, trust me, after everything we’ve been through in the last couple of years.”
In the aftermath of the latest quakes, about $16 billion in federal funds was allocated to help the U.S. territory with disaster relief and prevention, pulled from the $20 billion approved by Congress a year ago to help with hurricane recovery. However, the Trump administration has decided to impose strict restrictions on the money, citing corruption and financial mismanagement.
Álvarez-Díaz said these concerns were largely overblown, but he’s glad the money is on its way.
“We hope that by next week the grant agreement will be signed, and hopefully you’ll see those funds start to trickle in and help with the recovery,” Álvarez-Díaz said.
In the long-term, though, Puerto Rico must invest in better infrastructure and building standards, Álvarez-Díaz told Cheddar.
“A lot of construction was done before 1987, and the codes were not amended to include seismic until 1987,” he said.
Puerto Rico, he added, is in a unique geographic position: It has to consider both horizontal (wind) and vertical (earthquakes) pressures on its structures, meaning durability is key.
Outside of retrofits and reinforcements, Álvarez-Díaz touts his own recent mixed-use development, Renaissance Square in San Juan, as an example of what the future may hold for the territory. The mixed-income development used higher quality materials with an eye toward sustainability.
“It has become a case study for what you can do,” he said.
Transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr was barred from participating on the House floor as Republican leaders voted Wednesday to silence her for the rest of 2023 session.
The DeSantis board said Disney’s move to retain control over their property was effectively unlawful and performed without proper public notice.
House Republicans made post-midnight changes to their sweeping debt ceiling package to win over holdouts, as Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed ahead Wednesday with plans to launch debate and round up support from his slim majority for a vote this week.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol opened his state visit to Washington on Tuesday by touring a NASA facility with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Biden administration looks to deepen ties with a close ally that it sees as only growing in importance in an increasingly complicated Indo-Pacific.
Colorado is set to become the first state to sign a ‘right to repair’ law allowing farmers to fix their own equipment with a bill signing Tuesday afternoon by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
President Joe Biden has formally announced he’s seeking reelection.
Three Tennessee lawmakers who became Democratic heroes for facing expulsion after participating in gun control protests visited the White House on Monday, describing themselves as “representatives of a movement" that is demanding greater restrictions on firearms to save lives.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy is hurtling toward one of the most consequential weeks of the new House Republican majority as he labors to pass a partisan package that would raise the nation's debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep cuts that some in his own party oppose.
A former advice columnist’s nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish this job” he began when he was sworn into office and to set aside their concerns about extending the run of America’s oldest president for another four years.
