Hurricane-damaged roofs in Puerto Rico remain a problem. One group is offering a fix.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — When they meet the families whose damaged roofs they're about to repair, Luis Marrero's crews often ask which of the hurricanes was to blame. Was it Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in late September 2017? Or was it Irma, which lashed the island two weeks earlier?
"A lot of them — about 10% — say neither," Marrero said. "They say it was Georges that destroyed their roof."
Hurricane Georges, a category 4 monster, struck Puerto Rico in 1998.
It was a sobering truth for Marrero to absorb. He directs PRoTechos, that was formed after Maria to repair the roofs of families that didn't get government help to do so. But the realization that some people were still living under roofs damaged by a hurricanethat long ago drove home the monumental task they faced.
