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Puerto Rico's libraries, archives and museums road to recovery: A timeline of events after Hurricane Maria

September 2017

On September 2017 Puerto Rico and many other Islands in the Caribbean, were affected by two major hurricanes in less than three weeks. What one didn't destroy, the other brought down to pieces. Because of our geographic location, yearly we are under threat. Libraries, archives and museums usually have emergency preparedness plans and protocols to protect property. Things are moved away from windows, boxes are lifted from floors and plastic sheets cover vulnerable areas. Unfortunately, our methods were not as successful as before, the extent of damages were beyond our control.

According to the literature, you have 48 hours to rescue under-threat materials (or at least make a decision) before mold starts appearing, ink begins to dissolve, and coated paper starts to stick together like a rock. Even if we wanted to, the depth of destruction impeded people from moving out of their houses. Roads were flooded or covered with debris, bridges were gone, and no method for communication existed as the electrical grid, towers, and optical fibers were completely destroyed.

The World knew more about our state than us and in those last two weeks of September it came together to our aid.

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With 155 mph winds, Hurricane Maria eyewall makes landfall on Yabucoa at 6:15am. Crossing diagonally the Island, existing through Arecibo at 2:00pm. Despite its classification according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale as a Category 4, the lack of accurate data when moving across Puerto Rico caused by the loss of the Doppler Radar and the immensity of its 28 miles eye radius supports that stronger wind gust were felt in higher elevations. Over 38 inches of rain and surges up to 9 feet caused flooding and landslides affecting access to roads and communities for weeks. The electrical grid was destroyed, leaving the entire Island without power and potable water.