Nearly two years after Hurricane Maria, the town of Utuado is finally getting a new bridge over the Viví River to replace the old cement and steel one that was heavily damaged during the storm and has been closed ever since.
“This is the main road in and out of town,” says Héctor Cruz as a crew uses a crane and other heavy equipment to construct the new bridge. Cruz is the director of emergency management in Utuado, a community in the highlands of central Puerto Rico.
After the storm, massive landslides and downed trees blocked mountain roads, cutting the town off from the rest of the island for weeks. Many residents have not rebuilt their homes many of the roofs are still covered with blue tarps. If a hurricane hits Puerto Rico this season, it would be a huge setback, Cruz says. “We will have even more washed out roads, less access,” he says. “We’ll have the same level of destruction and next time the problems will be even worse because many things have not been addressed yet.”
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