More than 10,000 people have arrived in Florida in the last three days, from Puerto Rico, where water and energy supplies have not yet been normalized after Hurricane Maria 16 days ago, the state government reported.
These travelers have arrived since Tuesday at the international airports of Orlando and Miami, and Port Everglades, in the city of Fort Lauderdale, according to the State Emergency Response Team (SERT).
Florida Governor Rick Scott had declared the region’s emergency state this week to be prepared for the arrival of Puerto Ricans fleeing the island because of the devastation left by Maria.
The hurricane, which struck the island last September 20, has killed at least 36 people and has left much of the island without energy and water.
Scott also ordered the Florida Department of Education (DOE) today not to enforce certain rules and regulations to ensure that Puerto Rican students impacted by Maria can continue their education.
Florida has arrived, among others, Puerto Ricans looking to pass the emergency with relatives, many of them residents of the Orlando area of central Florida, and others who require urgent care.
Likewise, students have been reached who have been allowed to recover classes in the state while the conditions of the island return to normal.
In South Florida, Miami-Dade Public Schools and Miami-Dade College, Florida International University (FIU) and St.Thomas University are being admitted to the island for non-loss students.
Some of the funds, a total of 2.5 million dollars that the Knight Foundation donated this week to help the recovery of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
“Miami and South Florida are intimately connected with Puerto Rico and the Caribbean,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president of the Knight Foundation, announcing the donation.
Likewise, universities such as the Ana G. Méndez University System (AGMUS) have allowed their students on the island to take classes at one of the five campuses they have in the continental United States.
The Florida emergency declaration helps provide housing and unemployment assistance, crisis and legal counseling to Puerto Ricans who come to the state, and will provide resources for this assistance.
According to the latest official data, only 10.7% of the Electric Energy Authority (EEA) subscribers are light on the island, while 55.5% of the AAA ) has drinking water.
