Thousands of Puerto Ricans are struggling with severe water shortages, so severe that the governor of the U.S. territory has activated the National Guard and emergency responders are fielding calls every day. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
Officials have not publicly pinpointed the cause, with shortages largely affecting some areas in the island's most populated cities, including the capital San Juan. The island's utilities company extracts water from rivers, reservoirs and underground aquifers that have in the past provided sufficient supply for the island's 3.2 million people.
Residents are being forced to buy potable water, spend money at laundromats and haul heavy buckets up several flights of stairs to wash dishes, flush toilets and take showers. The elderly and disabled struggle the most, with community leaders noting that some have been hospitalized as water shortages persist.
Jorge Figueroa, a community leader for several impoverished San Juan neighborhoods, stood by his car one recent morning fielding questions from residents wondering when the next water truck would swing by. "They are playing with people's health and lives," Figueroa said.
Some customers in San Juan began reporting intermittent service more than a year ago, with the governor acknowledging the infrastructure has lacked investment and maintenance for decades.
The water outages have grown so severe that Mayor Miguel Romero sued Puerto Rico's Water and Sewer Authority in late May.
People like Jeannette Mercado Rodríguez have spent up to two weeks without water as Puerto Rico's searing summer starts and meteorologists are already issuing warnings.