Neighborhoods in San Juan, Puerto Rico, appear as a checkerboard of blue tarpaulins that were provided by the federal government. A year after Hurricane Maria, the U.S. commonwealth is still laboring to recover.
Photographer: Xavier Garcia/BloombergOne Year After Hurricane Maria, Still Living Under Tarps
Puerto Rico may never recover from the catastrophic storm
A year ago Thursday, Hurricane Maria slammed ashore in Puerto Rico, decimating the island's power grid, ripping roofs off houses and leaving a death toll that a government-commissioned study put at 2,975. For all the rebuilding—the last home finally got power back last month—blue tarpaulins still cover thousands of Puerto Rican homes and businesses. What's more, the storm wiped out jobs and accelerated an unprecedented exodus to the mainland that may never be fully reversed. Photographer Xavier Garcia documented the state of the island for Bloomberg News this week.