Former Dallas residents Merrill Lipowsky and John D’Errico now live in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He’s looking for employment back on the mainland before they move. In the meantime, they’re keeping us up with developments — or lack of developments — in Puerto Rico with a personal account of life on the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria’s devastation.
Here’s what Merrill wrote:

Although it has been more than a month since Maria came through PR, there are not many discernible differences.

There is electricity in one city, Hato Rey. That is the banking center, but no other metropolitan area is being worked on.

One would expect to see many trucks with workers in action; not the case. Workers were sighted in Ocean Park, that is it. Maybe the efforts are being made to the center of the island, but it is disheartening to say the least.

In a 25 minute drive, only one traffic light was working. Most street corners are being managed by untrained (in traffic control) police. They often make matters worse.

Mail: they have begun delivery service to some zip codes, but the usual delivery time is about 10 days to two weeks. Sending packages through USPS is not reliable; someone on FB reported that they asked someone in the states to mail them batteries and when the package was opened they discovered that the new batteries had been taken and replaced with the same amount of old, dead ones.

There was a post that Duracell sent a truck loaded with all size batteries to aid the residents of PR. Of course they were sent to the hardest hit areas. The stores that sell batteries haven’t had any batteries to sell since Irma, so everyone in PR could use a Duracell truck about now. Why are there no batteries being shipped to PR? Maybe an investigation into this would be in order.

Of course, without electricity there is no TV, but John called Liberty Cable to see what they had to say. I have often said that if we didn’t report a problem, no one else would. That seems to be the case. Before John’s call yesterday, Liberty was not told that the cable here was out because the temporary wires that were replaced after Irma, were knocked down by the tree that came down due to Maria. Due to John’s call they promised to make needed repairs by Friday. Who knows, once they fix the wires, when the generator is on, we might have TV.

No internet either. There are hotels we discovered through FB, that are offering free Wi-Fi. John was at one such place on Tuesday and worked for three hours, sending out resumes for jobs he found on Indeed, but when he went back yesterday, their internet was out.
John started seeing a cardiologist here and was given an Rx but that medication, a common one, has not been available here for weeks. What’s up with that?

Closer to home, they have made it possible for one of the elevators to work, albeit only when the generator is on, but not at 100% Parts are still needed to finish the job of both cars.

We have settled into a manageable routine, though not a comfortable one. And we are more fortunate than many so why am I complaining? Because we are not in the forefront anymore and I don’t think we should be complacent about the situation either. I know there are other places with catastrophes.

I know that most of you have gotten on with your lives, with your daily activities and don’t have time to think about your neighbors to the South, but as time goes on, we need you more than ever. We need your continued support, prayers, calls and love. John and I are working toward getting out of here, but others will remain long after we’re gone.

Please keep posting with any info about the island, so we will know what is going on. Keep legislators on the facts about the situation here as the pressure to give aid here remains critical to PR’s recovery. Thanks for everything you do.

— David Taffet