Menu

Responding to Hurricane Fiona

Hurricane Fiona landed on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico on Sunday, September 18, 2022, just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that struck on September 20, 2017. As a Category 1 storm, Fiona covered the entire island with tropical storm-force winds extending as far as 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the storm's center. Heavy rain and winds have unleashed widespread flooding, devastating landslides, and island-wide power outages, leaving many uncertain about what is to come.

Many families have not yet fully recovered from Hurricane Maria, and the extent of the damage from Hurricane Fiona will become more apparent over the next few days.

SBP has been on the ground in Puerto Rico since 2018 and has built more homes than any other organization to date. Our team disaster response teams are currently deployed to visit communities, evaluate storm damages, and assess where our support is most needed.

Our immediate response and recovery priorities are as follows:

• Assess the damage and provide immediate response and rebuilding assistance
• Assist survivors in navigating the recovery process, including applying for and appealing FEMA awards if and when a declaration is made
• Partner with local and regional organizations to distribute recovery resources and supplies to impacted communities.
• Connect with state and municipal leaders and NGO partners in affected areas to ensure survivors and communities secure access to vital recovery resources, protect survivors from fraud, and set clear and aggressive recovery goals to build back quickly and prioritize those who will struggle the most to recover on their own.

MISSION AND IMPACT IN PUERTO RICO

Our mission has grown to include resiliency work ahead of disaster, investing in the long-term recovery after, and government advocacy and policy in between, with the goal of shrinking the time between disaster and recovery for families who need it most.

• SBP's BUILD program has been serving the island of Puerto Rico since 2017, with 2,500 volunteers spending over 46,000 hours on rebuilding 235 homes successfully, more than any other organization on the island.
• As part of our SHARE program, 189 participants from 136 organizations have participated in training sessions related to FEMA, CDBG-DR best practices for non-profit organizations, and Preparedness/Resilience.

• Our ADVISE team has had a substantial impact and interaction with leaders in Puerto Rico to prepare them for disaster recovery. To date, we have offered 42 training sessions to recovery leaders in Puerto Rico, directly working with 216 individuals.