Mar 4

Mar 4 A Week in Flight

This week was surreal. I spent more days in flight than I spent on the ground... flying in a HELICOPTER to various parts of the island (for work purposes) but still nonetheless an outstanding experience. I made sure to soak in every moment of each ride realizing what an exceptional opportunity it was to have this experience and by no means a normal way to spend my work week.

I wanted to be intentional about reflecting upon how and what I was feeling and thinking while in the air looking over the stunningly beautiful island that is Puerto Rico. As we traveled over several towns and communities I was taken aback by seeing all of the blue roofs that had been installed by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and what that meant for this stage of the recovery process. I was here when we were just starting this mission and when all we had were tarps to hand out while we waited for the Blue Roof Program to start. I remember talking to community members as they pleaded for us to send USACE to their community to install the roofs and the resilience of the people who continued living in their homes without a roof as it rained every day. Seeing these roofs doesn't mean that the mission is complete, but it does mean that each of these homeowners will be able feel a little safer knowing at least they have protection from the elements. It is one thing to see numbers on a whiteboard of how many homes received a long-term temporary roof installation, it is a whole different thing to have an aerial view of the scope of work that has been accomplished this far in the disaster.

Homes that received blue roofs had lost either a portion or the entirety of their roof. The home had to have been made from cement and have all four walls standing. There were many more homes that due to the amount of destruction or the materials they were made of that were not able to receive a temporary roof and either had to leave their homes and stay in shelters until their home was repaired or find housing elsewhere. Some families didn't leave their homes despite the damage.

As we passed through the mountains you could pick out the stunning mountain communities whose homes are placed so precariously high up that you have to wonder what it took to get the building materials up those sharp winding roads. Having had the experience of driving up some of those slick roads in the early days of the disaster I was keenly aware that not even the security and stability of a Jeep could take away the blatant reality that one wrong turn and I could plummet off the side of the mountain, but hey...the views sure are stunning.

I have to say though, the most stunning views were those of the clear blue water that surrounds this beautiful island. So I'm just gonna leave a few of these here for ya...