With Bottles And Buckets, Puerto Ricans Seek The Water To Survive
The damage left by Hurricane Maria has disabled running water for many in Puerto Rico. People are driving to mountain springs to fill empty soda bottles and heading to rivers to do their laundry.
by Camila Domonoske
Sep 27, 2017
4 minutes
Millions of people have no access to a power grid in Puerto Rico. Gas for cars and generators is hard to find. Cash is in short supply.
But there's another need that's even more pressing.
"I can live without power," says Wanda Ferrer. "But I can't live without water."
Ferrer was one of many people filling up at a government spigot in Toa Bajo, west of San Juan. Communities across Puerto Rico have lost running water as a result of the widespread power outages from Hurricane Maria, and it's not clear when it will be restored.
Bottled water isn't
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