Excerpt
SUMMARY: The tropical island of Puerto Rico has been scrambling for a precious resource: clean, fresh water. Puerto Ricans have faced the worst drought in more than 20 years and the most stringent water rationing ever imposed. Special correspondent Chris Bury reports.
CHRIS BURY (NewsHour): The remnants of Hurricane Danny and Tropical Storm Erika that drenched Puerto Rico in late summer were, in fact, a great relief for this tropical island 3,500 square miles surrounded by the blue Caribbean.
In a new era of greatly reduced rainfall and extended dry spells, the most precious commodity these days is water, clean, fresh water. But for nearly five months in the summer and early fall, the most populous parts of the country depended on 1,600 gallon tanks of water like this. At one point, more than 100 of these tanks helped Puerto Ricans cope with the worst drought in more than 20 years.
Near San Juan, Juliana Chiclana was filling up water jugs for a household that includes eight grandchildren.
JULIANA CHICLANA, Puerto Rican Resident (through interpreter): One is emotionally affected by the drought itself, which, at least for me, I have never experienced a drought this big.
CHRIS BURY: In this town, the tap water was on for 24 hours, then off for 72 hours. And so families had to load up with enough to get through three days without tap water at home.
JULIANA CHICLANA (through interpreter): In a way, I’m grateful that it’s three, because they had announced that it was going to be five days.
CHRIS BURY: The rationing, in force from mid-May until September, was the most stringent ever imposed. Just outside San Juan, the Torres family lived for months with those restrictions.
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