Crippled Caribbean islands facing hurricane onslaught

A tsunami alarm stands in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Thursday, May 28, 2020. Caribbean islands have rarely been so vulnerable as an unusually active hurricane season this year threatens a region still recovering from recent storms as it fights a worsening drought and a pandemic that has drained budgets and muddled preparations. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
A tsunami alarm stands in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Thursday, May 28, 2020. Caribbean islands have rarely been so vulnerable as an unusually active hurricane season this year threatens a region still recovering from recent storms as it fights a worsening drought and a pandemic that has drained budgets and muddled preparations. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Caribbean islands have rarely been so vulnerable as an unusually active hurricane season threatens a region still recovering from recent storms as it fights a worsening drought and a pandemic that has drained budgets and muddled preparations.

"It is crazy," said Iram Lewis, Bahamian minister for Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction. "No one could have imagined this."

An estimated three to six major hurricanes could form this year as part of a total of 13-19 named storms that are forecast for the June 1 to Nov. 30 season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. An average season generates 12 named storms with three major hurricanes.

The forecast comes at a trying time for the Caribbean. Thousands of people overall lost their homes in southern Puerto Rico because of recent strong earthquakes and in the northern Bahamas because of Hurricane Dorian, which hit September 2019 as a Category 5 storm, killing an estimated 70 people and leaving hundreds missing.

Demolition on both islands hadn't even started in some areas when the pandemic hit and lockdowns began, causing billions of dollars in economic losses in one of the world's most tourism-dependent regions.

As a result, governments are struggling more than ever to prepare for a season that started early. Tropical Storm Arthur formed in mid-May and dropped rain on Dorian-battered islands in the Bahamas before heading out to sea.

The response to covid-19 has dried up government funds, and lockdowns have delayed hurricane preparations, especially the identification of sufficient shelters given the pandemic.

"It's a very complex landscape this year," said Elizabeth Riley, acting executive director for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

In the Bahamas, the government will place families in classrooms instead of preparing large gymnasiums like they did with Hurricane Dorian, Lewis said.

But that's not an option for some mayors in Puerto Rico, where dozens of schools in the island's southern region were permanently closed after a 6.4-magnitude quake and heavy aftershocks, with more than 70 families still staying in hotels as the search for housing continues.

"We definitely have additional challenges with all these simultaneous emergencies," said William Rodriguez, Puerto Rico's public housing administrator.

The U.S. territory has not released a final list of shelters, and there are still people living with blue tarps as roofs since Hurricane Maria hit in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm, said Ariadna Godreau, a human rights attorney and executive director of Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico.

A Section on 05/30/2020

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