CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez is pushing for not only recovery aid for Puerto Rico but a better response to Fiona than the last major hurricane.
She said getting the power back on quickly is critical, as evidenced by the deaths from lack of electricity and clean water after Hurricane Maria.
"There were so many deaths, because of the bacteria that was in the water," Rodriguez said. "There was deaths, because there was no energy to be able to store insulin or to do dialysis."
The Puerto Rican native is upset not enough improvements were made since then - and points to a Utuado bridge built five years ago that she said was supposed to last 25 years, but washed away in flooding this week.
"It broke immediately, so we have to ask ourselves how are we actually guaranteeing that we are creating infrastructure that is resilient."
Rodriguez wants the federal government to move with the same speed it used to tackle COVID, but is worried Hurricane Fiona will spur gentrification and send weary residents away.
She said new structures and systems should be built to withstand more and worse storms brought on by climate change and points out there’s a lot of time left in this hurricane season.
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