Puerto Rico’s Perpetual State of Emergency

In September 2022, almost five years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was devastated by Fiona, another fierce hurricane. More than one million residents were without power, hospitals were running on generators, and more than 700,000 people had no running water.[1] While grassroots organizers and independent journalists across the Caribbean and the U.S. shared videos of flash floods and boat rescues in Puerto Rico, the death of a monarch dominated the mainstream news, highlighting the persistence of imperial legacies.