"The Island Next Door" Documentary

One year after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, Connecticut Public presents a documentary featuring people of Puerto Rico and Connecticut, and the stories of how their lives have been changed by the storm. Stream on demand here, at CPTV.org or CPTV Passport

About This Project

Hurricane Maria tore through the island of Puerto Rico in September 2017 – taking out power lines, destroying homes, disrupting industries, raking the island’s forests, and displacing families.

Since then, Connecticut Public Radio’s reporters have covered the aftermath of the storm both from the mainland and from the island’s streets and mountains because – with 300,000 state residents who claim island roots – Hurricane Maria is a local story.

Stories

The week in CT news: Remembering Sandy Hook, East Granby gun incident, Puerto Rican statehood Frankie and Johnny mark one decade since the Sandy Hook shooting, discuss a gun incident at an East Granby elementary school, and note a long-shot push for Puerto Rican statehood.

The week in CT news: Hurricane Fiona, Alex Jones testifies, Aaron Judge chases 61 Frankie & Johnny: Sept. 23, 2022. Topics this week include Hurricane Fiona's impact on Puerto Rico, testimony in Connecticut from defendant Alex Jones in the Sandy Hook defamation trial, and New York ...

Connecticut officials respond with aid and calls for assistance to powerless Puerto Rico In 2019, Connecticut was home to the sixth-largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the United States.

Photos: Puerto Rico Four Years After Hurricane Maria View the ongoing rebuilding and daily life photographed during the filming of Connecticut Public’s documentary Cutline - Los de María: Four Years After the Hurricane.

LISTEN: Puerto Rico "Still In Dire Need Of Recovery" From Hurricane Maria Reporter Brenda Leon talks with John Henry Smith about her visit to Puerto Rico nearly 4 years after Hurricane Maria

Out Of Service? State No Longer Recommends Puerto Rican Evacuees Dial 211 Connecticut has released more funding to help evacuees from Puerto Rico -- but the state isn’t recommending that people call 211 to connect with the…

Videos

On The Island

Click the markers in the map to see our stories by location.

On The Mainland

Photos

Passengers from a direct flight from Bradley International Airport wait to pick up their checked baggage -- much of it cardboard boxes full of supplies -- in the San Juan Airport on October 16, 2017.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
On the road near the Punta Santiago barrio in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Photo by Ryan Caron King
The first two cruise ships to pass through Puerto Rico since the hurricane stopped in Viejo San Juan. Thousands of tourists, some hesitant, poured in -- filling streets that were previously empty. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Children in the mountain town of Orocovis returned to school two weeks ago after a two-month pause following Hurricane Maria. The school doesn't have electricity, so it lets out at 12:30 p.m. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Jose Ayala lives in Villa del Rey, a housing development in Caguas. He said the small bag of supplies delivered by Luis Cotto were the first aid he's seen since the hurricane hit four weeks before.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Guillermo Class reunites with his two sons in the San Juan Airport. He sold his car to fly them back to Hartford.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
A team of Connecticut veterans and volunteers -- self-described as the Puerto Rican "water dogs" -- pumps water from a river in Salinas, Puerto Rico through a mobile filtration and purification system for residents there to drink.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Residents of Humacao take shelter from the sun under an umbrella. They say they've been in need of clean water since the hurricane.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
A woman left homeless in Maricao, Puerto Rico after the storm holds her dog. Her son said she hadn’t let go of her dog since the storm it.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Children play a game in a schoolyard in the mountain town of Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Damaged houses in Salinas, Puerto Rico.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Residents of Salinas wait for the water to be filtered and purified. They lined up in the rain with water jugs and buckets as the news of clean water spreads throughout the town by word of mouth.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
A large pile of brush and debris in Salinas, Puerto Rico. Volunteers from Connecticut traveled there to purify and filter water from the river for the town's residents.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
At the Casa Histórica de la Música Cayeyana — a non-profit house of music in Cayey — people come together on the weekends to sing, dance, and recite poetry. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Former Hartford City Councilman Luis Cotto speaks to a woman through her front gate in Cidra -- his family's hometown. He was there handing out solar lamps and water filters in October.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Aida Garcia, the grandmother of Hartford resident and city Board of Education Member Robert Cotto Jr, stands outside of her house. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Children play a game in a schoolyard in the mountain town of Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Maria Castro, a community leader in Humacao, speaks to Angel Rodriguez. Residents here say they've been in need of clean water since the hurricane.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Paloma Ortiz (left) is a nurse who’s been offering volunteer health care to residents of the Valle Hill neighborhood in Canovanas.
Luis Edgardo Cotto hands out water filters and solar lamps in Caguas. Residents said these are the first supplies they've received since Maria hit.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Alberto Díaz lives surrounded by cars. After Hurricane Maria’s floods, none of them work. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Rosalina Abreú says this high peak in Humacao was a shaded paradise before Maria. She now serves hundreds of meals here for people in need. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Remnants of a mudslide along along a mountain road on the west side of the island.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Alicia Ortega, spends her days caring for her husband and hoping her floor -- soaked by Maria once her roof blew off -- doesn’t cave in. Photo by Ryan Caron King

....
Veronica Montalvo fills up a water jug for a boy in Salinas, Puerto Rico.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
At the Casa Histórica de la Música Cayeyana — a non-profit house of music in Cayey — people come together on the weekends to sing, dance, and recite poetry. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Houses in Humacao, Puerto Rico -- the part of the island where the hurricane first made landfall.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Ron Spellman of Canton, Connecticut -- who’s served in the U.S. Coast Guard and now is in the Air Force Reserves, sets up a hose to pump water from a river in Salinas, Puerto Rico to a purifying tank. U.S. Army veteran Pablo Soto works the pump in the background.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Trees stripped of foliage in the mountain town of Cidra on October 17, 2017.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Made with a mix of yautia and green bananas that’s then stuffed with a stew of pork, chickpeas, almonds, and dates -- pasteles are then wrapped in leaves and boiled. And while the day’s product was intended to feed those who were helping in Puerto Rico, the process of making them had a purpose, too: to ease the collective trauma that Maria left behind. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Frederico Segarra Camachu is 96 years old and lives in Mericao, Puerto Rico. He said that he never saw a storm like Hurricane Maria hit the island. His main concern is access to water: “I don’t need electricity to fall asleep,” he said.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Former Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra looks across the mountain farmland in Maricao where his grandparents once lived, and where his family still does. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Rosalina Abreú says this high peak in Humacao was a shaded paradise before Maria. She now serves hundreds of meals here for people in need. Photo by Ryan Caron King
The free concerts at the Casa Histórica de la Música Cayeyana have had a special resonance after Hurricane Maria, as attendees find respite there on the weekends amid the recovery effort. Photo by Ryan Caron King
The top of one of Humacao's highest mountain peaks, left barren by the storm.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Alejandro La Luz Rivera returned to Puerto Rico after going to Pennsylvania because he didn't want to leave the home he and his wife built together.
Photo by Ryan Caron King
Blanca Ortiz-Torres is a psychologist and a professor at the University of Puerto Rico. She came with a team of doctors, nurses and psychologists to Maricao to provide medical care to people left homeless by the hurricane.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Playa Punta Santiago in Humacao, Puerto Rico.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
A street in Maricao, one of the smallest towns in Puerto Rico.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Ray Guasp served in the Marines. Now, in Puerto Rico, he’s part of a small group of self-deployed volunteers from Connecticut.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
In Viejo San Juan, Con Edison utility trucks lined up along the street, helping transmit power to the island. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Luis Colon (left), a taxi driver and a student in psychology speaks with a resident of Maricao, Puerto Rico (right). Colon said Hurricane Maria made it easier for Puerto Ricans to see more about themselves.
Abigail Ruiz and her family broke into an abandoned school in Maricao, Puerto Rico when part of their home’s roof blew off during the hurricane. They now live there, and the rest of the school is being converted into a shelter.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Maria Sanchez Cruz hadn’t even owned her roadside restaurant in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico for a year before getting hit by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The former Hartford resident lost thousands of dollars in spoiled food during Irma, and, for Maria, she gave it away before it turned. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Angel Rodriguez in his San Juan apartment. He's been picking up packages delivered here from the mainland and delivering supplies to residents on the east side of the island.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Abigail Ruiz stands with one of her sons in the shade of a covered basketball court in Maricao, Puerto Rico.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Maria Sanchez Cruz hadn’t even owned her roadside restaurant in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico for a year before getting hit by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The former Hartford resident lost thousands of dollars in spoiled food during Irma, and, for Maria, she gave it away before it turned. Photo by Ryan Caron King
The town of Maricao, Puerto Rico. Abigail Ruiz’s house (right) lost its roof during the hurricane. She moved with her family into an abandoned school in the town below. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Pasteles are a holiday tradition for Ronnie Rodriguez, his wife Kathleen Squires, and their extended family in Puerto Rico. But, this year, Hurricane Maria forced some change. Rather than making food just for themselves, they decided to go big and make a few hundred pasteles as gifts for electrical workers from the mainland -- a sign of thanks. Photo by Ryan Caron King
Paloma Ortiz (left) is a nurse who’s been offering volunteer health care to residents of the Valle Hill neighborhood in Canovanas.
At the Casa Histórica de la Música Cayeyana — a non-profit house of music in Cayey — people come together on the weekends to sing, dance, and recite poetry. Photo by Ryan Caron King
The after-school program in Orocovis, Puerto Rico includes gardening, arts, and outdoor play time. Photo by Ryan Caron King
On one of Humacao's highest mountain peaks, a local organization has been handing out hundreds of free meals since the storm.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
The view from the top of one of Humacao's highest peaks.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Former Hartford City Councilman Luis Cotto demonstrates how to set up an inflatable solar lamp to residents of Villa del Rey in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Photo by Ryan Caron King
Danny Torres has worked for the fire department in Meriden, Connecticut for decades and has family across Puerto Rico. He joined a group of volunteers to bring clean water to residents across the island.

Photo by Ryan Caron King

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About This Project

The Island Next Door is a reporting project that came out of the recognition that Hurricane Maria was a distant storm with a local impact.

Begun in the WNPR newsroom, this project aims to tell the stories that link New England and Puerto Rico — finding the people, places, successes and challenges on the island and the mainland today.

The Island Next Door has been honored with several national, regional and local awards including:

2018 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video
2018 PRNDI (Public Radio News Directors Incorporated) 2nd place for National Edited Continuing Coverage
2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage
2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Video
2018 New England Emmy for Outstanding Video Journalist
1st place Connecticut Society for Professional Journalists award for feature photo
2nd place Connecticut Society for Professional Journalists awards for video essay and continuing coverage.

"The Island Next Door" Documentary

About This Project

Stories

Videos

On The Island

On The Mainland

Photos

About This Project

Learn more