With Hurricane Maria as the backdrop, representatives from 114 universities in Puerto Rico, Japan, United States and Bahamas committed to creating a consortium to help redefine the rol of higher education institutions in the face of disaster and to foster community resilience. They were joined by more than 70 government agencies and non-profits. That was the conclusion of “RISE 2019 National Conference: Transforming University Engagement in Pre- and Post-Disaster Environments: Lessons from Puerto Rico”, recently held at the State University of New York in Albany.

Agronomer Robert Bradley from the Department of Agriculture revelaed that after hurricanes Irma and Maria, 80% of beekeeper hives were impacted. Losses amounted to $365,000.

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Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, causing major damage to infrastructure and severely limiting access to potable water, electric power, transportation, and communications. Public services that were affected included operations of the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH), which provides critical laboratory testing and surveillance for diseases and other health hazards.