Senators Told Recovery from Hurricanes Still a Work in Progress

Sen. Franklin Johnson said Monday he was impressed with the testimonies of Dayna Clendinen, interim CEO of the Housing Finance Authority, and Adrienne Williams-Octalien, director of the Office of Disaster Recovery, but he was “depressed” with the reality of the disaster recovery. He said he knew of elderly residents who still did not have roofs over their heads six years after back-to-back hurricanes hit the territory.

Sen. Novelle Francis also expressed dismay during the Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure and Planning hearing over a program where more than 400 homes have been identified as qualified for recovery from the 2017 hurricanes, but at this point, only 29 have been rebuilt. Francis said he knows older adults who have had to leave the territory because of the delay in repairing their houses. Johnson said, “Every time it rains, I think of those elderly residents the rain is falling on.”

Johnson also had concerns about the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. He asked if he managed to live 10 more years, would the new hospital be complete before he died? He was told the hospital might be finished within five or six years.

Williams-Octalien’s testimony, however, focused on the positive. She said her office “has successfully increased anticipated allocations from $8 billion to $12 billion with the potential to meet or exceed $15 billion over the next few years.” She added that in 2023, “more than $2.2 billion has been obligated as of August, marking a 100 percent increase compared to the funds secured in 2022.” This brings the total amount of obligated funds to $8.5 billion, according to Williams-Octalien.