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The government of Puerto Rico developed a plan to recover from the destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, build resilience to withstand future disasters, and restore the struggling economy. The Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC), operated by RAND Corporation under contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist with the development of the plan. Acting in support of FEMA's Community Planning and Capacity Building (CPCB) sector, HSOAC conducted surveys, interviews, and focus groups with municipalities, government leaders, subject-matter experts (with expertise in law enforcement, emergency management, community planning, etc.), nonprofits, and community residents, among others, to provide critical community context for CPCB efforts. HSOAC also used multiple data sources to estimate the outmigration of residents who in the wake of the hurricane moved out of their communities to the continental United States. The authors describe the status of Puerto Rico's communities in terms of population characteristics and dynamics, community and individual preparedness, and economic pressures leading up to the landfalls of the hurricanes. They also report on the impact that the hurricanes had on Puerto Rico's communities in terms of damage, community stress, and migration away from the island. These analyses and discussions informed the development of 15 courses of action (COAs) aimed at improving Puerto Rico's capacity for emergency preparedness, coordination, communication, recovery planning, and research and training, to meet the needs of Puerto Rico and its vulnerable communities during a disaster.

Community development --- Hurricane damage --- Hurricane Irma, 2017. --- Hurricane Maria, 2017. --- Puerto Rico.

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The aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria highlighted vulnerabilities in Puerto Rico's water sector. Hurricane damage spanned Puerto Rico's water infrastructure, including drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and flood control, as well as its water resources. This damage was attributed to multiple causes: the preexisting vulnerability of the water sector infrastructure; direct damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria; and indirect disruption stemming from damage in other sectors, particularly the loss of electrical power. The recovery plan for the water sector in Puerto Rico involves not only repairing hurricane-damaged water infrastructure and systems but also fixing the significant legacy challenges in the water sector's infrastructure, operations, and governance. This report details a framework for a hurricane recovery made up of 30 courses of action consistent with the government of Puerto Rico's priorities. These courses of action address key opportunities for enhancing resilience in Puerto Rico's water sector, which include upgrading the physical infrastructure, as well as asset management and operational systems, with the objective of developing systems that are better hardened against extreme events but also more flexible and efficient. In addition, building capacity of water sector management organizations and personnel can enhance efficiency, contingency planning, and the ability to take advantage of new technologies and practices. Improving situational awareness of water sector assets and developing performance metrics that can be tracked in real time can provide early warning of problems and accelerate emergency responses.

Water-supply --- Water resources development --- Hurricane damage --- Hurricane Irma, 2017. --- Hurricane Maria, 2017. --- Puerto Rico.

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Puerto Rico's seaborne logistics capacity is assessed in the context of the anticipated increase in imported materials and the need to transport large, heavy materials onto, and then around, the main island for recovery projects following Hurricane Maria. The near-term logistics challenges to the implementation of Puerto Rico's recovery plan are identified, taking into account the degradation of the transportation network in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes. Transportation capacity requirements consistent with the recovery plan are projected. Network analysis of the posthurricane condition of the transportation systems confirmed that the anticipated increase in demands to support the recovery can be accommodated. This analysis shows that the increased traffic from implementing the recovery plan can be supported with existing infrastructure using modest mitigation actions. Recommendations include actions to mitigate bottlenecks, such as the government of Puerto Rico and U.S. federal agencies involved in recovery coordinating with port terminal operators to ensure that material-handling equipment and yard space to store containers are available when needed.

Shipping --- Business logistics --- Hurricane damage --- Hurricane Irma, 2017. --- Hurricane Maria, 2017. --- Puerto Rico.

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Hurricane Irma, 2017. --- Hurricane Maria, 2017. --- Hurricanes --- Coral reef management --- Floods

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After the devastating 2017 hurricane season, the U.S. Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center supported the congressionally mandated economic and disaster recovery plan, Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation: An Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan for Puerto Rico. This report contributes to the overall plan with a focus on the communications and information technology (IT) sector. Researchers provide an introduction to the sector (brief history, key assets, prestorm conditions and challenges, and governance); assess damage and needs of the sector; and present 33 courses of action (COAs) for the recovery, rebuilding, and enhancement of the sector with an emphasis on developing and sustaining a resilient, state-of-the-art communications network and furthering the vision for the digital transformation of Puerto Rico. Developed in consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders, including governmental entities, commercial providers, citizens, and municipalities, the COAs address many different (and sometimes competing) needs and also support and benefit COAs in other critical sectors, such as health and social services. The relationships among the communications and IT COAs are outlined. The estimated cost for these COAs is

Disaster relief --- Cyberinfrastructure --- Hurricane damage --- Hurricane Irma, 2017. --- Hurricane Maria, 2017. --- Puerto Rico.