The projects include a new gravity storm sewer system for Caño Martín Peña communities
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supports the development of project with mitigation measures that address a resilient preparation for Puerto Rico in the face of future atmospheric events. Hazard mitigation is any sustainable action that reduces or eliminates future disaster risks to people and property.
Under the agency, the island benefits from two programs for these funds: projects with mitigation measures under the Public Assistance program (PA); and projects under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).
“Due to the impacts that climate change continues to present worldwide, it is important that Puerto Rico’s infrastructure is prepared to withstand the effects of future natural disasters and thus reduce long-term risks for communities. The projects with mitigation measures seek to break the cycle of these damages, either by reconstruction or by repeated damages,” said Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José Baquero.
The impact of flooding in communities is one of the damages that FEMA seeks to address in the infrastructure’s reconstruction. This is the case of the gravity storm sewer system project for the northern part of the Israel and Bitumul communities in San Juan, under HMGP. FEMA approved over $3.6 million for the first phase of the project, which will provide a new sanitary sewer system for 367 homes in the northern area of Israel and Bitumul and separate the sanitary sewers discharge from the storm sewer system.
Carlos Muñiz Pérez is the Urban Planning and Infrastructure Manager for the ENLACE Project, the organization that coordinates the channeling and dredging of the Martín Peña Channel and the redevelopment of the eight communities that surround it, with the active participation of its residents and community organizations. Muñiz Pérez explained that addressing the sanitary system through the storm sewer project will prevent continuous discharges into the channel, which will improve the quality of the water and will also make the dredging project viable.
“That you are able to, in a flood event, leave your house the next day, be able to go to work, be able to go to a doctor’s appointment, all of that has a positive economic impact for the residents. It is basic infrastructure, which perhaps many of us have, but in the communities along the channel there are still residents who do not have that infrastructure”.
For the president of Bitumul and Israel’s Community Action Board, Evelyn Quiñones Ortiz, “the mitigation project, the dredging project, will give us life. That is what we want: quality of life, to improve.” The community leader also indicated that a maintenance plan at the community level will be vital to preserve the land after the restoration of the channel.
Other Hazard Mitigation Projects
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are part of the tools that FEMA uses to mitigate hazards. NBS are planning, design and engineering practices that weave natural features or processes into their construction.
Within the NBS are Articulated Cement Blocks (ACB), which are used for various bridge and highway projects. These blocks control erosion and support soil stabilization with a more cost-effective and environment-friendly vision. ACBs can even be filled with sediment, which helps restore vegetation.
The bridge in the Vara de Perro sector in Guayanilla will benefit from this measure. Over $271,000 —under Hurricane María Public Assistance — were earmarked specifically to install these blocks at the entrance, exit and under the bridge to prevent future damage to the structure from erosion.
Meanwhile, also under Public Assistance funds, other nature-based solutions will be worked on the bridge on the PR-378 in the Maravilla Norte neighborhood in the municipality of Las Marías. Over $390,000 will allow the installation of what are known as green gabions, revetments that filter water, allow its regular flow and reduce erosion. The green gabions can also be filled with vegetation to adapt to the natural environment.
To date, FEMA has allocated nearly $1.8 billion in mitigation measures for Hurricane María projects under the Public Assistance program; and over $250 million in other projects of the HMGP program, which seek mitigation solutions for Puerto Rico’s infrastructure.
For more information about Puerto Rico’s recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4339, fema.gov/disaster/4473 and recovery.pr. Follow us on our social media at Facebook.com/FEMAPuertoRico, Facebook.com/COR3pr and Twitter @COR3pr.
San Juan, PUERTO RICO (May 23, 2023) – The impact of flooding in communities is one of the damages that FEMA seeks to address in the infrastructure’s reconstruction. This is the case of the gravity storm sewer system project for the northern part of the Israel and Bitumul communities in San Juan, under HMGP. Photo FEMA/ Eduardo Martínez
San Juan, PUERTO RICO (May 23, 2023) – Carlos Muñiz Pérez is the Urban Planning and Infrastructure Manager for the ENLACE Project, the organization that coordinates the channeling and dredging of the Martín Peña Channel and the redevelopment of the eight communities that surround it, with the active participation of its residents and community organizations. Muñiz Pérez explained that addressing the sanitary system through the storm sewer project will prevent continuous discharges into the channel, which will improve the quality of the water and will also make the dredging project viable. Photo FEMA/ Eduardo Martínez