When hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017, the island municipality of Culebra was left in the dark—literally. Located 17 miles off Puerto Rico’s eastern coast, Culebra is one of the largest islands in the country’s archipelago. Still, with power lines down and generators overwhelmed, it took more than a year for the island to reconnect fully to the national grid.
For longtime residents like Lisa Olson, the memory is still vivid.