Caribbean resilienceMIT conference seeks solutions for reconstruction in devastated Caribbean
This fall’s record-breaking hurricanes Maria and Irma left a swath of devastation across the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Granada, Dominica, and others. Photos of severely damaged or demolished houses, and statistics about the scale of the destruction and the slow pace of recovery efforts, reveal a tragic level of suffering in an already economically ravaged region. Two-day workshop featuring island leaders explores ways to rebuilt better, more resilient infrastructure.
This fall’s record-breaking hurricanes Maria and Irma left a swath of devastation across the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Granada, Dominica, and others. Photos of severely damaged or demolished houses, and statistics about the scale of the destruction and the slow pace of recovery efforts, reveal a tragic level of suffering in an already economically ravaged region.
In a two-day conference at MIT on 12-13 December, leaders from the region brainstormed with researchers from MIT and elsewhere to develop strategies for not just rebuilding the islands’ ruined infrastructure, but making it better and more resilient to the ever-growing threat of powerful hurricanes. The conference was co-hosted by the MIT Energy Initiative and Environmental Solutions Initiative.
Ricardo Rosselló ’01, the governor of Puerto Rico and an MIT alumnus with a degree in chemical engineering, cast the terrible damage suffered by his and neighboring islands as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to rebuild in a way that would be significantly more resilient in the face of future natural disasters. That could include, he suggested, creating a less-centralized electric grid and building housing according to stronger codes for withstanding high winds and flooding.
Already, before the hurricanes struck, his administration had proposed a 15-year vision for a new, more resilient electrical grid. “Now, we can think about rebuilding it in three years, in a much bolder and more modern way,” he said, “and make sure we use this crisis as an opportunity” to achieve lasting improvements. “We may use this to make Puerto Rico a model for the Caribbean.” Similarly, he said, instead of just rebuilding the 10 schools that were destroyed, given that the school population has declined by half, they may build “three that are new and modern and resilient,” making better use of limited resources.
As an example of the innovative possibilities, he cited an ongoing dialog he has been having with Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and SolarCity, who has offered to create a model solar-based power system for Puerto Rico. Rosselló says he has been in communication with Musk and others at Tesla, including several representatives of the company who have come to the island to work on a detailed proposal for a grid largely based on solar panels and battery storage systems.
