How To Solve a Problem Like Maria
Truth is always stranger than fiction. When stories are told about Puerto Rico in 2017 you would be forgiven for thinking the events could have been a plot device lifted from the conveniently timed GEOSTORM: a small, tropical island, rustic infrastructure, inhabited by 3.5 million US citizens faces two of the the largest hurricanes ever recorded. When Irma passed by the Northern coast, the island of Puerto Rico breathed a collective sigh of relief. Notions of paradise retained, at least, for the time being. Rather than shore up defenses, however, life continued as normal, as if it could have gone in any other direction.
But then it happened again, and as all sequels do, it was bigger and badder than before. Hurricane Maria was, according to the NOAA, the third most expensive hurricane ever to hit the United States with a monetary cost of over $90 billion and a human cost that rises and falls depending upon the source. Early accounts have been drastically amended as recent studies suggest close to 5,000 people lost their lives due to Hurricane Maria.
The depth of crisis within the economy of Puerto Rico has crippled the islands efforts at rebuilding, with federal agencies providing unprecedented support, but for a system that has little value in the modern age. Archaic electrical infrastructures and outdated overground networks of wires connect a population of American citizens who deserve better than to live in the fear of darkness. Humanity has fought from the days of our first upright steps to banish the darkness of the night, and yet here lies Puerto Rico, cast into a future of uncertainty and wonder as to when the lights will go out for good.
However, it is not just the responsibility of governments to ensure a genial environment, from corporations to individual, all play a vital role in the development of our existence and maintenance of harmony. Corporations like Fairbanks Morse, who contacted CereProds when it was time for them to deliver the first of their giant 9 megawatt engines to the island to provide vital support for the Puerto Rican electrical infrastructure and the recent establishment of micro-grids, designed to mitigate the risk of island-wide blackouts in the future.
We were lucky enough to be given the chance to witness the project and document these first early-steps towards an island that provides the same standard of living to all as to the few. Giving their opinion in the resulting film were a host of individuals from various industries in Puerto Rico including Grammy award winning musician and long-time CereProds compatriot Jerry Medina.
The project is just a single step forward in a pending ascension of trial and tribulation for the island, but a vital one. A step that lays the foundations of security from the oldest of our fears, that fear of the dark. It is our hope that Puerto Rico can become an active partner in the global and national economy by providing for itself a secure bedrock of infrastructure that encourages confidence and collaboration with working partners, therefore boosting trade and investment in the island.
If your company has interests in Puerto Rico and wants to profile endeavors made to restore the island to normality or any other cause, then we can help. CereProds produces cutting edge documentary and corporate branded-content. We work to ensure that all of our clients are able to quantify and realize their brief while filming with us in Puerto Rico.
Contact us to find out how CereProds can help produce your next media property and rediscover paradise in Puerto Rico.