A Puerto Rican Family Flees a Deadly Storm

By Skye Prentice

Climate change doesn’t cause hurricanes, but it does make them more intense. That’s exactly what happened with Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico in 2017, at the end of September. To adapt, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans found refuge in areas around the continental United States, including Syracuse, New York. I spoke with Eduardo Paniagua, a musician who moved to Syracuse with his wife and 10 year-old daughter about a month after the hurricane hit. They are currently still living in his sister’s basement and are adjusting to life in Central New York, including the cold winters. Leaving Puerto Rico for Syracuse was Eduardo’s way of adapting to this climate change induced phenomenon, and although he feels he made the right decision, it has still been difficult to adjust.