In September 2017, Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico.
[It was the perfect storm.]
[As if a bomb had dropped.]
[The city center was razed by the overflowing river.]
I just began to cry.
I just don’t want to remember those days.
[We were left without drinking water, without power, without communication, without hospitals.]
[The government agencies that manage emergencies
collapsed at one point and arrived very late to the recovery.]
None of us—no mayors, no governors, no legislators—
have experienced the type of devastation as this one.
I thought it was really important that the mayors on the mainland
that had something to offer made a connection with the mayors that were on the ground in Puerto Rico.
The Mayor Exchange was launched to forge ties between local leaders in Puerto Rico
and their counterparts on the mainland to show solidarity and share expertise.
And so we conceptualized this idea, and, of course, the mayors on the mainland responded right away.
With this mayoral exchange, we’re empowering the mayors to really rethink the island.
This type of meeting and conference is important because you have more information
of money and programs
that you could access as a mayor.
[Since we had an idea of the structural and economic damages
here, the experience of the personnel
coming from the United States has brought us new ideas
about how to make our towns more resilient.]
We mayors are immersed in a complicated process
of bringing first aid to our people, but at the same time
we have to be thinking about how to prepare
for the coming hurricane season.]
The seas are going to continue to rise.
Hurricanes are going to continue to come to Puerto Rico.
So how do they build systems into the rebuilding plan
that can help them avoid those kinds of disasters in the future?
Mayor Landrieu said to me,
"Be prepared—not 72 hours before—
months before."
So he invited us also to New Orleans to see the reconstruction.
Coming to visit New Orleans has been great,
and we’ve really been able to talk and address different issues.
The Federal rules are not simple, they’re not easy,
and we talked about how to streamline that process
and get projects on the ground quickly.
The mayor’s team has told us
you need to really ask the correct questions
and see how the process of, let’s say, FEMA works.
Who do you need to talk to?
You need to get a technical specialist because it is very process oriented.
The storm and its devastation gives you an opportunity
to not build it back the way it was,
and to really take the opportunity to build it better.
And that’s the great challenge for the people of Puerto Rico.
Prior to this disaster, we weren’t thinking of how big or what the potential is on each of these assets.
Now, it really gives us a vision of where we can go,
but integrating, always, the resiliency aspect.
[To be able to see a model, a model of recovery,
I think that has been the most enlightening thing.]
[To see a model where a nonprofit organization is integrated
with the government, see a model where private business
is linked with the government to help the city recover,
see a model where everyone is pointed in the same direction.]
It’s worked out really, really well.
We’ve had a number of mayors that have traveled to the island.
We've had a number of mayors that have matched up directly with the mayors there.
[It is important, now more than ever,
that we, as mayors, are aware of all of the resources
available for us to be able to help our people.]
What these events do is they make you see yourself much more clearly if you’re bold enough to look at it.
And you can recognize there are lots of things that need to be fixed.
[One of the things that I have definitely appreciated
from the mayors, is the idea that we are here to help each other.
That we are not alone and that they are not alone either,
and that we are in the best position to collaborate
as much as possible, and even a little bit more when possible.]
[We will not be able to control natural phenomena,
but we will be able to face them in a more effective way.]
And as we learn from each other, we’re going to do cultural exchanges, we'll do educational exchanges,
and then we’ll share with each other the best practices that we all have
and hope that we all can be better because of it.