University of Minnesota doctor provides help to Puerto Rico in wake of Hurricane Fiona
MINNEAPOLIS -- Dr. Miguel Fiol says that anger is one of his biggest concerns a week after Hurricane Fiona caused record rainfall and flooding across Puerto Rico.
Fiol is a doctor at the University of Minnesota and a native of Puerto Rico.
"My hometown Ponce, like Ponce de Leon, got hit the hardest with over thirty inches of rain, and they got big problems with flooding," Fiol said.
Fiol is concerned that flooding could turn into more illness
"I, as a doctor, am very concerned with water-born disease developing as time goes by, and the water is just stagnant there," Fiol said.
More than half of the island remains without power as frustrations grow and recovery efforts continue.
Fiol says he was already scheduled to visit the island for a conference but is now doing what he can to help at hospitals with no power or water.
"The temperature in the room was over 100 degrees. I don't know why and there were sick people there. So as a doctor, I'm real concerned about the care people are getting," Fiol said.
Despite their anger, Fiol says he also sees signs of Puerto Rico's spirit and resiliency.
"[It's] a very beautiful thing to see in spite of all this, how people are able to keep on with their lives and smile and do things," Fiol said.
The lack of power in Puerto Rico has been linked by police to several deaths, including a 78-year-old man who died from inhaling toxic gases from his generator, and two people who died after their house caught on fire because they were relying on candles for light.
