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Alessandra Pacini, solar physicist and mother of two, has dedicated her life to researching our sun and its relation to the rest of our solar system. Traveling across the globe with her family, from Finland to Puerto Rico, Alessandra is on a mission to discover the great mysteries of our solar system.

The U.S. Coast Guard is working to retrieve boats that were displaced during Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Ralph Evey's vessel was rescued in a two-day process involving cranes and buoys.

A massive effort is underway to repair a nearly three-foot crack in the Guajataca Dam created during Hurricane Maria.

In Blackout in Puerto Rico, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the humanitarian and economic crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The film examines how the federal response, Wall Street, and years of neglect have left the island struggling to survive.

Remotely sensed inundation may help to rapidly identify areas in need of aid during and following floods. Here we evaluate the utility of daily remotely sensed flood inundation measures and estimate their congruence with self‐reported home flooding and health outcomes collected via the Texas Flood Registry (TFR) following Hurricane Harvey. Daily flood inundation for 14 days following the landfall of Hurricane Harvey was acquired from FloodScan. Flood exposure, including number of days flooded and flood depth was assigned to geocoded home addresses of TFR respondents (N = 18,920 from 47 counties). Discordance between remotely‐sensed flooding and self‐reported home flooding was measured. Modified Poisson regression models were implemented to estimate risk ratios (RRs) for adverse health outcomes following flood exposure, controlling for potential individual level confounders. Respondents whose home was in a flooded area based on remotely‐sensed data were more likely to report injury (RR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.27–1.77), concentration problems (1.36, 95% CI: 1.25–1.49), skin rash (1.31, 95% CI: 1.15–1.48), illness (1.29, 95% CI: 1.17–1.43), headaches (1.09, 95% CI: 1.03–1.16), and runny nose (1.07, 95% CI: 1.03–1.11) compared to respondents whose home was not flooded. Effect sizes were larger when exposure was estimated using respondent‐reported home flooding. Near‐real time remote sensing‐based flood products may help to prioritize areas in need of assistance when on the ground measures are not accessible. Plain Language Summary Flood maps that are prepared using satellites monitoring the earth surface may help to rapidly identify areas in need of aid during and following flooding events. In this study, we quantified the risk of self‐reported health outcomes that are associated with home flooding measured using either satellite‐derived flood maps or self‐reported exposure to floodwaters during and following Hurricane Harvey. Responses from 18,920 participants in the Texas Flood Registry included home location of the responders, reported adverse health symptoms, reported hospitalization, flooding of home, contact with flood water, and demographic variables. Respondents whose homes were flooded as per the flood maps were more likely to report injury, concentration problems, skin rash, illness, headaches, and runny nose compared to respondents whose homes were not flooded. The estimated strength of association was larger when exposure was estimated using respondent‐reported home flooding. Flood maps prepared from satellite data may help to prioritize areas in need of assistance in real‐time when on the ground measures are not available. Key Points Remote sensing identified exposure to floods was associated with self‐reported flood related adverse health symptoms, illness, and injury Self‐reported illness and injury increased with increase in proximity to the flood waters The association estimated using self‐reported exposure to flood were stronger than those estimated using remote sensing

Dec.14 -- The future of Puerto Rico depends on more than simply mending what Maria destroyed. Bloomberg followed an ad hoc crew of volunteers into the hardest hit areas to help those still in need of urgent medical care.

This brief report examines the shift from in-person care to US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) telehealth services during 3 devastating hurricanes in 2017 (Harvey, Irma, and Maria). VA administrative data were used to analyze the number and percentage of telehealth services 30 d pre- and 30 d post- the 2017 hurricanes for 3 hurricane-impacted VA medical centers (VAMCs): Houston (Texas), Orlando (Florida), and San Juan (Puerto Rico). All 3 VAMCs remained open during the hurricanes. For the Houston VAMC, during the first week post-Harvey, in-person patient visits decreased while telehealth visits increased substantially. Similarly, for the Orlando VAMC, during the 1-wk post-Irma, telehealth use increased substantially. For the San Juan VAMC, there were many interruptions in the use of telehealth due to many power outages, resulting in a modest increase in the use of telehealth post-Irma/Maria. The most commonly used telehealth services at Houston and Orlando VAMCs during the hurricanes were: primary care, triage, mental health, and home health. Telehealth has the potential to improve post-disaster access to and coordination of care. However, more information is needed to better understand how telehealth services can be used as a post-disaster health-care delivery tool, particularly for patients receiving care outside of systems such as VA.

Objective. To assess the self-reported impact of hurricane Maria on the perceived academic performance of student pharmacists at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Puerto Rico Regional Campus. Methods. A 37-item electronic instrument, the Hurricane Impact Survey, was created and sent by email to all student pharmacists ≥21 years old enrolled at NSU-COP Puerto Rico Campus during the fall 2017 semester. The electronic survey was available through Redcap platform for four weeks. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, and logistic regression were used to analyze students’ responses. Qualitative analysis was used to identify emerging themes in the open-ended comments. Results. A total of 150 student pharmacists completed the survey for a response rate of 69% (150/215). More than 70% of student pharmacists perceived that their academic performance was affected after the hurricane. About one third of students reported not being able to function mentally at the same level as they had prior to the storm (n=53, 35%) and reported having difficulty sleeping (n=54, 36%). Female student pharmacists were more likely than male student pharmacists to report not being able to function at the same level mentally as they had before the hurricane (41% vs 17%). In the multivariate analysis, first- and second-year student pharmacists were more likely to perceive a negative impact on their academic performance compared to third- and fourth-year student pharmacists. Lack of preparedness, gratefulness, and campus management were the themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis. Conclusion. Hurricane Maria had a significant impact on the lives of student pharmacists in Puerto Rico. This led to a perception of diminished academic performance, especially among first- and second-year students. The results can be used to guide preparedness and response to natural disasters in academic settings.