ExxonKnews
December 2, 2022
When Hurricane Maria made landfall in 2017, Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was brought to its knees: roads were submerged, houses and city buildings toppled to their foundation, more than a million people were without power for nearly a year, and thousands of Puerto Ricans lost their lives.
Hurricane Maria was one of many storms intensified by climate change to hit Puerto Rico communities during a lethal 2017 hurricane season. Now, five years later, many of those same communities are taking legal action to hold the perpetrators accountable. Sixteen Puerto Rico municipalities last week filed the most recent lawsuit against major fossil fuel companies — this time, for the role the companies’ climate deception played in that single year of harrowing storms.
