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abstract
Non-profit organizations can play a critical role in disaster recovery owing to their ability to motivate volunteerism, assess local needs, distribute goods, and aid. But few such organizations can successfully navigate the dynamism and uncertainty of disaster recovery. This is particularly true of locally embedded, non-profit organizations that typically have a smaller staff, fewer resources, fewer extra-local connections, and much less experience in disaster recovery. In this study, we first created a profile of non-profits in Puerto Rico. Then, we capture the activities that relate to responding and improving their capacity to engage in recovery actions after Hurricane María. Data were collected through phone surveys of 235 responses of non-profit organizations as well as in-depth interviews with 21 executive directors of agencies, residents, and community leaders. We discuss four relevant themes in this article: (1) disaster impact on organization, (2) changes in interaction with other organizations, (3) knowledge and use of traditional recovery funding mechanisms, and (4) need for education, capacity building, and collaboration. We conclude with observations on the impact that Hurricane María had on the operations of these nonprofit organizations, their knowledge-seeking behavior, new opportunities for collaboration, and access to resources in the post-disaster context. [Keywords: non-profits, Puerto Rico, Hurricane María, disaster recovery]
Introduction
On September 20, 2017, Maria, a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of over 140 miles per hour, devastated the Island's housing, infrastructure, agriculture, transportation networks, and communications systems (Hinosa, Román and Meléndez 2018; Puerto Rico Department of Housing 2020). Hurricane Maria was one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history, with an official death toll of close to 3,000 individuals in Puerto Rico alone (Fink 2018). It was the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in the world (Willie 2018). Hurricane Maria was also the third-costliest storm in U.S. history-$90,000 billion, after Katrina ($160 billion) and Harvey ($125 billion) (Ramsey 2012). The most severe loss of life and infrastructure damages was in Puerto Rico, where it is estimated to be about $100 billion (The Associated Press 2018).
A record worldwide was achieved in Puerto Rico: the second-largest blackout in the world after Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines in 2013 (Doug 2018). According to a FEMA report, it was also (1) the lengthiest air mission...