Kaine To Discuss Puerto Rico Relief Efforts At Woodbridge Meeting

WOODBRIDGE, VA — Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) will be meeting with constituents in Woodbridge on Monday to share what he learned about hurricane and earthquake recovery efforts during his trip to Puerto Rico. The senator is visiting San Juan on Friday where he is viewing repairs made since the hurricanes and earthquakes and learning about the island's remaining infrastructure needs.

Kaine will meet with local residents on Monday at 11 a.m. at the Mofongo Steak House & Grill, 14035 Noblewood Plaza in Woodbridge. He plans to speak about his visit to Puerto Rico and ask for input from community members and local leaders about the recovery challenges facing Puerto Rico and other issues of importance to the Puerto Rican community in Northern Virginia.

Kaine's selected Woodbridge for the meeting because of the significant Latino community in the area and the large Puerto Rican community across Northern Virginia.

During his visit to Puerto Rico, Kaine plans to visit a school, a hospital and meet with government officials. He will be briefed in particular on disaster relief efforts from the recent earthquakes that have left many Puerto Ricans without safe housing.

Kaine traveled to Puerto Rico in October 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Maria to assess the damage and relief efforts.

All of Puerto Rico lost power on Sept. 20, 2017 as Hurricane Maria slammed the U.S. territory as a Category 4 storm, only two weeks after Hurricane Irma caused major damage damage to the island. The power restoration efforts were marked with corruption and incompetence, with many residents left without power for almost a year.

Perhaps even more terrifying are the earthquakes that have not let up in Puerto Rico. Over the past two months, hundreds of earthquakes have struck the island, with the most powerful, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake, coming on Jan. 7. Powerful aftershocks have continued into March, damaging and destroying houses.