OREANDA-NEWS   In the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, supplying meals and water to severely impacted survivors remains a priority of local and federal government and nongovernment agencies. This is the largest sustained funding operation in the history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

During the next week, it is expected that 10 million liters of bottled water and 18 million shelf-stable meals will arrive in Puerto Rico. This is in addition to the ongoing wide range of meals already being provided to survivors by the government of Puerto Rico, FEMA and the numerous volunteer agencies feeding Puerto Ricans across the island.

Power restoration continues as a 50-megawatt generator is currently being installed at the Palo Seco Power Plant in San Juan. This is the first step in efforts toward emergency power restoration of what was already a fragile system.

It will take months to complete the emergency work to sustain power until the government of Puerto Rico can permanently restore the island’s power grid. But power restoration is well underway.

More than 140,000 homes in Puerto Rico are in need of some sort of repair as a result of the hurricane.

FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are providing short-term options for homeowners to protect their damaged homes from wind and rain.

One option, Operation Blue Roof, provides a temporary covering of reinforced blue plastic sheeting to help reduce further damage to property until permanent repairs can be made. Blue Roofs are designed to last about 30 days. To date, the USACE has received more than 2,800 requests for Blue Roof repairs and has installed more than 250.

In addition, FEMA has blue tarps, often referred to as self-help tarps, available at no cost throughout local municipalities. These large, loose-fitting sheets of waterproof material are installed by the homeowner and are meant to be temporary protection.