Harvesting rain could help Caribbean countries keep the water on after hurricanes

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Cecilia A. Green, Syracuse University and Farah Nibbs, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

(THE CONVERSATION) After hurricanes Maria and Irma hit last September, it took Puerto Rico until this June to restore water to most residents. Those living in rural and hard-to-reach mountainous areas waited the longest.

In Dominica, where 80 percent of the population was hit hard by Hurricane Maria, water service was not restored to the most remote areas until April 2018, several months after the storm.

Now, another hurricane season is already underway in the Caribbean.

Our research on rainwater harvesting – a low-cost, low-tech way to collect and store rainwater – suggests this technique could be deployed across the Caribbean to improve these...