For Many on Puerto Rico, the Most Coveted Item is a Plane Ticket Out
By JACK HEALY and LUIS FERRÉ-SADURNÍOCT. 5, 2017
SAN JUAN, P.R. — On a hurricane-battered island where people may still wait hours for gasoline, cash and ice, one of the scarcest, most precious commodities has become a plane ticket out.
Two weeks after Hurricane Maria, thousands of Puerto Ricans are cramming onto the small number of scheduled flights and charter jets and are fleeing for the mainland United States, rather than endure months more without power, cellphone service or regular running water. “Nothing is beautiful anymore,” said Glenda Gomez, 31, who is planning to leave for Miami on Friday with her three children.
So people are selling their cars, abandoning wrecked houses and leaving their property in the hands of relatives who are staying behind. Some expect to return after a few months on the mainland; others say they are going for good.
Puerto Rican airports have become scenes of tearful goodbyes as families send their children, spouses and parents to live with relatives in Orlando, New York, Washington — wherever.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/puerto-rico-exodus-maria-florida.html