In the dark and isolating days after Hurricane Maria, people across Puerto Rico invented new ways to communicate: Elderly couples in need of food or water would raise a flag at their home. Now several groups of young tech developers are trying to prevent that from happening the next time a major disaster strikes. They are roving Puerto Rico with laptops, transmitters and drones to test new systems that could help survivors communicate with authorities and speed up response times to minimize the number of deaths. Puerto Rico is considered an ideal site to test and refine these inventions due to the Sept. 20, 2017, storm and its aftermath that claimed an estimated 2,975 lives. However, Lugo, a former emergency management director for Puerto Rico, warned the U.S. territory still needs to strengthen and update its communications system before the hurricane season starts on June 1.

Source: ABC News March 20, 2019 19:59 UTC