BUFFALO, N.Y.—At a Puerto Rican cultural center on Buffalo’s West Side, young dancers in bright skirts swayed to the sound of drums in an Afro-Carribean tradition carried across generations.

Eighteen-year-old Darnel Davila maintained a steady beat, striking his drum in time with each snap of the skirts.

Davila and his family came to Buffalo in 2017 after Hurricane Maria, one of the deadliest disasters in Puerto Rico’s history. It ripped through his hometown of Loiza, tearing the roofs off of buildings, and caused the longest blackout in U.S. history.

When it was finally safe to leave his house, Davila opened his door to a neighborhood he no longer recognized.

• ICN Weekly Saturdays Our #1 newsletter delivers the week’s climate and energy news – our original stories and top headlines fr

See Full Page