Word: puerto
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...beauty when the beauty is ripped away? The northeastern islands of the Caribbean, ringed by sugary beaches, plush with unlikely flowers, inspiring rummy tropical dreams, have become the American paradise. Even the license plates say so. Two months ago, when Hurricane Hugo mowed across the islands from Guadeloupe to Puerto Rico, it turned a landscape that was achingly lovely into one that was painfully bleak. In the case of St. Croix, where a large bomb could scarcely have done more damage, the looting and disorder that followed were as terrifying as the wicked winds. And now, as the high season...
...army of insurance adjusters is still taking count, but most agree the damage figure will top $2 billion and could be twice that. Roaring from St. John to Puerto Rico, the hurricane stripped the voluptuous hills of every trace of green; it sent rooftops cartwheeling down the mountainsides and busted power lines and telephone poles, leaving the hillsides silent and dark. Given all this havoc, returning visitors these days will be amazed to see how quickly, riotously, the vegetation is growing back and how mightily residents have worked to clean up the mess...
...Puerto Rico was equally hard hit, particularly on the islands of Culebra and Vieques. And yet, despite $1.3 billion in damage, "you can't even tell there was a hurricane here," beams tourist Emma Meadows of Richwood, W. Va. Shops and restaurants are open, highways are clear, and only 400 of the island's 8,500 rooms are still out of service. The conference rooms and lobby of the 570-room Condado Plaza have new windows, carpeting, light fixtures and furniture. Tree surgeons at the El San Juan are nursing the trademark poolside banyan tree back to life; the hotel...
...destruction firsthand. The 40-ft. leafy cathedral that vaulted over the roads is now open to the sun, and once lush reaches of forest are bare, broken and brown. In the hardest-hit areas, 60% of the hardwood trees are gone, including huge mahoganies, and many of the rare Puerto Rican parrots have disappeared...
When Hurricane Hugo ravaged America's paradise from Guadeloupe to Puerto Rico, the tourism industry shuddered to a halt. After two months of eager, endless work, most islands have recovered, but devastated St. Croix is still struggling to rebuild its ruins -- and its image...