Administration says it is ready for hurricane season

Public Affairs Secretary Jean Peña Payano

By THE STAR STAFF

As the Atlantic hurricane season begins, the administration of Gov. Jenniffer González Colón insists it is fully prepared to respond to any emergency, highlighting strengthened interagency coordination and updated response protocols developed in the wake of recent natural disasters.

Public Affairs Secretary Jean Peña Payano said the government has been working for months to refine emergency plans, identify vulnerable communities, and ensure that state and municipal agencies are aligned ahead of potential storms.

Peña Payano said security and emergency management teams have updated operational protocols and conducted interagency meetings to guarantee rapid response capabilities.

“The government will always be ready,” he said, noting that Puerto Rico’s emergency management system has evolved significantly since Hurricane Maria, the 2020 earthquakes and the COVID‑19 pandemic.

The La Fortaleza official pointed to improvements in communication systems as a key area of progress. He referenced legislation approved last year that standardizes telecommunications equipment across government agencies, including transmitters and other devices. The goal, he said, is to ensure that all agencies operate on a unified communication platform during emergencies.

“These details were sometimes overlooked,” he said, citing past inconsistencies in equipment used by agencies such as the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. “The government has to be ready, and what the commissioner of the Board of Directors of Communications [BOC] mentioned is indeed important.”

The BOC, created after Hurricane Maria, was designed to address communication gaps between the government, the private sector, and affected communities. Peña Payano emphasized that reliable communication is essential for coordinating fuel distribution to hospitals, hotels, and other critical facilities that may need to operate as emergency shelters or medical system extensions during a crisis.

“All these sectors -- pharmaceuticals, medicines -- intervene, but before Hurricane Maria and other events, they weren’t always visible,” he said. “That’s why all these groups, in one way or another, are always in communication.”

As the hurricane season officially begins today, the administration says it will continue meeting with emergency personnel, public safety officials and private‑sector partners to ensure readiness for any weather event.