"Everything has changed:" Functionally diverse older adults' experiences with Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

A humanitarian crisis emerged when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, demonstrating the urgency in addressing the needs of older adults and people with access and functional needs. The study uses in-depth interviews with functionally diverse older adults in rural and urban regions of Puerto Rico (n = 14), aged 67 to 88 (M = 76.7), of which 11 were women, to explore their lived experiences preparing for the hurricane, during the storm, and in its aftermath. We utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to consider how they made sense of their experiences. Based on the interview data, the first major theme describes the sense of shock or dismay as participants recount facing another world, and they explain how they prepared for something unforeseeable or unimaginable. The second major theme evinces resilience through the disastrous aftermath by encompassing how they coped and survived through faith, gratitude, and a shared or collective experience. In their narratives, participants demonstrated resilience as a consequence of their disability and age rather than in spite of their disability and age. Our discussion of the findings incorporates participants' post-hurricane circumstances and health conditions, as well as their perspective on the impact of the hurricane for the archipelago. This paper offers insights into how functionally diverse older adults in Puerto Rico make sense of their experience surrounding Hurricane Maria. We contextualize the study and findings within the particular political, social, economic, and cultural position of Puerto Rico relative to the United States and discuss relevance to current and future crises.