WHEREAS, In the morning hours of September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico as a Category 5 storm;
WHEREAS, The massive rains brought catastrophic flooding to the island, washing out bridges and inundating entire towns. Intense winds of 140 mites per hour devastated homes, terrain, and knocked out communication and electrical services; and,
WHEREAS, Located on the north and west coast of Puerto Rico, Manati is known as the Metropolitan City and the "Athens of Puerto Rico;' and,
WHEREAS, Just a few minutes before 11:00 in the morning of September 20, 2017, the eye of the powerful Hurricane Maria entered the Coto Sur and Rio Arriba Saliente neighborhoods, and emerged through the town of Bajura Adentro. The intense winds blew hundreds of roofs off and destroyed electrical service to the residents; and,
WHEREAS, Heavy rains flooded the Manati territory. In the area of La Vuelta del Dos and La BoquiHa neighborhoods, the El Tanque sector was flooded with over five feet of water. Over 70 homes were submerged underwater; and,
WHEREAS, These past two years, the people of Manati have struggled to rebuild their neighborhoods. Never giving up, they worked many hours to provide basic services to all; and,
WHEREAS, During this time of crisis, the municipality of Manati realized in order to strengthen the needs of their residents, additional vehicular equipment was required; and,
WHEREAS, Representatives from the city of Manati and Mr. Jose Maisonet reached out to Ariel E. Reboyras, Alderman ofthe 30th Ward in the City of Chicago, requesting assistance in obtaining an ambulance and fire truck; and,
WHEREAS, With the support of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Chicago, approval was given for the donation of the ambulance and fire truck; and,
WHEREAS, On Tuesday, December 10, 2019, the keys ofthe ambulance and fire truck were turned over to the Mayor of Manati, Puerto Rico, the Honorable Jose Sanchez Gonzalez, and Rafael Roman Marti; and now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, gathered here this eighteenth day of December 2019 A.D., do hereby extend our supgort with this donation to the citizens of Manati, Puerto Rico; and,
; BE# FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolutkarJj3fi42reDared for j pre^ntatiorE
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S Ariel E. Reboyras
25 Alderman,'30th Ward