Vanguard Award Honorable Mention: Puerto Rico Strong

Commonwealth overhauls security technology in its schools in wake of hurricanes

In September of 2017, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico suffered extensive damage as the result of two major hurricanes. The first, Irma, passed just north of the island but still brought damaging tropical storm force winds and heavy rains that knocked out electricity to more than one million people and resulted in at least four fatalities. However, later that month, Puerto Rico would suffer a direct hit from Hurricane Maria that would result in catastrophic property damage and more than 3,000 lives lost.