Ignacio Alvarez had been chief executive of Puerto Rico's largest bank for less than three months when Hurricane Maria hit the territory, claiming thousands of lives and requiring heroic efforts to restart the banking system.
Alvarez waited in line at gas stations to purchase for his bank's generators in the aftermath of Maria, he said. He helped organize deliveries of cash to some of the bank's most remote locations.
Hurricane Fiona presented a new, but familiar, challenge when it made landfall in Puerto Rico last Sunday.
As the storm approached Puerto Rico, Alvarez spoke twice daily with a team of staffers designated to handle emergencies. They decided to prepare the larger generators they had at bank branches and employ a number of policies to make sure customers wouldn't be penalized for making late payments or needing quick cash in the storm's aftermath.
"Unfortunately, we've gotten pretty good at this," Alvarez said in an interview.
Five days after Hurricane Fiona swept across Puerto Rico, more than 90% of branches of the bank are open, thanks largely to diesel-powered generators. The week after Hurricane Maria made landfall in 2017,
The damage caused by Hurricane Fiona was more localized than the widespread destruction levied by Maria, Alvarez said. About 100 of the bank's 147 open branches were relying on generator power on Friday, he said.
While branches are open and employees are showing up for work, many employees are returning to dark, hot homes. Almost 60% of households were without power on Friday afternoon,
Popular executives expect more branches to start receiving electricity from the country's power grid in the coming days. Some branches may have to be closed if Popular runs into trouble transporting diesel to the remote areas where some of its branches are located, Alvarez said.
"Getting the electricity running is the biggest problem for us," he said.
Popular has Puerto Rico's most extensive branch network and about $71.5 billion of assets. It also operates branches in other U.S. territories and in states including New York, New Jersey, California and Florida.
Alvarez spent Wednesday touring Popular branches in the territory's southern region, where Fiona caused some of the most extensive damage.
Popular said it will eliminate late fees for personal loans and mortgages until Sept. 30. In addition, the bank will allow non-customers to withdraw funds from its ATMs at no charge and will waive fees for customers who use out-of-network ATMs. Commercial customers won't be charged late fees in the near future, the bank said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration said Friday that it was encouraging banks to take certain measures to allow New Yorkers to support family and friends in Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans with New York bank accounts.
The San Juan company has largely recovered from the hurricane that hit a year ago, and it has made extensive preparations for future natural disasters. Yet its home market is still suffering from debt and net outmigration of residents.
Banks chartered in New York should consider waiving overdraft fees, easing credit terms for new loans and allowing customers to defer loan payments, among other actions, the state's department of financial services said.
"The Department hopes that the devastating effects of this natural disaster on local individuals and businesses will be transitory, and compliance with this guidance will assist the communities in their rebuilding," Adrienne Harris, New York State's superintendent of financial services, wrote in a letter to the banks.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is expected to release additional guidance for financial institutions operating in Puerto Rico in the coming days.
