Map - Quebradillas, Puerto Rico (Quebradillas Municipio)

Quebradillas (Quebradillas Municipio)
Quebradillas is a town and municipality of the island of Puerto Rico located in the north-western shore bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of San Sebastián; east of Isabela; and west of Camuy. Quebradillas is spread over seven barrios and Quebradillas Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Quebradillas is called "La Guarida del Pirata" (The Pirate's Hideout). A well-known beach in the area, Puerto Hermina, is home to an old structure known to have been a hiding place for pirates and their contraband.

The town was founded in 1823 by Felipe Ruiz. There were many factors that cause the inhabitants of this territory of Puerto Rico to be independent from the towns that formed the Hato de la Tuna resulting in the formation of a new municipality. The town lacked chapels or churches, religious services nor priests, a place to bury the dead, a post office, and quality roads to transport. They relied on the neighboring municipalities of Camuy, Hatillo and Isabela. This would however be a problem during the rainy seasons when the Río Camuy and Río Guajataca water level rose resulting in closed off passage to the other municipalities and would sometimes take up to a week for the water level to return to normal. This led the residents of the area to organize a corporation that would look after the political, economic and administrative interests of "Las Quebradillas" and its jurisdiction. This town derives its name from the large number of streams flowing through it. Quebradillas means "small streams".

Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Quebradillas was 7,432.

On September 20, 2017 Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico. In Quebradillas, 800 concrete barriers had to be built to stabilize the Guajataca reservoir which suffered a structural failure and was causing a "life-threatening situation". "It’s a structural failure. I don’t have any more details," Governor Ricardo Rosselló stated. "We’re trying to evacuate as many people as possible." Rosselló ordered the Puerto Rico National Guard and the Police to help assist in the evacuation effort downstream. The dam lies across the Guajataca River to form a reservoir that can hold roughly 11 billion gallons of water.

In Quebradillas, infrastructure and about 2200 homes were damaged or completely destroyed.

 
Map - Quebradillas (Quebradillas Municipio)
Country - Puerto Rico


Currency / Language  
ISO Currency Symbol Significant figures
USD United States dollar $ 2
Neighbourhood - Country