Hurricane Maria 2017 Poster

Hurricane Maria (2017)
Part of the Global Warming Awareness Poster Series
Design by Gianluca Franzese

An island in the dark. A storm revealed what policy tried to hide.
This poster captures the devastation Hurricane Maria unleashed on Puerto Rico in 2017 — a disaster made worse by governmental neglect and the growing influence of global warming on extreme weather events.

Cartographic forms and vibrant, geometric shapes echo both the fractured infrastructure and the resilience of Puerto Rican communities. The surreal colors heighten the contrast between natural beauty and human abandonment. At the bottom, the message is unflinching: “Global Warming Is Real. Earth Climate in Crisis.”

Under President Trump’s administration, federal response to the hurricane was widely criticized — underfunded, delayed, and politically dismissive. This poster speaks to that failure, not only as a visual memorial to lives lost, but as a call for accountability and environmental justice. It reminds us that climate disasters are not only natural — they’re political.

It’s a visual record of a real climate disaster — an image designed to hold space for what happened, and what’s still happening.
Each piece is a reminder that these events didn’t come out of nowhere, and they won’t be the last — unless we remember.

Printed on synthetic 4533 press, this poster benefits from enhanced durability and color vibrancy. The synthetic 4533 press technology uses advanced printing techniques to ensure that the colors remain vivid and the material withstands various environmental conditions, making it ideal for long-term display and preservation.