Editing Salinas, Puerto Rico (section)

==History==
Salinas was founded in 1840. On July 22, 1841, its first municipal council was established by Don Agustín Colón Pacheco as Mayor, Don Jose Maria Cadavedo as Sargent of Arms, Don Juan Colon as Captain of the Civil Guard and five hacendados which were Don Antonio Semidey, Don Antonio Morelli, Don Francisco Secola, Don Julio Delannoy and Don Jose Antonio Torres. In 1847 it was annexed to the municipality of Guayama until 1851 when it regained its status as a municipality.

Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the [[Spanish–American War]] under the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris of 1898]] and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States conducted its first census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Salinas was 5,731

In the 21st century the availability of clean drinking water has become an issue for Puerto Rico and especially for Salinas which is located in a dry region of the island.<ref name="Kaufman 2019">{{cite web | last=Kaufman | first=Alexander C. | title=Puerto Rico's Next Big Crisis Is Water | website=HuffPost | date=November 23, 2019 | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/puerto-rico-water_n_5dd2e6e9e4b0d2e79f917f43 | access-date=2020-07-13 | archive-date=2020-07-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712101429/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/puerto-rico-water_n_5dd2e6e9e4b0d2e79f917f43 | url-status=live }}</ref>

On September 20, 2017 [[Hurricane Maria]] struck the island of Puerto Rico. In Salinas, 2800 homes were destroyed by the winds, flooded rivers, and ocean surge.<ref>{{cite news | title=María, un nombre que no vamos a olvidar. Salinas quedó devastado por los vientos y la marejada ciclónica de María | trans-title=Maria, a name we will never forget. Salinas was destroyed by the winds and surge | newspaper=El Nuevo Día| date=June 13, 2019 | url=https://huracanmaria.elnuevodia.com/2017/municipio/salinas/| language=es | access-date=2022-09-11}}</ref>

During [[Hurricane Fiona]] on September 18, 2022, flood waters from {{convert|30|in|order=flip}}  of rain caused the river to flood neighborhoods and destroy homes in Salinas.<ref name="NPR.org 2022">{{cite web | title=Fiona's floods devastated their homes. These residents are ready to start over | website=NPR.org | date=September 24, 2022 | url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/24/1124865074/puerto-rico-hurricane-fiona-salinas-flooding-residents | access-date=September 24, 2022}}</ref>