PUERTO RICAN STUDENTS GET HELP FROM FLORIDA COMMUNITIES

KISSIMMEE: Al Leslie Campbell's office in the central Florida city of St. Cloud, the phone will not stop ringing.

Director of special programs for the Osceola County School District, Campbell helps enroll students  fleeing storm ravaged Puerto Rico.

Her job has been a busy one. Since Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the Caribbean in September, over 2,400 new students have arrived in the district.

That is enough to fill more than two typical-sized  elementary. Dozen more youngsters show up weekly.

''We're just inundated, from the minute we come in, to the minute we leave,'' said Campbell, who helps families obtain transportation, meals and clothing.

Across the country state and local officials are scrambling to manage an influx of Puerto Ricans, a migration that is impacting education budgets, housing, demographics and voter rolls in communities where these newcomers are landing.

FLORIDA, already home to more than 1 million Puerto Ricans, is on the front lines.

About 300,000 island residents have arrived in the state in early October, according to Florida's  Division of Emergency Management.

The influx is nearly 2.5 times the size of the Mariel boat lift that brought 125,000 Cubans ashore in 1980.

Some Puerto Rican arrivals have passed through Florida on their way to New York, Pennsylvania, Texas other states. Some may eventually return home. But many will not.

The island is still reeling months after Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm wreaked catastrophic damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Nearly 40 percent of residents still lack electricity. The economy has been devastated.