No gas. No food. No power. Puerto Ricans fear their future
Across Puerto Rico (CNN)Power is out. Food is short. There's not enough water to drink, let alone wash. A week after Hurricane Maria smashed Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm, the situation is not much better. In many ways, it's getting worse.
Hospitals that should be saving people are instead unable to provide care.
At the Canovanas Medical Center, doctors face a lack of supplies. Dr. Norbert Seda said they were running out of fuel for the generator and had only two or three days of medicine and supplies left.
Puerto Rico in crisis after Maria
While residents were prepared for the storm's arrival and mercifully few were killed directly by the hurricane, the need for medical treatment is getting greater.
Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Members of a rescue team embrace as they wait to help in Humacao on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A tree is damaged in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Debris is strewn across a Fajardo street on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A woman closes her property in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, hours before Maria's arrival.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People take shelter at Puerto Rico's Humacao Arena on Tuesday, September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Two girls play on cots at the Humacao Arena.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Waves crash in San Juan as the hurricane neared Puerto Rico on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People pray in Humacao on September 19.
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A street is flooded in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, on September 19.
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People stand near debris at a restaurant in Le Carbet, Martinique, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, board up windows of a business on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A boat is overturned off the shore of Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Cars line up at a gas station in San Juan on September 19.
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A motorist drives on the flooded waterfront in Fort-de-France, Martinique, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Floodwaters surround cars in Pointe-a-Pitre on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Soldiers patrol a street in Marigot, St. Martin, as preparations were made for Maria on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People buy provisions in Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, as the hurricane approached on Monday, September 18.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Customers wait in line for power generators at a store in San Juan on September 18.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
An apartment building is missing a wall in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Monday, September 25, nearly a week after Hurricane Maria devastated the US commonwealth. Power is still out in most places, and communications remain almost nonexistent on the island of 3.4 million people.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Yancy Leon rests at the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport near San Juan on September 25 as she tries to escape the conditions after the Category 4 hurricane slammed Puerto Rico. She's been waiting in line for two days to get a flight out.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
An aerial view shows the flooding in San Juan on September 25.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People collect water from a natural spring created by landslides in Corozal, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, September 24. Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said the island faces a humanitarian crisis.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
An aerial view shows a flooded neighborhood in Catano, Puerto Rico, on Friday, September 22.
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A man cleans a muddy street in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on September 22.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A man walks on a highway divider while carrying his bicycle through San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, September 21.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A shack is destroyed in San Juan on September 21.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A gas station's sign is damaged in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, as the hurricane passed just north of the country on September 21.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Rescue workers drive through a flooded road in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A mattress that fell from the third floor is surrounded by debris outside a San Juan apartment complex on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Damage is seen in Roseau, Dominica, on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People walk through the destruction in Roseau on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
San Juan is shrouded in darkness after the hurricane knocked out power to the entire island of Puerto Rico.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Power lines are scattered across a road in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Residents move aluminum panels from an intersection in Humacao on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Rescue vehicles are trapped under an awning in Humacao on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Trees are toppled outside the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Members of a rescue team embrace as they wait to help in Humacao on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A tree is damaged in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Debris is strewn across a Fajardo street on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A woman closes her property in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, hours before Maria's arrival.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People take shelter at Puerto Rico's Humacao Arena on Tuesday, September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Two girls play on cots at the Humacao Arena.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Waves crash in San Juan as the hurricane neared Puerto Rico on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People pray in Humacao on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A street is flooded in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People stand near debris at a restaurant in Le Carbet, Martinique, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, board up windows of a business on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A boat is overturned off the shore of Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Cars line up at a gas station in San Juan on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A motorist drives on the flooded waterfront in Fort-de-France, Martinique, on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Floodwaters surround cars in Pointe-a-Pitre on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Soldiers patrol a street in Marigot, St. Martin, as preparations were made for Maria on September 19.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People buy provisions in Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, as the hurricane approached on Monday, September 18.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Customers wait in line for power generators at a store in San Juan on September 18.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
An apartment building is missing a wall in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Monday, September 25, nearly a week after Hurricane Maria devastated the US commonwealth. Power is still out in most places, and communications remain almost nonexistent on the island of 3.4 million people.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Yancy Leon rests at the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport near San Juan on September 25 as she tries to escape the conditions after the Category 4 hurricane slammed Puerto Rico. She's been waiting in line for two days to get a flight out.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
An aerial view shows the flooding in San Juan on September 25.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
People collect water from a natural spring created by landslides in Corozal, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, September 24. Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said the island faces a humanitarian crisis.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
An aerial view shows a flooded neighborhood in Catano, Puerto Rico, on Friday, September 22.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A man cleans a muddy street in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on September 22.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A man walks on a highway divider while carrying his bicycle through San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, September 21.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
A shack is destroyed in San Juan on September 21.
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A gas station's sign is damaged in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, as the hurricane passed just north of the country on September 21.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Rescue workers drive through a flooded road in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, September 20.
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A mattress that fell from the third floor is surrounded by debris outside a San Juan apartment complex on September 20.
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Photos: Hurricane Maria slams the Caribbean
Damage is seen in Roseau, Dominica, on September 20.
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People walk through the destruction in Roseau on September 20.
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San Juan is shrouded in darkness after the hurricane knocked out power to the entire island of Puerto Rico.
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Power lines are scattered across a road in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on September 20.
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Residents move aluminum panels from an intersection in Humacao on September 20.
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Rescue vehicles are trapped under an awning in Humacao on September 20.
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Trees are toppled outside the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan on September 20.
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"We've seen a lot of trauma," Seda said. "We need medication, antibiotics, tetanus shots, we've seen a lot of trauma basically, (we need) antibiotics and medication for hypertension."
He's not encountered people dying because of a lack of power and supplies -- yet.
"It's coming. When there's a shortage of water and sanitation issues, it will come out. We are expecting something like that to happen."
Lack of fuel is the key problem at San Jorge Children's Hospital in San Juan, according to its executive director, Domingo Cruz Vivaldi.
"We are dealing with a crisis right now. The hospital is needing diesel every day -- 2,000 gallons a day. Yesterday, we ran out of diesel at 6 a.m. and we were without electricity at the hospital from 6 a.m. through 2 p.m. Eight hours without electricity."
Without power, lifesaving machines like ventilators have to run on emergency backup power.
Fears for the future are playing out across Puerto Rico.
Misery is stalking each and every one of the more than 3 million Americans there.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz sees a growing need for help for increasingly desperate people.
"We are finding dialysis patients that have not been able to contact their providers. We are having to transport them in near-death conditions," the mayor said. "We are finding people whose oxygen tanks are running out because our small generators now don't have any diesel."
Most alarming are the SOS messages, she said, "the ones that say 'Can anyone hear me?' The ones that say 'I have no more food and I'm out in the street.'"
Cruz and her teams are out on the streets trying to find the neediest people. But in the mountains south of her city, help is less likely to come.
Vet in Puerto Rico: Hurricane worse than war 03:23
Combat war veteran Miguel Olivera has less than two days' supply of his lifesaving insulin left. And even that may spoil in his refrigerator with no power.
The mayor of his town, Javier Garcia, believes help will come from the mainland and the federal government.
The question is when, and whether it will be too late for Olivera and others.
Lines of people are hoping to get a flight off the island.
The main airport in San Juan is crippled, barely functioning. Those there are hoping to escape a crowded terminal with no air conditioning. On Tuesday, only 10 flights were scheduled.
Check-in desks were packed with people waiting in line, hoping for a flight off the island. Fans were running, but keeping no one cool. Hopeful travelers sat in chairs on line and others lay nearby, using their suitcases as pillows. A mother rocked a stroller back and forth to try to calm a child.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was food and water on the way to Puerto Rico and added that he would visit the island next week.
Until aid arrives, Garcia and his fellows in Aguas Buenas are reverting to an older way of life -- hacking coconuts to eat and collecting water from mountain streams. But that can only sustain so many for so long. Twenty-first century help is needed for many, like Miguel Olivera, who rely on medication. And the situation can so easily get worse -- mosquito-borne diseases like Zika and Dengue fever are very real fears here.
A massive power tower that was toppled in Aguas Buenas will take a helicopter to restore. That's one very obvious problem. But Puerto Rico's power grid was a mess well before the storm and it will be months -- several months -- before electricity is restored across the island.
Weir in Puerto Rico: Looks like bomb went off 02:05
Generators are now essential -- and essential to them is gasoline. Gas stations around San Juan do have some supply, but the demand is overwhelming.
Long lines of vehicles queue up at the pumps and men with red plastic gas cans wait for up to six hours, hoping to get a few precious gallons. Similar lines grow outside any open grocery store and anywhere that has ice.
Lines for gas stretched for hours in many parts of Puerto Rico.
It's hot. And it's humid. Temperature were set to rise to the low 90s on Tuesday. Showers are forecast later this week but they will barely make it any cooler.
Puerto Rico's leaders and many of its people say they are resilient, they will survive, they will rebuild.
But signs of desperation are beginning to show.
A reporter climbing out of a helicopter is grabbed in a bear hug by a weeping woman in Quebradillas, a cut-off town. The woman doesn't know who the reporter is, but she is a person from the outside, perhaps someone with news of supplies, who can take a message to family, who can offer something.
See the hardest-hit areas of Puerto Rico 02:33
From the air, you can see people walking along highways, reaching up, searching for a cellphone signal. Floods, storm debris and the ever-present lack of power mean a fleeting phone conversation may be their only link to the rest of the island for some time.
Residents in Quebradillas are trying to begin cleanup on their own.
The same struggle evident in Quebradillas is playing out across Puerto Rico.
Utuado suffered several deaths in the storm itself and saw homes washed away. Rosario Heredia lost her home. She is diabetic and just had surgery. She's still there, hoping for help, from anyone. But so far, no one has come.
Utuado residents are using a pipe in the highway to get water for cleaning and drinking.
Now this community of 30,000 is turning to a pipe, tapped into a mountain spring alongside a highway, for water.
Harry Torres said the water is all they have for cleaning and drinking until help comes. He and his fellow residents are just "trying to survive."
"We're desperate," Torres said.
Grandmother rations crackers in Puerto Rico 04:12
The situation is dire for those who cannot even make it to that trickling water. The hurricane brought mudslides here, leaving some unable to get to the highway due to blocked roads or lack of gas.
Lydia Rivera has two cars, but no gas and cannot reach that pipe for water. Now she's trying to keep her two grandchildren alive on a ration of crackers and survive on rainwater.
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Yabucoa
Yauco
Utuado
Quebradillas
Aguas Buenas
San Juan
Map data ©2017 Google
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In Yauco, already a remote town, all the roads are blocked. The only way in is climbing up a hill, and over many downed trees.
Coffee growers Gaspar Rodriguez and Doris Velez have lost just about everything they've worked for. But their biggest worry now is how they will survive.
Residents in Utuado, Puerto Rico collect rain water from mountain springs and carry it through streams across broken roads.
They are in desperate need of food. Most of what they have has gone bad.
In Yabucoa, which took a direct hit, there is no power and residents say they have also been without fresh water for days. The little food in town is being shared by neighbors.
Every single part of Puerto Rico took a hit. From the air it looks brown, not the verdant green of the tropical island it is.
Nothing is normal and there is little sign of when any sense of normality will return -- from schools opening to hospitals being able to care for the sick. Millions don't know when they'll be able to turn on a tap and get water, or flick the switch and have light or cooler air.
San Juan resident Sebastián Pérez showed CNN how he's surviving without running water and power. His fridge is useless for keeping anything cold and he hasn't driven his car since the storm, wanting to keep the gas for emergencies.
Life without basic needs in Puerto Rico
"Food-wise it's getting kind of scary," he said. "I'm trying to use as less as I can."
"Because I don't know when it will get better."
News Courtesy: www.cnn.com
