EUTERS/Alvin Baez
The lights are still out for nearly half a million Puerto Ricans.
After Hurricane Maria struck the US territory on September 20, a crippling blackout descended over its 3.4 million residents, cutting communication between loved ones, spoiling food and life-saving medications, and nixing access to banks and clean water.
The death toll, initially estimated at 64, is now thought to be at least 1,000, according to a recent New York Times analysis. Earlier this week, FEMA told NPR is was "officially shutting off" aid to the US territory on January 31, but on Wednesday the agency reversed course and said an end date for support was not yet set.
Nearly four months after the storm, more than 450,000 Puerto Ricans remain without power, and thousands have no clean water.
It's the result of an abused electric grid left to rot — and what's happening in Puerto Rico could happen in many other parts of America. Here's what it looks like on the ground.
Life has not gotten back to normal. Hurricane Maria's death toll on the island is now thought to be closer to 1,052, according to a recent New York Times analysis.
Source: The New York Times
Power plants owned by the US territory's bankrupt government-owned power authority, Prepa, are an average of 40 years old. In some areas, the only houses that are lit are being run by generators.
FEMA said it administered 30 million gallons of potable water, almost 60 million meals, $500 million of public assistance, and $3.2 million in unemployment to those affected in Puerto Rico.
Source: NPR
One of the most challenging aspects of the storm was what residents described to Business Insider as a complete communication breakdown. Maritza Stanchich, a professor of Caribbean studies at the University of Puerto Rico, said she and her neighbors went almost a week with no news after the storm.
"There's an information shortage and a telecommunications collapse," Stanchich told Business Insider shortly after Maria struck in September. "That part is worse than not having water and electricity."
There was also sizable damage to medical facilities. Many hospitals were without power for days and hundreds of medications that required refrigeration spoiled.
Today, all of Puerto Rico's hospitals have power, but several hundred Puerto Ricans may have died after Maria cut off emergency services and aid to the elderly and other at-risk populations.
Across the island, utility poles are still down.
Many homes are still windowless; others have no power or water.
Still, some see a potential for hope in the destruction of an already-ailing grid.
The week after Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico, Blake Richetta, the senior vice president of a renewable-energy company called Sonnen, boarded a plane bound for the island.
Sonnen makes solar batteries designed to supply homes with an independent source of energy, similar to the Powerwall systems built by Tesla.
As FEMA ends official aid, much of the island is still reeling.
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