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SAN ISIDRO, PUERTO RICO - OCTOBER 15: Uncollected debris stand near damaged homes in an area without electricity on October 15, 2017 in San Isidro, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is suffering shortages of food and water in many areas and only 15 percent of grid electricity has been restored. Puerto Rico experienced widespread damage including most of the electrical, gas and water grid as well as agriculture after Hurricane Maria, a category 4 hurricane, swept through. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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With hurricane season starting June 1, CNN returns to Puerto Rico to see if the island is ready for another storm. Nine months after Maria, 20,000 homes are still without power- and going into the season, many mayors are worried that even a small storm will plunge them back into darkness and repeat the crisis all over again. We witness desperate Puerto Ricans illegally and dangerously turning on their own power, and press officials for answers on what will change this time around.

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Guest: Mayor Carmen Cruz from San Juan, PR (Facetime) Anderson in Studio 73 / Control 71 (channel 67) Please record CTL 7100 Switched Please record CTL 7103 Clean Switched Please record CTL 7138 AC ISO Please record CTL 7139 Splits Please record CTL 7140 Big Smalls Please record GFX 905 Cruz ISO

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A Puerto Rico Electric and Power Authority brigade work in a remote off-road location to repair a downed power transmission line in Ponce, Puerto Rico on November 29, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Ricardo ARDUENGO / TO GO WITH AFP STORY By Leila MACOR, US-PuertoRico-power-weather-reconstruction-hurricane (Photo credit should read RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images)

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Story highlights

"Puerto Rico is very important to me," Trump said

Trump announced Tuesday he would visit the island next week

(CNN) —

President Donald Trump on Tuesday intensified his personal involvement in the growing crisis in Puerto Rico amid criticism that his response to the devastation there was lackluster.

There was an increased sense of urgency at the White House in confronting the situation, including Trump’s announcement – a surprise to some aides – that he would travel there in a week to survey damage left over from the storm.

“Puerto Rico is very important to me, and Puerto Rico – the people are fantastic people,” Trump said before meeting with lawmakers in the Roosevelt Room on Tuesday. “I grew up in New York, so I know many people from Puerto Rico. I know many Puerto Ricans. And these are great people, and we have to help them. The island is devastated.”

After critics, Republican and Democratic alike, accused Trump of ignoring the situation in public – choosing instead to focus his attention on stirring controversy over NFL players’ National Anthem protests – the West Wing on Tuesday was the site of a flurry of activity designed to show Trump taking charge of the matter.