FEMA on Puerto Rico: 'It's not nearly as fast as any of us want' | CNN

Puerto Rico

CNN

Now playing

02:12

Relief supplies stuck at Puerto Rico port

Stacks upon stacks of bottled water sit near a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, on September 12, 2018.

Julian Quiñones/CNN

Now playing

02:42

See untouched water bottles in Puerto Rico

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)

Mario Tama/Getty Images South America/Getty Images

Now playing

01:39

Puerto Rico revises Hurricane Maria death toll

title: duration: 00:00:00 site: author: published: intervention: yes description: Radio Isla had access to vans that contained water, food, medicine and hundreds of open boxes, many of them with reptile waste and in a state of decomposition. According to sources, the supplies were for the victims of the hurricanes.

Radio Isla

Now playing

01:24

Supplies sent to Puerto Rico found abandoned

MOROVIS, PUERTO RICO - DECEMBER 20: A resident, whose home remains without electricity, watches as debris is removed on December 20, 2017 in Morovis, Puerto Rico. Barely three months after Hurricane Maria made landfall, approximately one-third of the devastated island is still without electricity and 14 percent lack running water. While the official death toll from the massive storm remains at 64, The New York Times recently reported the actual toll for the storm and its aftermath likely stands at more than 1,000. Puerto Rico's governor has ordered a review and recount as the holiday season approaches. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Mario Tama/Getty Images/File

Now playing

01:47

Possible epidemic in Puerto Rico after Maria hit

CNN

Now playing

02:04

Suspected deadly bacteria cases in Puerto Rico

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.

CNN

Now playing

01:05

Questions surround Hurricane Maria death toll

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

CNN

Now playing

01:59

San Juan mayor: Trump showed terrible neglect

CNN

Now playing

01:58

CNN anchor presses PR governor on death count

SAN ISIDRO, PUERTO RICO - OCTOBER 05: Kids bike in an area without grid power or running water about two weeks after Hurricane Maria swept through the island on October 5, 2017 in San Isidro, Puerto Rico. 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)

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Now playing

03:36

Puerto Ricans repair power lines themselves

ricardo rossello

CNN

Now playing

02:13

Rossello: Hell to pay if data not available

huracan maria muertes no oficales puerto rico pkg leila santiago_00034213.jpg

Now playing

02:20

Study: Puerto Rico hurricane death toll near 5,000

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)

RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

Now playing

01:20

Puerto Rico suffers island-wide power outage

Blue tarps are still the only roofs for some homes in Corozal.

Leyla Santiago/CNN

Now playing

02:46

Puerto Rico 6 months after Hurricane Maria

Herminio Trinidad Agosto's home in Corozal, P.R., on March 13, 2018. On Feb. 13, 2018, Zoraida Santiago Torres, 58, TrinidadÕs wife died from a pulmonary disease. The family, including two sons of Santiago, live in home made with the scraps of what was left after hurricane Maria flattened the house at a hill top of Corozal. Almost six months after hurricane Maria ravaged the island over 200 thousand people remain without power. Some recent deaths have been linked to the lack of electric service, but most are not recognized as a hurricane Mara death. (Erika P. Rodriguez for CNN)

Erika P. Rodriguez for CNN/File

Now playing

03:47

Deaths in PR still attributed to Maria

CNN

Now playing

03:45

Hurricane Maria evacuees living in FL motels

Story highlights

Puerto Rico governor: "After two hurricanes, this infrastructure has honestly collapsed"

FEMA says it has given $17 million in aid a week after Hurricane Maria struck

San Juan, Puerto Rico CNN —

Puerto Ricans are struggling with day-to-day survival despite government and military efforts to help get the US commonwealth back on its feet more than a week after Hurricane Maria’s landfall.

Nearly half of gas stations on the island are still closed. Thousands of shipping containers with vital aid are sitting idle at the Port of San Juan. And many banks remain shuttered or low on money, while businesses accept only cash.

“A response to an incident like this is complex, it’s difficult and it’s not nearly as fast as any of us want,” John Rabin, acting regional administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told reporters Thursday at press conference in San Juan. “Hurricane Maria was catastrophic to Puerto Rico.”

Rabin said that FEMA has given $17 million in aid to the island.

Puerto Rico faces a significant distribution challenge, with about 9,500 containers carrying food, water, medicine and other supplies stuck at San Juan’s port, according to Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

An official with the shipping company Crowley Maritme said later Thursday that at least 10,000 containers were sitting at the port.

Crowley said Wednesday it alone had 3,000 of those idle containers and had only been able to dispatch 4% of its load.

Roadblocks in delivering aid

A myriad of problems makes it difficult to transport desperately needed aid throughout the island. Among them: Only a fifth of truck drivers have reported back to work at the port, a representative for the governor said Wednesday. It’s impossible to contact many drivers since cell phone service and electricity are still down, and it also remains difficult to get gas for vehicles.

Debris continues to block roads on the island, whose infrastructure needed major repairs even before Maria hit.