The US Virgin Islands are struggling to recover from the storms, too | CNN

Hurricane Maria

Austin Fields/CNN iReport

Austin Fields says that the rain has stopped and that he has seen law enforcement vehicles on the road after Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Now playing

01:43

US Virgin Islands struggle to recover

Mario Tama/Getty Images South America/Getty Images

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)

Now playing

02:46

Puerto Rico governor.: We're treated like second-class citizens

CNN/Madeleine Stix

Now playing

03:53

This is Puerto Rico's 'Maria Generation'

CNN

Now playing

01:04

The drive that shows how badly Puerto Rico was hit

hurricane maria damage sg orig_00002516.jpg

Now playing

01:28

Hurricane Maria leaves trail of devastation

Mario Tama/Getty Images/File

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)

Now playing

02:08

Study: Hurricane Maria killed nearly 3,000

Oliver Contreras/Pool/Getty Images

Now playing

02:29

Trump's false claim on Puerto Rico deaths

CNN

Jose Andres

Now playing

00:57

Jose Andres: Trump should be ashamed

POOL

trump fema 09112018

Now playing

02:29

Trump: The best job we did was Puerto Rico

CNN

cooper 9.11

Now playing

04:44

Cooper slams Trump's 'tone-deaf' remarks

Joe Raedle/Getty Images South America/Getty Images

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - SEPTEMBER 30: San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz speaks to the media as she arrives at the temporary government center setup at the Roberto Clemente stadium in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria on September 30, 2017 in San Juan, 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, passed through. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Now playing

01:22

Mayor: If Trump doesn't learn, God bless us all

Julian Quiñones/CNN

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

Now playing

02:42

See untouched water bottles in Puerto Rico

CNN

Now playing

01:58

CNN anchor presses PR governor on death count

CNN

puerto rico governor rossello new day

Now playing

00:42

Puerto Rico Gov.: There will be mass exodus

Now playing

01:03

Trees, fences fall as Maria hits Puerto Rico

HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images

Residents of San Juan, Puerto Rico, deal with damages to their homes on September 20, 2017, as Hurricane Maria batters the island. Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Wednesday, cutting power on most of the US territory as terrified residents hunkered down in the face of the island's worst storm in living memory. After leaving a deadly trail of destruction on a string of smaller Caribbean islands, Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico's southeast coast around daybreak, packing winds of around 150mph (240kph). / AFP PHOTO / HECTOR RETAMAL (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Now playing

01:44

Hurricane Maria pummels Puerto Rico

Story highlights

The island of St. John has been without power since Hurricane Irma

Only 33% of cellphone service has been restored

CNN —

Do Re Mi Daycare on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands has been serving students for 20 years.

But last week, Hurricane Maria threatened everything that Naima Poleon’s family had worked for. Poleon, who took over the daycare this year so her mother could retire, ventured out after the storm to find large parts of the roof were gone. Water damage inside was extensive.

“I really didn’t have any words for it,” she said. “It was just shock. Just seeing everything my mom had worked for for 20 years … was gone in 24 hours.”

“It was devastating.”

Like many residents in the US Virgin Islands, Poleon is trying to pick up the pieces of her life left by Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Both hurricanes were Category 5 storms when they hit, and both decimated the islands, within two weeks of each other.

Irma knocked out the electricity for the islands of St. John and St. Thomas, while St. Croix was mercifully spared. But two weeks later, just as the the three islands that make up the US territory were recovering, Maria came back with a vengeance and devastated the power grid.

The islands are still reeling. Many residents are without shelter, power or communication. Schools are still closed and debris still litters the street, hindering the transportation of resources and personnel.

The humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico grips the country, but the destruction from the storms was widespread, and the US Virgin Islands are facing their own lengthy recovery.

Many left without shelter

Don Caetano, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN a big challenge for the recovery effort is simply getting supplies and personnel to places that need them.

“You get the commodities in,” Caetano said, “but you need the people to get the commodities where they need to go.” There’s still debris blocking roadways, he said, complicating the transportation of resources and personnel.

Many of the more than 100,000 residents who live in the islands have been left without a place to stay after the storms destroyed their homes.

“A lot of people are without roofs or with partial roofs,” said Samuel Topp, spokesman for the US Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp. “This is, of course, one of the priorities.”

FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers are proving residents with blue tarpaulin and other materials as part of Operation Blue Roof, Topp said, so some can live in their homes as a temporary solution.

According to FEMA, as of Thursday there were seven shelters throughout the islands housing 396 residents. That number is steadily declining, Topp said.

The full extent of the damage, Topp said, is “continuing to be assessed,” but he recognizes they’re not out of the woods yet.

“This is still hurricane season,” he added. “Anything could happen and a lot of people are exposed.”

Power, running water slowly returning

Julio Rhymer, executive director for the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA), recognizes that Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, are struggling from being hit by the hurricanes, but he wants “to make sure the Virgin Islands doesn’t get forgotten in the restoration process.”

After Hurricane Irma pummeled St. John and St. Thomas, St. Croix was mercifully left with about 90% power. But two weeks later, Hurricane Maria arrived to change that, decimating the island with the capabilities to support the others.

Hurricane Irma knocked out power for the entire island of St. John, Rhymer said, and the power has still not returned.

It will take an estimated two to three weeks before St. John’s downtown district will have power restored, and the rest of the island could take even longer than that, he said.