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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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Story highlights

She went to college on the mainland

Called "fierce advocate" for workers

(CNN) —

Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan, has been a prominent champion of her city and island since Hurricane Maria came ashore last week and battered the US territory.

She asked US President Donald Trump to act quickly on hurricane relief and urged him to deal with the island’s debt crisis.

Yulín Cruz appeared on national TV and called the devastation on Puerto Rico a “humanitarian crisis.”

She upbraided acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, who described the federal response as “a good news story.”

“Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a ‘people are dying’ story. It’s a life or death story,” Yulín C ruz told CNN.

Trump’s criticism

Trump Saturday criticized Yulín Cruz on Twitter for her “poor leadership ability,” saying that the mayor and others in Puerto Rico had been unable to get their workers to help. “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort,” the President said.

04:13 - Source: CNN

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