Six months after Hurricane Maria, parts of Puerto Rico still in the dark

March 20--As heavy rains darkened the mountain sky and blasts of wind sheared trees and sent dangerous debris swirling, Ashby Sanabria and her family were taking cover in their home when the power suddenly went out.

Hurricane Maria had just made landfall in Puerto Rico as a massive Category 4 hurricane.

"We couldn't open our windows or doors. We didn't know what to do," Sanabria, 59, of Cacao, Orocovis, a rural town in the center of the island, told the Daily News.

"We would go in the bathroom, we would sit on the stairs, we would come to the living room -- then we just prayed that God takes (the storm) away. It didn't feel like it was ever going to stop."

Six months after Maria ravaged the island on Sept. 20 -- devastating its infrastructure and already-fragile economy and causing the longest blackout in U.S. history -- Sanabria says her barrio, or district, is still living in the dark, fresh water is still scarce and residents remain desperate for help as relief efforts have been minimal or nonexistent.

"We have not seen one utility brigade in this area," Sanabria said. "Every time we ask (officials) 'What is the plan of action? What is being done?' We are met with absolutely no response."

It's a dire situation that is still being felt across the Caribbean island left reeling after an estimated $100 billion worth of damage in Maria's wake.

About 10% of Puerto Rico is still without power, particularly in the mountainous and rural areas, and occasional outages still plague larger cities like the capital of San Juan.

Some residents still lack basic needs like clean drinking water and adequate health care, and tens of thousands of jobs have been lost as a $74 billion public debt continues to loom over the island.

Of the roughly 40,000 small businesses on Puerto Rico -- which employ more than 80% of private sector workers, or about 556,000 people, according to the Small Business Administration -- about one-fifth remain shuttered due to the storm.

Last month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated Puerto Rico's workforce had lost 4% of its jobs due to the storm.

The social cost has been heavy, too. A report this month by the City University of New York's Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College estimates nearly 136,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to the U.S. after Hurricane Maria.

Florida saw the largest influx of people with 56,477, followed by Massachusetts with 15,208, Connecticut with 13,292 and New York with 11,217.

And even suicide rates on the island have spiked, which some officials, including San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, blame on post-Maria despair. Figures released by Puerto Rico's Department of Health in December show there were 253 suicides last year compared with 196 in 2016, a 29% increase.

Living with conditions that Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló described as "apocalyptic" in the days after the storm has many Puerto Ricans both on the island and in the U.S. laying the blame on the White House for its initially slow response to the disaster.

Kristen Mercado, Sanabria's daughter, said it's "pretty clear cut" the Trump administration's response was insufficient.

"You have an entire country of American citizens, set back by years at this point, who are left to fend for themselves," said Mercado, a clinical therapist who works in East Harlem.

But Luis Miranda Jr., founding partner of MirRam Group, a Manhattan political consulting firm, said many Puerto Ricans have lost faith in both the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments.

"I think the blame resides everywhere," he said. "Everything is happening in D.C., and Puerto Ricans on the island are on some level powerless," added Miranda, a native of Vega Alta. "You can't say, 'The mayor of my town didn't do his job,' because he didn't have the resources to do his job.

"It's our responsibility and duty to . . . continue to (pressure) Congress," said Miranda, adding that the focus should be on what Puerto Rico needs to do to rebuild itself.

Conditions have steadily, if slowly, improved. A FEMA spokesman said the agency will continue to provide federal aid -- which has cost over $5.6 billion -- to the commonwealth, and that it currently has nine staging areas across the island to distribute food and water to 78 municipalities.

A spokesman for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said its goal is to restore 95% of power to the island by the end of March, and the rest in April or May.

But much of the humanitarian help has been the result of a coalition of local Hispanic organizations such as Power 4 Puerto Rico, and the efforts of such celebrities as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Lopez and former Mets and Yankees slugger Carlos Beltran.

Miranda -- Luis Miranda's son -- is planning to star in a San Juan production of his hit musical "Hamilton" early next year to raise money for the decimated arts scene there.

In the meantime, Sanabria says she's remaining strong for her family and community in Orocovis.

"I've lived in New Jersey most of my life," she said. "But now this is my community, and I have to stay here. If we leave, who is going to help these people? To me leaving is not the answer, it's helping them get back on their feet."

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