“How do you reach FEMA when this is what is distributed?” says CNN’s Leyla Santiago, pointing to a piece of paper.
“It’s got a number. It’s got a website. But in an area where there is no cell service and there is no Internet, that’s a problem.”
Santiago is standing in Utuado, a central mountainous region of Puerto Rico.
It’s been three weeks since Hurricane Maria hit but the area is still devastated.
Officials say help is flowing to those who need it, but the people Santiago encounters tell a very different story.
Sylvianne, a resident of Utuado, shows Santiago the floors of her house, which are still wet.
Her house no longer has a roof.
She is not alone.
Three weeks on, 80% of Puerto Rico is still without electricity.
A third of the island doesn’t have clean water.
Adding to that, mudslides are closing off entire communities across the island, making it even harder to get supplies where they are so desperately needed.
In the town of Quebradillas, from where Santiago reported four days after Maria hit, the situation is little changed.
She found Brenda, a woman she met on her previous visit.
Brenda tells her the mayor visited once and brought one box of emergency food.
They all shared it but there is nothing left and no more aid has come. The mayor has not returned.
More than 3 million Americans live in Puerto Rico.
President Trump has said he’s doing an A+ job in recovery efforts.
But the Quebradilla residents disagree.
“No way,” one resident says.
“I’d give it a D. We have not seen anything.”
