SAN JUAN — In Puerto Rico, the scope of the devastation left by Hurricane Maria is so broad, and the relief effort so concentrated in San Juan, that many people from outside the capital say they have received little to no help.
Channel 9's Nancy Alvarez traveled to the island Wednesday to survey the damage and relief efforts.
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Follow Nancy on Facebook and Twitter for updates from the island, as well stories on Eyewitness News.
Governor Rick Scott to travel to Puerto Rico
At the request of Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, Governor Rick Scott will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico Thursday to help coordinate response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria.
The Governor will be joined by Florida National Guard Adjutant General Major General Michael Calhoun, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen and Florida emergency management officials.
OneBlood sending blood shipments to Puerto Rico
Local nonprofit OneBlood announced that it has sent multiple shipments of blood to Puerto Rico, with more scheduled.
OneBlood is working closely with the American Red Cross, the Blood Centers of America and America’s Blood Centers to coordinate daily shipments of blood and platelets to hospitals in Puerto Rico.
The damage to Puerto Rico has made blood collection on the island extremely difficult, according to the nonprofit.
Arriving at the Emergency Operations Center
Nancy Alvarez arrived at the Emergency Operations Center in San Juan Wednesday afternoon.
Aid workers and volunteers traveling with Nancy are checking in with government officials to register what supplies their contingent has.
Law enforcement officers traveling to offer security for aid workers have to fill out paperwork to register for service.
Watch: Nancy Alvarez arrives at the San Juan Emergency Operations Center
A local elected official advised Nancy that mailing supplies to the island is not recommended because the packages will likely get stuck at the airport.
Landing in San Juan
Nancy Alvarez landed in San Juan Wednesday morning.
As she made her way through the airport, Nancy described how the heat in the airport was almost paralyzing, but the buildings appear to be fine.
There are clusters of people both inside and outside the airport waiting for flights off the island.
Nancy will be traveling with a contingent of relief workers who are going to distribute 1.5 million pounds worth of supplies to the island.
Watch: Nancy Alvarez lands in San Juan
The contingent was organized by Florida state representative Renee Plasencia.
At the airport, Nancy ran into former Red Sox's pitcher Curt Schilling, who said he's on the island to assist with aid.
"I'm here because the Lord blessed me with a life to have this opportunity," he said. "The goal is to leave the island better than we found it."
Watch: Raw video of San Juan airport
Taking off from OIA
Nancy Alvarez traveled to Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning on a packed JetBlue flight.
Read: Family reunites in Orlando after Hurricane Maria strands loved ones in Puerto Rico
Representatives from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the Oviedo Police Department and the Sanford Police Department were also on the plane to provide aid to the island.
That task force is planning to stay on the island for two weeks.
Watch: Puerto Ricans could flee to Central Florida, state rep says
“It’s what we do. A lot of us are from Puerto Rico or have family there,” said a lieutenant with the group.
Watch: Nancy Alvarez awaits take off from OIA for San Juan
Read: Scope of Puerto Rico damage so wide that US aid hard to see
Scope of the damage
Relatives helped Maribel Valentin Espino find shelter when Hurricane Maria roared through her community in northern Puerto Rico. Neighbors formed volunteer brigades to cut fallen trees and clear twisty mountain roads after the storm had passed. Now, friends and a local cattle ranch provide the water they need to survive in the tropical heat.
Valentin and her husband say they have not seen anyone from the Puerto Rican government, much less the Federal Emergency Management Agency, since the storm tore up the island Sept. 20, killing at least 16 people and leaving nearly all 3.4 million people in Puerto Rico without power and most without water.
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"People say FEMA is going to help us," Valentin said Tuesday as she showed Associated Press journalists around the sodden wreckage of her home. "We're waiting."
Many others are also waiting for help from anyone from the federal or Puerto Rican government. But the scope of the devastation is so broad, and the relief effort so concentrated in San Juan, that many people from outside the capital say they have received little to no help.
[ Photos: Puerto Ricans rescued from flooding ]
Valentin, her husband and teenage son live in one such area, Montebello, a 20-minute drive into what used to be lushly forested mountains near the northern coastal municipality of Manati. Hurricane Maria's Category 4 winds stripped the trees bare and scattered them like matchsticks. "It seemed like a monster," she recalled.
The roads are passable now but the community is still isolated. "Nobody has visited, not from the government, not from the city, no one," said Antonio Velez, a 64-year-old who has lived there his entire life.
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The same complaint echoed throughout the southeast coastal town of Yabucoa, the first town Maria hit as it barreled across the island with 155 mph winds.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing," said 58-year-old retiree Angel Luis Rodriguez. "I've lost everything, and no one has shown up to see if anyone lives here."
At a nearby river, dozens of people gathered to bathe and wash clothes as they grumbled about the lack of aid.
Read: Puerto Rico farmers hit hard by Hurricane Maria
"There's been no help from the mayor or from the federal government," said 64-year-old retiree Maria Rodriguez as she held a coconut in her right hand and took sips from it. "After Georges hit us (in 1998), they responded quickly. But now? Nothing. We need water and food."
Nearby, one girl engaged in a thumb war with a friend as she filled an empty water bottle with her other hand. Downstream, a woman sat cross-legged in the water behind a friend and helped wash her hair.
Read: Orange County couple delivers supplies to St. Thomas despite difficulties
The recovery in the first week since the storm has largely been a do-it-yourself affair. People collect water from wells and streams, clear roads and repair their own homes when they are not waiting in daylong lines for gasoline and diesel. For most, the only visible sign of authority are police officers directing traffic, a critical service because traffic lights are out across the island.
"I have seen a lot of helicopters go by. I assume those are people from FEMA," said Jesus Argilagos, who lives in Manati and works at a grocery store that is only open part of the day because of the power crisis. "People get pissed off because they see them going back and forth and not doing anything."
There are several thousand U.S. federal employees in Puerto Rico helping with the recovery effort. They are most visible in San Juan, where officials with FEMA, Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection have a presence at hotels that before the storm served tourists in the Condado neighborhood or at the convention center that has become a staging ground for relief efforts.
Federal workers supplied diesel to generators at hospitals and delivered desperately needed food and water to hard-hit communities across the island. They have repaired the air traffic control systems and power at the airport, which is far from normal operations with only about a dozen commercial flights per day. U.S. agents have also provided security across the island and the Coast Guard has worked with local authorities to restore the sea ports, a vital link because Puerto Rico is almost completely dependent on imports.
In addition, teams from the Army Corps of Engineers are helping to repair the electricity grid and to inspect and look for ways to avert the collapse of a dam near the western town of Quebradillas that has developed a crack and that officials have said could potentially fail. And personnel from Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs have provided care and helped evacuate people from Puerto Rico with chronic medical conditions.
Teams also were scheduled to visit the central mountain town of Aibonito, which was cut off from the rest of the island for five days. Many people began rationing their food and water supplies as they dwindled, unclear of when they would have contact with the outside world.
"We thought somebody was going to stop by," said Ana Lidia Mendoza, a 48-year-old cook at a barbecue restaurant who lost part of her roof. "They told us that we had to stay calm."
Gov. Ricardo Rossello and Resident Commissioner Jennifer Gonzalez, the island's representative in Congress, have said they intend to seek more than a billion dollars in federal assistance and they have praised the response to the disaster by President Donald Trump, who plans to visit Puerto Rico next week, as well as FEMA Administrator Brock Long.
"I am confident that they understand the seriousness of the situation," the governor said Tuesday.
Still, it is hard to avoid the fact that the response looks different than previous ones. After hurricanes in Louisiana, Texas and Florida, waves of power company trucks from other states descended in long convoys, something that is obviously not possible on an island 1,000 miles to the southeast of the mainland. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, the U.S. military sent ships and the skies seemed to be filled with heavy-lift helicopters and planes carrying emergency relief, though the scale of that disaster was far worse.
Hurricane Maria was the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly 100 years and officials say the cost of recovery will dwarf that of the punishing Hurricane Georges in 1998. Whatever the final bill, Valentin just hopes it will factor in people like her. "If FEMA helps us, we are going to build again," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.