new york utility crew u.s. mainland scramble puerto rico thursday hurricane maria leave nearly entire u.s. territory many caribbean neighbor without power accord officials puerto rico electric power authority prepa report almost 100 percent 1.5 million customers without power late wednesday u.s. department energy say update hurricane impact thursday maria wind snap tree utility poll puerto rico governor ricardo rossello tell cnn prepa severely hit could months electricity restore customers president donald trump say thursday hurricane maria totally obliterate u.s. island territory puerto rico electrical grid destroy u.s. virgin islands majority 25,000 customers st. croix also report without power doe report add energy support crew deploy st. thomas st. croix support federal emergency management agency fema team others prepare deploy puerto rico soon condition permit doe say american public power association say also bring utility contractor crew part u.s. mainland help recovery efforts least one support team already puerto rico say mike hyland senior vice president engineer service association phone interview san juan since maria pass believe go today st. thomas ... right mission get light back say add limit flight barge serve islands power outages force critical facilities like hospitals rely generators raise concern potential fuel shortages gas station may backup power fuel pump say patrick dehaan petroleum analyst gasbuddy maria kill least 10 people rag caribbean second major hurricane month pack wind 155 mph 250 kph make landfall puerto rico wednesday strong storm hit u.s. territory nearly 90 years maria devastation come puerto rico face large municipal debt crisis u.s. history prepa bankrupt recover hurricane irma graze island knock power two-thirds residents petroleum supply half island electricity natural gas supply nearly one-third accord federal government data recent years high world petroleum price drive typical puerto rican power price high three time u.s. mainland maria could strengthen somewhat next day forecast move north atlantic ocean weekend nhc say power crew scramble puerto rico maria smash grid