SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — They eye of Hurricane Maria was nearing the Turks and Caicos early Friday as Puerto Rico sought to recover from the storm’s devastation.

Two days after Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, flooding towns, crushing homes and killing at least two people, millions on the island faced the dispiriting prospect of weeks and perhaps months without electricity. The storm knocked out the entire grid across the U.S. territory of 3.4 million, leaving many without power.

The loss of power left residents hunting for gas canisters for cooking, collecting rainwater or steeling themselves mentally for the hardships to come in the tropical heat. Some contemplated leaving the island.

“You cannot live here without power,” said Hector Llanos, a 78-year-old retired New York police officer who planned to leave Saturday for the U.S. mainland to live there temporarily.

Like many Puerto Ricans, Llanos does not have a generator or gas stove. “The only thing I have is a flashlight,” he said, shaking his head. “This is never going to return to normal.”

Maria’s death toll across the Caribbean, meanwhile, climbed to at least 19, nearly all of them on the hard-hit island of Dominica. In Puerto Rico, the government said at least two were killed but media on the island were reporting additional deaths and the actual toll appeared unlikely to be known for days.

As of Friday morning, Maria was moving toward the Turks and Caicos with winds of 125 mph (205 kph). The storm was expected to move near or just east of the Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas on Friday. From there, it is expected to veer into the open Atlantic, no threat to the U.S. mainland.

In Puerto Rico, the grid was in sorry shape long before Maria — and Hurricane Irma two weeks ago — struck.

The territory’s $73 billion debt crisis has left agencies like the state power company broke. It abandoned most basic maintenance in recent years, leaving the island subject to regular blackouts.

“We knew this was going to happen given the vulnerable infrastructure,” Gov. Ricardo Rossello said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would open an air bridge from the mainland on Friday, with three to four military planes flying to the island every day carrying water, food, generators and temporary shelters.

“There’s a humanitarian emergency here in Puerto Rico,” Rossello said. “This is an event without precedent.”

He said his administration was trying to open ports soon to receive shipments of food, water, generators, cots and other supplies.

The government has hired 56 small contractors to clear trees and put up new power lines and poles and will be sending tanker trucks to supply neighborhoods as they run out of water. The entire island has been declared a federal disaster zone.

Mike Hyland, senior vice president of engineering services for the American Public Power Association, a utility industry group that is sending repair crews into the Caribbean, refused to speculate on how long it would take to restore power in Puerto Rico.

“Let’s see what the facts tell us by the end of the weekend,” he said. But he acknowledged: “This is going to be a tall lift.”

Maribel Montilla already had two large barrels filled with water but worried about how long it would last for her, her daughter, her son-in-law and six grandchildren.

“You know what I think? We’re going to be without power for six months now,” she said.

Cellphone and internet service collapsed in much of Puerto Rico. The only radio station that remained on the air during the hurricane — WAPA 680 AM — was relaying messages to help connect friends and families.

Other concerns were more prosaic. Across the street, someone yelled at a neighbor, “Listen, do you have Netflix?!”

Jaime Rullan, a sports commentator, has a gas stove at home but tried not to think about the lack of air conditioning on an island where the heat index has surpassed 100 degrees (37 Celsius) in recent days.

“We’re used to the lights going out because of storms here in Puerto Rico, but this time, we’re worried,” he said. “We should prepare ourselves mentally to be at least a month without power.”

Deysi Rodriguez, a 46-year-old caretaker for elderly people, does not have a gas stove. And unlike others who have been lining up at the few fast-food restaurants that have reopened, Rodriguez is a diabetic and has to be more careful about what she eats.

Rodriguez said she might temporarily move to New Jersey if the situation gets worse.

Pedro Cartagena, a 57-year-old dock supervisor, said he planned to shower, eat and sleep at his company’s office. He plans to buy food at the few restaurants that are open and operating on generators.

“That’s going to drain my bank account,” he said, “but if I want to eat, that’s my only option.”

In an upscale neighborhood in San Juan, 69-year-old retiree Annie Mattei’s condominium has a generator. But she said maintenance will shut it off between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to save fuel.

“This has been devastating,” she said as her eyes welled with tears.

In the Dominican Republican, Maria knocked down trees and power lines. But Joel Santos, president of the country’s hotel association, said the hurricane did not damage the tourism infrastructure, even though it passed close to Punta Cana, the major resort area on the eastern tip of the island.

In Dominica, where Maria laid waste to hundreds of homes and was blamed for at least 15 deaths, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit wept as he spoke to a reporter on the nearby island of Antigua.

“It is a miracle there were not hundreds of deaths,” he said. He added: “Dominica is going to need all the help the world has to offer.”</s>The US Coast Guard says a British Royal Navy helicopter has rescued a family of three who were left stranded on top of their capsized vessel following Hurricane Maria.

In a dramatic, coordinated effort, rescuers were able to hoist up a woman and her two children from their boat Ferrel just off Vieques, Puerto Rico early today.

Coast Guard in Miami received an alert via emergency position and a distress call on Wednesday stating that those aboard the Ferrel were disabled and adrift in 6m waves and 60 km/h wind.

The Coast Guard says the dead man's body was not retrieved and that the boat had capsized.

The search included an HC-130 search plane, a fast response cutter, the USS Kearsage amphibious assault ship and Navy helicopters.

The names of those on the vessel were not released.</s>When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, it not only tore roofs off buildings and caused extreme flooding, it also created a massive power outage that is affecting all 3.5 million people on the 100-mile-long island, which is making communication across the area very difficult.

Some residents experienced power outages when Hurricane Irma passed north of Puerto Rico on Sept. 6 and never had their power return, according to NBC News. Other outages occurred Wednesday morning as Hurricane Maria approached the island, and even more followed throughout the day.

Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority announced at about 4 a.m. Wednesday morning that 884,000 of its customers had no power. Later, the island’s Emergency Management Agency announced that 100 percent of the island was without power, according to The New York Times.

Both Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said it will likely take months to fix the outage across Puerto Rico.

“The San Juan that we knew yesterday is no longer there,” Cruz told MSNBC on Thursday. “We’re looking at four to six months without electricity [in Puerto Rico].”

Rosselló told CNN that the storm badly damaged the infrastructure of the power grid, which he called “a little bit old, mishandled and weak,” on Anderson Cooper 360.

The power outage is inhibiting communication across the island.

On Thursday, more than 95 percent of cell sites were out of service, according to the Federal Communication Service. That’s even higher than after Hurricane Irma, which had put about 56 percent of the island’s wireless network out of service.

Without cell service, many people are unable to contact loved ones and confirm their safety.

Resident Jeannelish Deida told CBS3 on Thursday that she cannot contact her family within the island. Deida is unable to travel due to flooding on the streets, but once water levels decrease she plans to drive to her family members and make sure they are safe.

Because they lack cell service, many residents have been using social media to stay in touch from across the island.

“Keep posting information on social media because that’s the only way that we are looking for what happened because here we don’t have communication,” Deida told CBS3 on Thursday.

Many people living in the continental U.S. are also concerned about their friends and family in Puerto Rico, including Orlando resident Lius Alfonso Figueroa and South Carolina resident Yany Lebron.

Lebron posted photos on Facebook of the wreckage in her hometown, Juncos, Puerto Rico, as she received the images from family members. Lebron wrote she is heartbroken that her “poor island has been destroyed.” Figueroa also used Facebook on Thursday to share his connection to the people in Puerto Rico: “May God be the one who takes control over my family, friends and compatriots of my island of charm!”

On Wednesday, Lebron used the platform to express the difficulty she has communicating with her family members.

“At this point all family members that lived out of Puerto Rico are all stressing,” Lebron wrote. “It gets very frustrating not knowing how our loved ones are doing so please be patient with us.”

Celebrities who have ties to Puerto Rico in the U.S. are also voicing their concern over the situation in Puerto Rico. Jennifer Lopez posted on Instagram Thursday night that she still hasn’t heard from her family that live on the island. The singer, who was born in the Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents, used Instagram to urge her fans to support and donate towards Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

“What’s on my mind is what’s going on in Puerto Rico. The devastation is beyond belief,” JLo said in an Instagram video. “Me and my cousin still haven’t been able to hear from our families over there.”

Rosselló also expressed difficulty communicating with people across the island when he spoke to CNN on Wednesday. He said there is only one known casualty in Puerto Rico resulting from Hurricane Maria: A man was hit by a board that had been torn from a house due to the storm’s high-speed winds.

But Rosselló added that he is not yet aware of all the storm’s impacts.

“We still don’t have a lot of information,” Rosselló told CNN on Wednesday. “We’re virtually disconnected in terms of communications with the southeast part of the island.”

A week after Irma hit, all but six percent of cell sites had been recovered. This time it will likely take longer.

“Unfortunately, getting Puerto Rico’s communications networks up and running will be a challenging process, particularly given the power outages,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told the Wall Street Journal.

For ways to help victims of Hurricane Maria, here are some verified organizations assisting in the efforts.</s>If you live in this municipality of Puerto Rico, or know of anyone who lives there but can’t reach their family members abroad, help us connect them. Ask the people on the island for their names and location, as well as the contact information for their relatives abroad. Then share that information with us through a private message on Univision Puerto Rico´s Facebook page or send it to uninoticiasdigital@univision.net. We will contact their family members abroad with the information you provide. #PRActivate

If you live in this municipality of Puerto Rico and want to tell a story, report something or send us photos or videos, you can contact us through the Univision Puerto Rico Facebook page, through Twitter or through WKAQ 580 Facebook Page.

If you are outside of Puerto Rico, you are looking for your relatives and cannot locate them you can also visit the Facebook group 'Puerto Rico Maria Updates', which is not run by Univision, but is being used by many families to organize spontaneously.</s>If you live in this municipality of Puerto Rico or have direct information about your situation after Hurricane Maria and you want to help us inform other relatives, write to our journalists at mfelix@univision.net or call 305-798-9271 #PRActivate.

If you live in this municipality of Puerto Rico and want to tell a story, report something or send us photos or videos, you can contact us through the Univision Puerto Rico Facebook page, through Twitter or through WKAQ 580 Facebook Page.

If you are outside of Puerto Rico, you are looking for your relatives and cannot locate them you can also visit the Facebook group 'Puerto Rico Maria Updates', which is not run by Univision, but is being used by many families to organize spontaneously.</s>It could take months to restore power to Puerto Rico because most of the island's power lines were aerial, Puerto Rico's secretary of state told CNBC on Friday.

Power went down across the entire island after Hurricane Maria made landfall as a Category 4 storm early Wednesday. It was the most powerful storm to hit Puerto Rico in 90 years.

Much of the infrastructure is down, "so we need to get it up and running. We established priorities whereby we have our hospitals first in line and certainly the hotels and going into communities," Luis Rivera Marin said in an interview with "Power Lunch."</s>Here are live updates from the the NOAA, National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the National Weather Service (NWS) as well as the most advanced weather models from around the world. All times EDT.

Bringing you the latest Hurricane Maria path updates, storm track, weather models, forecasts, tracking maps and videos as the storm heads towards the Caribbean.

Several Puerto Ricans have tweeted that "terrifying noises" are marking the arrival of Hurricane Maria.

Strong winds have been reported in Humacao on the southeast coast of the island.

The NOAA has released a special 4am update on Maria’s position and intensity.

Maria’s eyewall is currently over Vieques, with the center of the storm located about 20 miles south-southeast of Vieques and about 60 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The update added: “A sustained wind of 68 mph (109 km/h) with a wind gust to 83 mph (133 km/h) was recently reported in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

“A sustained wind of 47 mph (76 km/h) with a wind gust to 63 mph (102 km/h) was recently reported at San Juan International Airport.”

Keraunos, the French hurricane observatory, has said that Hurricane Maria will hit Puerto Rico within 2 to 3 hours.

Residents across the island, including those in its capital San Juan, are hunkering down ahead of the storm’s impact.

"It looks like a ghost town," 53-year-old psychiatrist Jose Torres said as he walked through the center of Old San Juan.

“We're taking more precautions this time after Irma.”

Puerto Rico avoided a direct hit from Irma, but the storm knocked out power for 70 percent of the island, and killed at least three people. Maria promises to be worse.

"We know that this hit is going to be much more devastating than the previous one," Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello told National Public Radio.

3.30am: Dominica devastated with ’90 per cent of buildings destroyed’

Six people have died on Dominica, according to initial but unconfirmed reports.

Communications are still down on the island, which was hit by Maria on Monday night, meaning that it is impossible to verify the extent of the devastation.

WIC News understands that at least 90 per cent of the island’s buildings have been destroyed, with trees uprooted and power and communications down.

The website has also received reports of severe flooding and landslides blocking several roads.

Levi Peter, the attorney general of Dominica, spoke to Sky News this morning from London.</s>Compounding Puerto Rico's devastation in the wake of Hurricane Maria is the fact that so much is still unknown. Because most of the island's cellphone sites are out of service and the power grid is down, it has been difficult or impossible to connect with the people who live there — whether from the mainland or from another part of the island.

Atlanta resident Silkia Babilonia, who lives in Atlanta, says that since the storm, she hasn't been able to reach friends and family on the island's west side.

"I tried to call every single number have for them, cellphone and landlines, but nothing," Babilonia, who was born and raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, before moving to the mainland five years ago, told NPR. "We're trying to stay calm, pray and hope everything is alright."

Calling family in the San Juan area has been easier, Babilonia said. "My husband can talk to his family nearly every day, and they're doing OK. They're safe."

Puerto Rican officials say at least six people are confirmed dead on the island in connection with the storm, The Associated Press reports. The death toll across the Caribbean was 27 as of Friday afternoon, with at least 15 deaths on Dominica.

The Federal Communications Commission reported Thursday that 95.2 percent of all cellular telephone sites in Puerto Rico were out of service. (In the U.S. Virgin Islands, meanwhile, 76.6 percent of cell sites are down.)

It's not just the cellular networks that aren't working: The FCC says it has received reports that "large percentages of consumers are without either cable services or wireline services."

Some people were able to connect using Internet-based tools. Julio Cerón, who lives in Silver Spring, Md., said he reached family members in the northeastern region of Canovanas by calling via Messenger, a service from Facebook, "which we couldn't have done a couple of years ago," he told NPR.

But if you can't get on the Internet, services like Messenger are no help.

Dyn Research posted charts of Internet traffic in Puerto Rico, which dropped precipitously on Wednesday as power and Internet connections there failed.

Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, who works in Boston, told NPR member station WBUR on Thursday that it took her days and dozens of tries to reach her 87-year-old father on a landline.

"He's doing good. So that's great. When we were able to connect today, our calls dropped and then we weren't able to reconnect," she said. "But at least we were able to talk long enough to know that he's fine and to have a good conversation. So it is very erratic right now. It's very choppy. There's no consistent way of communicating."

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she, too, was struggling to reach family members in the west coast area of Mayaguez.

"The island is suffering a great tragedy right now," she said, according to CNN. "Myself personally and the rest of my family, we are exceedingly concerned. We ask for your prayers."

On a Hurricane Maria page on its USA.gov website, the federal government offered suggestions to people trying to connect with loved ones in Puerto Rico, including an email address (maria1@prfaa.pr.gov) and phone number (202-800-3133) to call the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. Though the site cautioned: "They are experiencing high email volume, please do not send more than one email unless the situation of your loved one has changed."

Its other suggestions include a registry run by the Red Cross and one rather low-tech option: calling into Puerto Rican radio station WIPR.

A small handful of radio stations managed to keep broadcasting through the storm and have worked to relay messages about loved ones who couldn't be reached by phone or Internet.

Silkia Babilonia says she knows what it's like to be out of touch: She was on the island in 1998 during Hurricane Georges and its aftermath, when phone service was lost for months.

"From my side now," she says of trying to reach people, "you feel a bit anxious about it."

"But on the other side, being the person living through the situation, you want to tell everybody else that you're doing good, but you're not able to. It just doesn't feel right."



Do you have a Maria story? Tell us here.</s>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Rescuers fanned out to reach stunned victims Thursday after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, knocking out electricity to the entire island and triggering landslides and floods.

The extent of the damage is unknown given that dozens of municipalities remained isolated and without communication after Maria hit the island Wednesday morning as a Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in over 80 years.

Uprooted trees and widespread flooding blocked many highways and streets across the island, creating a maze that forced drivers to go against traffic and past police cars that used loudspeakers to warn people they must respect a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed by the governor to ensure everyone’s safety. People resorted to rafts and kayaks to get around because flooding made many roads remained impassable.

“This is going to be a historic event for Puerto Rico,” said Abner Gomez, the island’s emergency management director.

Previously a Category 5 with 175 mph (281 kph) winds, Maria hit Puerto Rico as the third-strongest storm to make landfall in the U.S., based on its central pressure. It was even stronger than Hurricane Irma when that storm roared into the Florida Keys earlier this month.

In the capital of San Juan, towering eucalyptus trees fell nearly every other block over a main road dotted with popular bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, some of which were damaged. Outside a nearby apartment building, 40-year-old tourism company operator Adrian Pacheco recounted how he spent eight hours in a stairwell huddled with 100 other residents when the hurricane ripped the storm shutters off his building and decimated three balconies.

“I think people didn’t expect the storm to reach the point that it did,” he said. “Since Irma never really happened, they thought Maria would be the same.”

Hurricane Irma sideswiped Puerto Rico on Sept. 6, leaving more than 1 million people without power but causing no deaths or widespread damage like it did on nearby islands. Maria, however, blew out windows at some hospitals and police stations, turned some streets into roaring rivers and destroyed hundreds of homes across Puerto Rico, including 80 percent of houses in a small fishing community near the San Juan Bay, which unleashed a storm surge of more than 4 feet.

“Months and months and months and months are going to pass before we can recover from this,” Felix Delgado, mayor of the northern coastal city of Catano, told The Associated Press.

The slow slog back to normalcy was in evidence Thursday, however, as residents removed storm shutters and lines began forming at the few restaurants with generator power. The sound of chain saws and small bulldozers filled the post-storm silence that had spread across San Juan as firefighters removed trees and lifted toppled light posts.

Some neighbors pitched in to help clear the smaller branches, including Shawn Zimmerman, a 27-year-old student from Lewistown, Pennsylvania who moved to Puerto Rico nearly two years ago.

“The storm didn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s the devastation. I get goosebumps. It’s going to take us a long time.”

Maria has caused at least 10 deaths across the Caribbean, including seven in the hard-hit island of Dominica and two in the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe. Puerto Rico’s governor told CNN one man died after being hit by flying debris. No further details were available, and officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Dominica Tourism Minister Robert Tonge described his badly damaged country three days after Hurricane Maria made landfall in the eastern Caribbean island. An update from him said the capital of Roseau still had severe flooding and there was heavy damage throughout the city. The hospital and a community center both lost roofs.

One of two airports serving the country was inoperable while the other was expected to be operational in the coming days. An estimated 95 percent of the roofs were blown off in some towns, including Mahaut and Portsmouth.

Maria weakened to a Category 2 storm later in the day but re-strengthened to Category 3 status early Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph). According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the storm was centered about 105 miles (175 kilometers) east-northeast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and moving northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). The eye of the storm is expected to approach the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas late Thursday and early Friday.

The hurricane was still dumping rain overnight Wednesday in Puerto Rico, where crumbled red roof tiles lay scattered across many roads, and curious residents sidestepped and ducked under dozens of black power lines still swaying in heavy winds. But they posed no danger: Maria caused an island-wide power outage, with officials unable to say when electricity would return.

Puerto Rico’s electric grid was crumbling amid lack of maintenance and a dwindling staff even before the hurricanes knocked out power. Many now believe it will take weeks, if not months, to restore power.

Edwin Rosario, a 79-year-old retired government worker, said an economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of nearly half a million Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland will only make the island’s recovery harder.

“Only us old people are left,” he said as he scraped a street gutter in front of his house free of debris. “A lot of young people have already gone...If we don’t unite, we’re not going to bounce back.”</s>TAMPA, Fla. -- With the very first communication starting to trickle out from Puerto Rico to friends and relatives here in Florida, people are gathering in places to share what they know.

In North Tampa, a small restaurant has become a hub for people with loved ones in Puerto Rico, sharing as much emotion as they are information.

El Sabor Boricua typically gets a good lunchtime crowd, but on Thursday, the restaurant known for its authentic Puerto Rican food was also doubling as a hub. A gathering spot, for people to get the latest news and share their concerns.

Maribelle Crespo cried as she explained that her mother is stranded in the south. She's upset because most of the news is from the north. And what little she’s heard is not good.

“We're worried. Worried for our family. We're worried for what is happening right now and what's going to happen,” said a woman who was eating lunch with another friend from Puerto Rico.

The restaurant says it’s keeping its doors open, knowing the people here are hungry not just for food - but information.

“I'm here. You know, this is a business, but other than the business we are here for the people,” said owner Robert Torres.

Santos Revera was one of the few people who'd gotten a text. It was from his uncle who lives near San Juan. Just five minutes of Wi-Fi access before he lost contact.

His grandmother, Revera found out, is OK. But the family home is gone.

“He saw the whole top of the roof, the walls, from the third floor was all out,” he said.

People say they're also worried about what's to come as the situation in Puerto Rico becomes more desperate. Rafaela Sepulveda, who has cousins, aunts and uncles on the island said there are already reports of crime.

“Looting. People breaking into homes. They're desperate, no water no food,” said Sepulveda.

For now the vast majority of people I talked to say they haven’t heard from anyone.

“No. I have not,” said Iris Ortiz. “As far as I've heard, the whole island is without power.”

And so, they huddle together in a small restaurant. Troubled by the images. United by concern. But with the knowledge they’re not alone.

“We find comfort because we're out here,” said one visitor.

“We are hoping and praying for them,” said Ortiz, “That's all we can do.”
Casualty reports indicate at least 15 people have been killed on Dominica and two on Guadeloupe. The casualty report for Puerto Rico is now two deaths, including a man from a capsized boat near Vieques, Puerto Rico. Power remains out for an estimated 3.4 million Puerto Ricans as the energy grid is all but destroyed. Guajataca Dam in Puerto Rico will experience an "imminent dam break" according to the National Weather Service which will threaten 70,000 residents. In addition, more than 95 percent of the island’s wireless cell sites are out of service.