More than a third of households in the US territory, including much of Sostre’s community, are without reliable drinking water at home.
In their defense, FEMA officials point out also that 20,000 other federal staff and military have been deployed to respond to Hurricane Maria.
There are 3.4 million people in Puerto Rico, and about 35% of households were without access to safe drinking water as of Tuesday, according to government estimates.
It’s a situation where you really should be drinking bottled water.
So I might as well drink this water,” one resident said.
“They need water.
She fell while trying to sweep rain out of her living room.
That was October 11 — 21 days after the storm.
FEMA has distributed 38,000 tarps on the island, said Hernandez, the FEMA official.
The need for roofing help is estimated at 60,000 homes, he said.