And insurance money is just trickling in. So far, 299,999 claims have been filed by homeowners and businesses but just $1.7 billion in payouts have been approved, according to the insurance department.

Much of the federal money is being dispensed as grants and loans that businesses and individuals apply for from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, among others. The typical household FEMA grant is a few thousand dollars.

Lawyers and community groups complain that FEMA has rejected about 60 percent of the 1.1 million household applications it has received. The agency said that figure was misleading because some rejected applicants had received loans from the Small Business Administration or aid from other agencies.

One reason for the rejections is that many Puerto Ricans cannot prove that they own a home. Only 65 percent of properties in the territory are officially registered with the government. The problem is especially acute in small cities and rural areas where there’s a custom of property owners not recording titles to homes.

In Loíza, an oceanfront community of 30,000, damage to homes and businesses was extensive. Many small businesses in the town were closed for months and may never reopen. Power was restored to most residences and businesses only in the first week of February.

Federal funds are only trickling into Loíza, and housing groups said one reason for the slowness was the small proportion of homes there, perhaps 20 percent, that are officially registered. In a makeshift FEMA center, agency workers allowed property owners to submit a written declaration that they owned their home. But advocates said some were still being rejected.

Nearby, stray horses ambled along the beach.

The halting pace of the economic recovery worries business leaders like Eli S. Sepúlveda Morell, an executive vice president at Banco Popular, Puerto Rico’s largest lender. His biggest concern is a shortage of qualified workers, especially in construction.

Mr. Sepúlveda Morell cautioned against excessive pessimism about Puerto Rico’s prospects. “But,” he said, “it’s too early to be extremely positive.”