Ceiba, Puerto Rico (CNN) The stockpile of bottled water stretches down an unused runway in Ceiba. Case after case, pallet piled upon pallet, blue tarps and plastic glinting in the sun.

The emergency supplies were brought in by FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria , which smashed the island and left its residents without power, without roofs and without running water.

Federal officials commandeered the area in the far east of the island last fall as a staging ground, collecting the water and containers full of tarps to patch damaged and destroyed roofs in surrounding neighborhoods.

And there the supplies sat. And sat. Storm survivors were collecting spring water from the mountains for cooking and bathing, even with the threat of disease that brought

Without running water at home, many people resorted to collecting supplies from mountain springs and streams, as here in Las Marias last October.

And apparently, the supplies were just left there, lost perhaps in poor communication and collaboration.

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