Gregmarys Garcia stood atop the home she shares with her two sons, ages 5 and 3, and five other relatives. The house was surrounded by thigh-high water.

The family had stockpiled bottled water and food, packing their freezer with ice. But when Hurricane Maria hit, they lost water and, like the rest of Puerto Rico, power.

Now, in their neighborhood of Las Palmeras in San Juan, whole blocks had been turned into islands. Garcia’s block was inundated, including the family’s three cars. They relied on a neighbor’s battery-powered radio for news.

“The governor said it’s total destruction in Puerto Rico, but the worst is in the west and east,” she said.


And the worst wasn’t over.

At least 4 to 8 inches of additional rain were expected Thursday, with up to 35 inches in isolated spots, according to Mike Brennan, a specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

“That will exacerbate the ongoing flash flooding situation that’s occurring over that entire island,” he said on Twitter.


Maria, the strongest storm to strike Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, reduced homes to heaps of splintered wood and crumbling concrete, turned streets into rivers of churning brown water and left the island without power.

“Typically, the rain and flooding is the principal cause of deaths,” Gov. Ricardo Rossello said during a Thursday briefing. “If you don’t have to be out in the streets, don’t.”

The full extent of the damage in Puerto Rico remained unclear, as dozens of areas were still incommunicado late Thursday. Rossello said restoring power and communication networks was a top priority, and he acknowledged the frustration of islanders unable to reach family and friends — including the governor himself.

“I haven’t been able to communicate with my parents,” he said.


Maria had moved out of the area Thursday but remained a Category 3 storm, expected to approach the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas overnight, according to the National Hurricane Center.

For several days, Maria has pummeled the Caribbean, killing dozens, including at least 15 people in Dominica, where Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said 20 more remained missing Thursday.

President Trump described Puerto Rico as “absolutely obliterated.”

“Puerto Rico is in very, very tough shape,” Trump said ahead of a meeting Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly, adding that he’s working with Rossello on the recovery.


“It’s incredible the power of that wind,” Trump said. “That was very unique. Not for many decades has a storm hit a piece of land like that.”

Trump signed a federal disaster declaration for the U.S. territory of 3.4 million people.

On Thursday weary and shellshocked residents began the long process of cleaning up.

1 / 68 Darkness falls on downtown San Juan which remains without power. Puerto Rico officials say it will likely be four to six months before power is fully restored across the U.S. territory of 3.5 million people. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 68 A Royal Caribbean cruise ship is evacuating over 2,000 people from Puerto Rico, St. John, and St. Thomas. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 68 Luis Frankie, age 66, waits to board an evacuation cruise ship in San Juan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 68 Cesar Ayala, second from left, and his family wait to board an evacuation cruise ship in San Juan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 68 In downtown San Juan, electric lines lie in the road and poles block apartment complexes. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 68 Police control the lines at every gas station in the San Juan metro area. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 68 Blance Dias, age 77, opens a container of cold ravioli that she received at a FEMA food distribution. “I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten in two days,” she said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 68 Heydee Perez, age 29, and her son, Yeriel Calera, age 4, have not received any aid one week after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Ricl. The roof of their home is gone and they have very little to eat. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 68 Hospital employees and nurses gather to pray for a co-worker who was critically injured in a violent attack during the chaos after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 68 Children bath with the water from a fire hydrant in a public housing project in San Juan. Residents are still trying to get the basics of food, water, gas, and money from banks. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 68 Two people sit in an apartment with a wall missing along the waterfront in San Juan. Nearly one week after hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico, residents are still trying to get the basics of food, water, gas, and money from banks. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 68 Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico causing heavy damage to many homes. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 68 A line of people hoping to withdraw money wraps around the Banco Popular in San Juan on Monday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 68 Hurricane Maria flattened vegetation across the island of Puerto Rico. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 68 U.S. Coast Guard personnel survey the damage to an oil dock after Hurricane Maria passed through the area in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 16 / 68 Vehicles drive along a flooded road after Hurricane Maria passed through the area in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 17 / 68 In the mountain town of Utuado, Puerto Rico, residents are struggling to recover after Hurricane Maria. There is no running water, so people are collecting water from mountain springs. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 68 Delia Pineda, 89, is evacuated from Salto Arriba, an area cut off from Utuado following Hurricane Maria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 68 In Utuado, Puerto Rico, rushing water from Hurricane Maria tore down trees and stripped them of their branches. The main north-south road is washed out, leaving people cut off. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 68 Highway 10, a major north-south connection through Puerto Rico, was washed out by Hurricane Maria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 68 A man walks on a highway divider while carrying his bicycle in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Ricardo Arduengo / AFP/Getty Images) 22 / 68 Residents clear the streets after Hurricane Maria made landfall in the Guaynabo suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Alex Wroblewski / Getty Images) 23 / 68 People walk across a flooded street in Juana Matos, Puerto Rico. (Hector Retamal / AFP/Getty Images) 24 / 68 Damaged sailboats washed ashore are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. (Ricardo Arduengo / AFP/Getty Images) 25 / 68 Downed traffic lights and power lines are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. (Douglas Curran / AFP/Getty Images) 26 / 68 People are transported along a road flooded by Hurricane Maria in Juana Matos, Puerto Rico. (Hector Retamal / AFP/Getty Images) 27 / 68 Old San Juan is without electricity after Maria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 68 Old San Juan has no electricity, including the area of La Perla. Restoring power to the island may take months. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 68 Wide swaths of Puerto Rico remained without power. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 68 The day after Hurricane Maria’s direct hit, residents of La Perla, part of Old San Juan, begin cleaning up. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 68 A damaged residence in Old San Juan’s La Perla community. Like the rest of Puerto Rico, the residents are without power or running water. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 68 Residents of Isla Palmeras, a San Juan neighborhood, are surrounded by floodwater. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 68 Ivan Lopez, 51, helps a neighbor with his badly damaged home. “I was born here, I’ll die here,” Lopez said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 68 The long cleanup process has begun in La Perla, part of Old San Juan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 68 Branches are strewn about Santurce, part of San Juan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 68 Lyan Carrillo, 12, foreground, and her family, including Nilda Ramirez, center, and Ramirez’s 1-year-old son, Crisxander Cotto, returned to their home in La Perla. They plan to stay despite the lack of electricity and water. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 68 Residents of the San Juan district of Santurce wade through floodwater toward their home. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 68 Ivan Lopez looks at the damage to his neighbors’ homes. His home was not as badly damaged, so he plans to stay despite a lack of water and electricity. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 68 Residents of La Perla begin to clean up. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 68 Sonia Viruet, who lives in La Perla, takes stock after Hurricane Maria caused widespread damage. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 68 Neighbors come together to move a car in San Juan’s La Perla area. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 68 Chickens run loose in the area of La Perla, where many homes were destroyed. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 68 People loot a furniture store in a section of Old San Juan after Maria damaged buildings. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 68 Maria downed trees and damaged structures in Old San Juan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 68 Old San Juan resident Rosa Avalo, 48, saw her home, purple building, damaged by debris from her neighbor’s property. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 68 Evacuees rest in almost complete darkness on the ground floor of the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, a major shelter in San Juan. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 68 David Leininger leaves his flooded car in a San Juan parking lot. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 68 Roberto Flores, left, helps move tree limbs from a San Juan road. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 68 A man wades through a flooded road in Fajardo on Wednesday. (Ricardo Arduengo / AFP / Getty Images) 50 / 68 A view from the Sheraton Old San Juan, where people were waiting out Maria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 68 At the Sheraton Old San Juan, people wait out the hurricane. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 68 Trees topple in a parking lot at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan. (Hector Retamal / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 68 Hurricane Maria makes landfall Wednesday near Yabucoa on the southeast coast. (NOAA) 54 / 68 A man and his daughter flee from the rain on a San Juan beach before Hurricane Maria’s arrival. (Hector Retamal / AFP/Getty Images) 55 / 68 Winds lash the coastal city of Fajardo as Hurricane Maria approaches Puerto Rico. (Ricardo Arduengo / AFP / Getty Images) 56 / 68 People walk by a fallen tree off the shore of Sainte-Anne on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after the passing of Hurricane Maria. (Dominique Chomereau-Lamotte / Associated Press) 57 / 68 A boat lays on its side off the shore of Sainte-Anne on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after the passing of Hurricane Maria. (Dominique Chomereau-Lamotte / Assocaited Press) 58 / 68 People walk amid debris of a restaurant shattered by Hurricane Maria in Le Carbet on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. (Lionel Chamoiseau / AFP/Getty Images) 59 / 68 Rocks swept up by hurricane-generated waves cover a road along the oceanfront in Le Carbet, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. (Lionel Chamoiseau / AFP/Getty Images) 60 / 68 People clear debris in Saint-Pierre, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, after it was hit by Hurricane Maria. (Lionel Chamoiseau / AFP/Getty Images) 61 / 68 A restaurant lies in splinters in Le Carbet, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, after it was hit by Hurricane Maria. (Lionel Chamoiseau / AFP/Getty Images) 62 / 68 A man clears debris from a street in Saint-Pierre, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, after it was hit by Hurricane Maria. (Lionel Chamoiseau / AFP/Getty Images) 63 / 68 Debris in a street in Marigot, on the French Caribbean island of Saint Martin, after Hurricane Maria hit. (Helene Valenzuela / AFP/Getty Images) 64 / 68 Official cars with loudspeakers roll slowly down a street in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, broadcasting a warning to residents to evacuate as Hurricane Maria approaches. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 65 / 68 As Hurricane Maria approached from the other direction, Old San Juan was graced by a dramatic sunset on Monday. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 68 A historic cemetery at the water’s edge in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, faces possible flooding as Hurricane Maria passes over the island. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 68 In Cruz Bay on St. John in the Virgin Islands, which already took a severe lashing from Hurricane Irma, workers rush to fix a roof in advance of Hurricane Maria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 68 Workers at the Inaru restaurant in Old San Juan take in umbrellas and close early in anticipation of Hurricane Maria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)


In the oceanfront settlement of La Perla, several dozen people picked their way down rocky hillsides strewn with debris to salvage what they could from the wreckage.

At the foot of Ft. San Cristobal, just outside the walls of Old San Juan, Diego Rivera chopped at a palm tree with a machete. The fort had survived since the 1700s. All around was disorder.

Rivera, who grew up here listening to elders tell stories about the explorers who discovered and christened the area La Perla, or “The Pearl,” gestured to the mix of shingles, glass and lumber studded with rusty nails that littered the hillside under gray skies still threatening rain. Everything felt damp.

“We have to start cleaning this stuff, throw it away,” he said, adding that the government hasn’t done anything.


Rivera was clearing a path to the flooded cinder-block house where he weathered the storm. Winds tore at the metal hurricane shutters as he huddled inside, panicked. Transformers exploded outside. He tried to flee, but the downed palm tree blocked the door, leaving him trapped for about 10 hours.

The retired construction worker escaped unharmed, but his house was still full of water, the concrete ceiling crumbling. Neighboring homes of his mother, sister and niece were roofless, stripped bare by violent winds that lashed the shanties clustered above a narrow strip of beach.

Downhill, neighbors were clearing the main road. Shirtless men pushed aside stalled cars and examined ruptured water pipes as women tucked back downed power lines and swept up shattered glass.

A parking garage had collapsed on several cars. Restaurants such as Al Sabor de Sonia y Algo Mas were no longer selling mofongo and fried plantains; their doors were blocked by downed roofs. The local health center and Head Start office were covered with pieces of adjacent buildings. A sign in the park warning residents to keep the area clean had been knocked down.


Rivera said his relatives were staying in emergency hurricane shelters with hundreds of others displaced by the storm.

“All Puerto Rico is damaged,” he said, but, “we lost everything here.”

Rescues were ongoing, said Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress.

The day after Hurricane Maria made a direct hit on Puerto Rico, residents of La Perla, close to Old San Juan, begin the cleanup. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)


Flash-flood alerts sounded all day in the capital of San Juan, which saw spotty rain. Airports in San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce were shut, and a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. remained in effect for the island.

Near San Juan airport, drivers struggled to make their way around flooded highways and downed trees.

Across from Garcia’s house, a few restaurants and an ATM machine were operating, with long lines. But most businesses were still shuttered, some of their windows broken by looters overnight.

Standing on a flooded street next to a park strewn with downed trees, Maribel Rodriguez said the curfew imposed by the governor was necessary.


“It’s a good idea because yesterday it was stressful: People went right in the grocery store and took everything,” said Rodriguez, 47.

She worried about relatives elsewhere in the city, whom she couldn’t check on without phone or Internet service. Like Garcia, she depended on a neighbor’s radio for news. Her supply of food and water was already dwindling.

Her wife, who works at Chili’s restaurant, wasn’t sure when it would reopen. She held a blue barrel they had just salvaged from floodwaters and hoped to use it to collect rain.

“The government just says we have to wait 72 hours” for help, she said. Of the barrel, she said, “It’s stealing but …we need it.”


Across the island, people were banding together.

Pedro Rivera said one elderly woman with a heart condition needed medical attention after the storm. Neighbors called an ambulance, and when it wasn’t able to reach the village because of blocked roads, they helped her up the hill so she could be taken to a hospital.

Rivera pointed to a man cracking the limbs of a downed tree to clear a side street.

“It will rise again,” Rivera, 46, a cook at nearby Fresh Bistro, said of his neighborhood. “We are a village. We will raise ourselves.”


Elsewhere, 8-year-old Jovanio Lopez returned with his mother Thursday after evacuating before the storm to find their home flooded. The bathroom roof was gone.

“The house broke. Everything broke,” the third-grader said. “It stinks inside.”

They left to stay with friends, taking what they could save, including books and his game of Monopoly.

A damaged residence in La Perla. As in all of Puerto Rico, the residents are without power or running water. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)


Neighbor Sonia Viruet, 61, said the government should send crews to La Perla immediately. Beside her, a neighbor in work gloves was making slow progress gathering fallen shingles.

“We need help restoring the community. First, we need help cleaning. We can try to do it ourselves, but it will take too long,” Viruet said.

Joseph Cotto took his family of six — including a 1-year-old son — to a shelter during the hurricane, but returned after the storm to help rebuild, and make space in the shelter for those in greater need.

“There are people who don’t have roofs. We wanted to make room for them. We have a house,” he said — although it, too, is damaged and without utilities.


Cotto, 31, a laborer for the city’s public works department, figured it would take at least two months to restore power and water. On Thursday, he cleared roads and hauled seawater from the bottom of the hill to run his toilet.

Angel Marcano was also cleaning up his home Thursday. Marcano, 45, who works as an aide to autistic students, was still staying at a temporary shelter at City Hall nearby, but wasn’t sure how long it would last. He also missed his La Perla neighbors, including an elderly woman across the street whom he checks on each morning.

Ivan Lopez, 51, helps a neighbor with his badly damaged home. “Here I was born and here I will die,” Lopez said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Far down the hill near the water’s edge, neighbor Ivan Lopez helped others examine damage to their homes. It was his aunt who had to be taken to the hospital, where he said she was recovering Thursday.


Lopez, 51, survived the storm in his concrete apartment, which was relatively unscathed. The handyman planned to stay to help rebuild and said he believed the government would eventually send workers to help.

“It’s just the first day. They always come, bit by bit,” he said.

For Lopez, like many of his neighbors, evacuating La Perla was not an option.

“Here I was born,” he said, “and here I will die.”


Hennessy-Fiske reported from San Juan and Lee from Los Angeles.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf


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UPDATES:

5:55 p.m.: This article was updated to correct a misspelling in the name of a resident.1 p.m.: This article was updated with the forecast of more rain in Puerto Rico and comments from Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress.


11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with the prime minister of Dominica’s statement that 15 people were killed on that island and that 20 were missing.

8:15 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 7:40 a.m.