PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For 3 years, Christy Delafield has done disaster deployment with Mercy Corps, the Portland-based agency that helps provide emergency relief when communities are affected.

Delafield, the senior global communications officer for Mercy Corps, arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico 2 days ago “trying to reach some of the people that were hardest hit by the storm.”

Mercy Corp is bringing emergency cash assistance to help people who are just now getting “a little bit more access to goods” in the wake of Hurricane Maria that demolished large portions of the island and knocked out the electrical grid.

People’s “homes have been destroyed, so they need to be able to purchase resources, they need to be able to purchase food, they need to be able to replace possessions,” she told KOIN 6 News via Skype. “And it’s really just getting through that first intial emergency stage.”

Mercy Corps has a presence in 40 countries, she said. “As time passed, it became really clear that the scope of the disaster was so significant that not only is more help needed right now, but more help is going to be needed for some time to come.”

Their experience in helping deal with disaster around the world led them to bring “some of that expertise to bear in Puerto Rico.”

Delafield said the aftermath of the destruction is still being felt everywhere — power lines down, cell phone towers knocked out, water shut off, homes flooded, muddy water with debris floating through, fuel and medicine in short supply.

“People still don’t have electricity and they still don’t have cell service again, and they still don’t have water in their home,” she said. All people can do “is grab a wheelbarrow and a shovel and try and get the debris out of their house, but they can’t really begin repairs.”

Families continue to shovel mud out of their houses.

“Every home that I visited has a water line on it where you can see the height of the muddy water that filled their home,” she said.

The problems are now causing health issues. Children have rashes, mosquitoes are gathering, water is not potable.

“I can’t imagine living under these circumstances,” Delafield said. “We have to help.”

Still, she’s said she’s been amazed and inspired by the positive attitudes of people she’s meeting who are dedicated to fixing the problems, resilient and tough.

Delafield will likely be in Puerto Rico for another week but Mercy Corps will be there for at least a couple months as they work to connect with partner organizations on the island.

These are always tough assignments, but Delafield told KOIN 6 News “there’s something that’s really inspiring, that’s really energizing about seeing a community pull together. On what might be their worst day, that’s when you see people at their best.”

“That’s why I get up in the morning. People are suffering and we want to help.”