Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials said Monday that rescue and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico are advancing, but admitted there's "a long way to go" before normal life is fully restored on the island.

"The bottom line is, what I saw is progress being made today," said FEMA Administrator Brock Long in a call with reporters. "The other thing I saw is that we have a long way to go in recovery."

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are recovering from the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which hit the islands last month.

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Long added that, while many people had "lost everything," he did not see "the possibility for the loss of life."

Alejandro de la Campa, FEMA's director in the disaster area, said federal authorities were prioritizing the distribution of commodities, secure fuel delivery, restoration of telecommunications and the power grid, and restoration of water and sewer services.

Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said it could take months to restore the full power grid, so authorities are concentrating on temporary generators for key facilities like hospitals.

"Until we get the grid up and running, we have to have these most critical facilities up and operational," he said.

The federal response to Maria has been sharply criticized for being too small for the scope of the disaster.

The Trump administration has batted away the claims, with National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn going on Fox News's “Sunday Morning Futures” to say the administration “spent the entire weekend” focused on the disaster.

Still, President Trump has attracted criticism himself, including references to Puerto Rico's debt in his tweets about the crisis and picking a fight with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Sunday that the U.S. territory is receiving help from federal, state and local authorities, but that more would be necessary to fix the situation.

"I implore you, to everyone, to look at this as a nonpartisan solution. To forget the fighting and to focus on outcomes. And by doing so we will get out of this emergency," said Rosselló.