The electricity is back on across much of the island, but the disruption to community spirit continues. Isolation, anxiety and depression are up, as are suicides, especially among older adults.
Seven months after Hurricane Maria, thousands of people in the Puerto Rican mountains are still waiting for the lights to come back on. Why is power restoration for the last two percent so difficult?
Wednesday's outage was the first island-wide blackout since Hurricane Maria destroyed infrastructure in September. But thousands who lost power during the storm remain without it.
The U.S. territory was hit by an islandwide blackout, affecting more than 3 million people. Puerto Rico has struggled to rebuild its infrastructure since Hurricane Maria hit in September.
Six months after Hurricane Maria pounded Puerto Rico, patience in the remote mountain village of Castañer is wearing thin. Mental anguish persists among people still waiting for reliable electricity.
Ausberto Maldonado picked corn and asparagus for years on the U.S. mainland before retiring in Puerto Rico. He has diabetes, and as the island's safety net wears thin, he's struggling to survive.
The Martinez family has been waiting more than a year for a neurologist to diagnose the son's condition. He needs a diagnosis to be eligible for the health care he needs, but can't get an appointment.
Puerto Rico's governor had been locked in tense negotiations with the U.S. Treasury over terms governing $4.7 billion in loans that Congress approved to help the island recover from Hurricane Maria.
Author Von Diaz's cookbook Coconuts and Collards offers a vegetable-forward take on foods she learned to cook from her Puerto Rican grandmother and on the fly in her family's kitchen near Atlanta.