CAGUAS, PR. -- Nine months and counting -- that’s how long it’s been since thousands of families in Puerto Rico have been without power.

  • Thousands still without power in Puerto Rico
  • Residents in mountains place flags on homes so they're not forgotten
  • Power Co. official assures they're trying to make improvements

“At this time in Puerto Rico we have like, 5,000 customers out of service,” said Luis Maeso Torres, Regional Administrator of Operations with Puerto Rico’s Power Company. 

His team covers a big chunk of the southeastern part of the island that got hit hardest by Hurricane Maria. 

The team drove up the mountains of Yabucoa and Humacao, where the hurricane first made landfall. This is also the area where many families are without power. 

“We can work all day to get power to only five customers,” Maeso said about the work up in the mountains. 

Engineers from the Puerto Rico Power Company can be found in certain areas of the region trying to reestablish power. 

“They are not (concentrated) like other customers and other municipalities,” Maeso explained. 

Residents up in the mountains have placed flags on top of their homes to make sure they’re not forgotten. Maeso agrees it’s a good idea.

“For us, we can know when a client has service or not,” he commented. 

As you drive through communities in Humacao and Yabucoa, you’ll find signs on the side of the road in Spanish saying the houses up the road are still in the dark. 

Many blame the island’s outdated power grid. Maeso agrees but says they’re trying to improve.

“The gage, the size of the conductor … the poles, the insulators, all the distribution and transmission we’re going to upgrade and have a better one,” Maeso said. 

The biggest fear: Will it hold another hurricane?

The island’s governor Ricardo Roselló told Spectrum News at the P3 summit, it wouldn’t. 

In addition to that, there’s an ongoing loss of talent since the hurricane, moving to places like Florida for better jobs.

“For me to lose an employee that has 20 years of experience is very difficult, you know?” Maeso said.