Juan Miguel Gonzalez, a business owner in southern Puerto Rico, told CNN’s Leyla Santiago that he believes Hurricane Fiona was worse than Maria. He said many people have lost everything in the floods. “Maria had strong winds, but this one with all the rain, it destroyed everything in the houses — it’s unbelievable,” he said. As search and rescue efforts continued Monday, Gonzalez said Santiago is a small town and residents there feel they have to fend for themselves. “Who’s going to take care of this city? Nobody, you know what I’m saying? If we don’t take care of it, nobody will,” he said. The National Guard was called in to rescue hundreds of people overnight, Santiago said, but there are still places in Puerto Rico that are too dangerous for rescue crews to reach as rain continues to fall Monday. Some background: Hurricane Maria caused catastrophic damage to the area’s infrastructure. It took almost a year to restore electricity to the entire island. Right now, after Fiona, more than 1 million people remain without power, as of Monday morning. In addition, about 66 percent of customers do not have water, Santiago said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the response to Maria was the largest and largest to a domestic disaster in US history. Massive floods destroyed more than half a million homes. Many families continue to rebuild.
