WEBVTT 00:01.233 --> 00:03.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: an update from Puerto Rico. 00:03.666 --> 00:08.233 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Nearly four months after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island in late September, as Jeffrey Brown 00:10.166 --> 00:13.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% explores, the return to anything like normal life for most residents has been agonizingly 00:14.533 --> 00:16.500 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% slow. 00:16.500 --> 00:19.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Official figures show that, of the island's 1.5 million customers, just 00:19.800 --> 00:22.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% 900,000 have had their power restored. 00:22.433 --> 00:25.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Businesses continue to struggle and many schools remain closed. 00:25.800 --> 00:30.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Special correspondent Monica Villamizar is in Puerto Rico with a "NewsHour" team looking 00:30.666 --> 00:32.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% at how people there are coping. 00:32.133 --> 00:33.833 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% She joins us from Caguas. 00:33.833 --> 00:37.000 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And, Monica, first, just give us a sense of what it feels like there. 00:37.000 --> 00:39.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% What are people telling you about the impact on their lives? 00:39.733 --> 00:41.766 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% How easy is it to get around? 00:41.766 --> 00:46.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Well, Jeff, mobility has certainly improved in San Juan, the capital. 00:46.033 --> 00:47.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But there are still many things that need to be fixed. 00:47.900 --> 00:50.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So, there are snapped power line. 00:50.200 --> 00:54.333 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% Eight out of 10 traffic lights are not working, so you can imagine what that does to traffic. 00:54.333 --> 00:56.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It is pretty chaotic at times. 00:56.433 --> 00:59.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And as soon as you leave the capital, then things are much worse and there is a lot of 00:59.633 --> 01:00.966 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% devastation still. 01:00.966 --> 01:03.033 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% There is debris near the roads. 01:03.033 --> 01:07.900 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% There's collapsed trees, collapsed buildings that have not been repaired and a lot of crops 01:08.766 --> 01:10.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that will simply not grow back. 01:10.533 --> 01:13.300 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, for instance, in supermarkets and restaurants, there's no fruit. 01:13.300 --> 01:14.800 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% There is no plantains. 01:14.800 --> 01:17.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% There is a scarcity of goods still here in the island. 01:17.600 --> 01:20.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And, you know, Puerto Ricans are trying to rebuild. 01:20.233 --> 01:25.166 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% They have been very resilient and dignified, but, frankly, they are a traumatized population 01:25.166 --> 01:27.700 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% at this point. 01:27.700 --> 01:30.700 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Many times, we are interviewing people and they teared up, because it is kind of a secondary 01:30.700 --> 01:34.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% phase that they are living now, which is when things are starting to sink in. 01:34.400 --> 01:37.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Many of them lost everything they had, everything they had worked for. 01:37.933 --> 01:41.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And there is no clear, you know, horizon or future ahead of them. 01:41.233 --> 01:42.900 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: Yes. 01:42.900 --> 01:45.000 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Many say: We just simply don't know what to do. 01:45.000 --> 01:49.166 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% JEFFREY BROWN: One of the key issues there, I know, is security, including growing crime. 01:50.800 --> 01:52.166 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% What are you seeing and what kind of impact is that having on people? 01:52.166 --> 01:53.833 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% MONICA VILLAMIZAR: You are absolutely right. 01:53.833 --> 01:56.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% The numbers are worrying. 01:56.533 --> 02:01.300 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% They say 32 people have been murdered this year, so in about 10 days. 02:01.300 --> 02:04.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And that's extremely high for Puerto Rico. 02:04.233 --> 02:08.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Our sources are telling us that this is mostly drug-related, that there is some kind of turf 02:08.200 --> 02:10.766 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% war between drug gangs. 02:10.766 --> 02:14.633 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% These gangs were not active after the hurricane because they had to, you know, rebuild themselves 02:14.633 --> 02:17.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and had all these situations going on in their families. 02:17.933 --> 02:20.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And now crime is starting to pick up. 02:20.100 --> 02:25.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But there is also a generalized feeling among the general public that there is insecurity. 02:27.100 --> 02:28.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You know, streets are dark, for instance, because of the lack of power at night. 02:28.400 --> 02:30.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% The police are not there. 02:30.400 --> 02:34.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% There is less police presence because they are not being paid overtime. 02:34.633 --> 02:35.800 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And they haven't been paid. 02:35.800 --> 02:38.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So, they are less motivated to go to work. 02:38.300 --> 02:42.033 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% So it is kind of a chain of events that means that the security situation is deteriorating. 02:42.033 --> 02:46.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: And I know that you are also looking at the situation for schools, the 02:46.466 --> 02:51.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% issue of how many schools are open, and also how many people, including students and teachers, 02:51.333 --> 02:52.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% have left the island. 02:52.866 --> 02:54.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% What impact is that having? 02:54.433 --> 02:56.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% MONICA VILLAMIZAR: That's having a very big impact. 02:56.533 --> 03:00.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I can tell you that the Federation of Teachers, who have very reliable statistics 03:00.900 --> 03:05.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% on this, are telling us that 23,000 students have already left to the mainland. 03:07.333 --> 03:09.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They are saying as well that a number of teachers have left. 03:09.066 --> 03:11.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Now, these teachers are very qualified. 03:11.166 --> 03:14.800 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% They are seeking jobs in Florida, New York, other places, so that means there is effectively 03:14.800 --> 03:16.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% a brain drain on the island. 03:16.533 --> 03:19.233 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% These people will not be released, and that is going to have an impact. 03:19.233 --> 03:23.133 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% And also the secretary of education, Julia Keleher, has said, you know what, some schools 03:23.133 --> 03:27.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% will just simply not reopen because there wasn't enough enrollment. 03:27.700 --> 03:29.833 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% You know, the classes are empty. 03:29.833 --> 03:33.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, there's been a real shift, or there will be a real shift in demographics in the island 03:33.500 --> 03:37.433 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% as people try to leave for the mainland to try to find a better future. 03:37.433 --> 03:40.933 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% And that's going to have an impact, not only on the education sector, but in other sectors 03:40.933 --> 03:42.966 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% as well. 03:42.966 --> 03:45.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Just briefly, you have mentioned several times the power line, the impact on 03:45.033 --> 03:46.266 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% the security. 03:46.266 --> 03:48.833 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So, power continues to be a problem there? 03:48.833 --> 03:51.033 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% MONICA VILLAMIZAR: A very big problem, indeed. 03:51.033 --> 03:56.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And the director of PREPA, which is the electric authority, said maybe like 40 percent of people 03:57.533 --> 03:59.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% don't have power now, maybe they won't get it until May. 03:59.666 --> 04:03.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So that means, Jeff, that they will be living off generators, for those who can afford the 04:03.666 --> 04:08.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% generators and the fuel, for eight months to have their things refrigerated, medicine, 04:09.700 --> 04:10.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% you know, refrigerated, and freezers. 04:10.933 --> 04:13.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It has just changed their life completely. 04:13.033 --> 04:17.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And more worryingly perhaps is that they are now realizing that these are all short-term 04:17.566 --> 04:19.066 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% fixes. 04:19.066 --> 04:21.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The whole power system of Puerto Rico is very old. 04:21.333 --> 04:23.266 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It was very poorly maintained. 04:23.266 --> 04:25.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So maybe some things will have to be rebuilt from scratch. 04:25.433 --> 04:29.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But that is a big problem, because the island is bankrupt and the power authority has no 04:29.733 --> 04:30.766 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% money either. 04:30.766 --> 04:32.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% So it is a very dire situation. 04:32.733 --> 04:35.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Monica, I know you and your team will have stories for us in 04:35.533 --> 04:36.900 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% the coming days. 04:36.900 --> 04:38.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% For now, Monica Villamizar, thanks very much. 04:38.633 --> 04:39.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Thank you, Jeff.