Army reservist Eric Elder, a lineman in civilian life, works with the Corps of Engineers to restore power in the hilly Rio Grande neighborhood east of San Juan. Marisa Peñaloza /NPR hide caption

A donated solar lamp in a driveway illuminates storm debris still waiting to be collected earlier this week in Morovis, Puerto Rico. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

Hurricane María's 150-mph winds destroyed the tropical rainforest's canopy and stripped trees bare. Scientists believe as many as one-fifth of the forest's trees may eventually die from the storm's effects. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Irma Rivera Aviles and her husband, Ivan Martínez, stand in front of their home last month. Rivera Aviles was ecstatic about the restoration of power to her neighborhood last Friday. Marisa Penaloza/NPR hide caption

Irma Rivera Aviles and her husband Ivan Martínez live in a tight-knit working-class community called El Pueblito in Cataño. Their community flooded during Hurricane Maria leaving their house damaged with a hole in the roof. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Jared Haley, general manager of the C-Axis plant in Caguas, Puerto Rico, says computer-operated milling machines like this one can cost more than a half-million dollars. Heat and humidity in the plant after Hurricane Maria left many of the machines inoperable, Haley says. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Eric Elder, an Army reservist who came to Puerto Rico in early October to do power line work, says the work is challenging. "Every pole is different, every pole has to be looked at and dressed differently." Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Roberto Fret, 54, stands in the backyard of his damaged home. Hurricane Maria blew the roof off the house; the wind was so powerful that it twisted the metal roofing material and scattered pieces of it all over the yard. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Army Reserve troops have been distributing water and other supplies in Morovis since Hurricane Maria struck more than six weeks ago. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Together, José Ortíz (center left) and Ethan Leder (center right) — without the help of any major agency or aid organization — chartered a plane to Puerto Rico filled with donated medical supplies and get people with acute medical needs out of the island for treatment in the continental U.S. Courtesy of Willin Rodriguez hide caption

Jose Rolon Rivera, 7, receives medication for his asthma at the San Jorge Children's Hospital in Puerto Rico. The hospital only has enough fuel to power its emergency generators until Saturday, an administrator says. Angel Valentin for NPR hide caption

As in the rest of the country, growers in heavily agricultural northern Michigan rely overwhelmingly on migrant laborers to work the fields and orchards. Most of the pickers are from Mexico. Growers say it's just about impossible to find Americans to do this work. Melissa Block/NPR hide caption

Carmen Rivera (at left in the orange dress) sits on a cot at the Cataño shelter. She suffers from severe asthma and knee pain and has had to be rushed by ambulance to the hospital for asthma treatment twice since the hurricane. She says she feels forgotten by authorities. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Marco Dorta and his daughter, Patricia Dorta, use three phones to try to find service along Highway 22 in Puerto Rico. Camila Domonoske/NPR hide caption

People gather around cots inside the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston as they take shelter from the flooding on Monday. Marisa Peñaloza/NPR hide caption