Puerto Rico town struggles with elderly healthcare

Leohermanijildo Cotte, 96, died because there was no electricity for his oxygen tank during Hurricane Maria.

Heriberto Riveiro, 41, passes the gravesite of Leohermanijildo Cotte, who died because there was no electricity for his oxygen tank during Hurricane Maria. In the town of Lajas, on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, elderly residents are most at risk in the days after the hurricane.

Nashka Camila Riveiro, 6, attends the burial of Norma Casiano Rivera. She will be moving to Orlando, Fla., and going to school there.

Luz Maria, 78, is on a respirator at the Garden of Eden convalescent home in the town of Lajas. She was at a shelter, but it lost power more than a week ago.

The coffin of Norma Casiano Rivera is carried to the gravesite at the Lajas municipal cemetery, where more than five people have been buried since Hurricane Maria.

Catalina Melendez Jusino, 91, has been drinking rainwater since Hurricane Maria hit more than 10 days ago. She finally received water donations on Friday.

The Perez Funeral Home in the town of Lajas has had more than eight funerals since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico.

In the town of Lajas, on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, a shipment of water the Federal Emergency Management Agency finally arrived.

Hurricane Maria ruined the banana crop in Lajas, a farming community in Puerto Rico’s southwest.