The death toll from Hurricane Maria jumped to at least 13 in Puerto Rico, where almost 700 people were rescued from rising floodwaters, officials said Friday.
Among the victims were eight people who drowned in Toa Baja, about 20 miles west of San Juan, according to Mayor Bernardo Márquez, Reuters reported.
Three elderly sisters were killed by a mudslide in the mountainous central municipality of Utuado, the newspaper El Nuevo Día reported, citing relatives and the mayor of Utuado.
Gov. Ricardo Rossello called Maria the most devastating storm in a century after it obliterated the US territory’s electricity and telecommunications infrastructure.
“Part of the island is lacking communications, so what we have are some preliminary assessments about 13 deaths at this juncture,” he told CNN early Friday.
El Nuevo Día reported at least 15 people were killed, according to Reuters.
“We’re 24 hours post-hurricane warning and right now our efforts are to make sure we have everybody safe, that we can rescue people. Our efforts have already produced almost 700 rescues so we’re clearly focused on that,” Rossello said.
Meanwhile, New York politicians unable to contact family members embarked for the devastated island Friday, accompanied by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The lawmakers included worried Bronx Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, who said he has not been able to reach his mother for four days.
“Today’s Mommy’s birthday,” Crespo said.
US Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a Brooklyn Democrat, struggled to keep her composure as she prepared to board a flight, arranged by JetBlue.
“For me this is personal,” she said. “I have not been able to talk to my family yet.”
Cuomo and the team brought 36,000 bottles of water, 10,000 ready-to-eat meals, blankets, pillows and flashlights, in addition to large power generators, which will be used for hospitals and communications facilities.
The pols will be joined by energy experts, who will spend the day assessing the island’s greatest needs. Members of the New York National Guard and Black Hawk helicopters will also be landing on the US territory soon.
The National Hurricane Center said some areas in Puerto Rico could see 40 inches of rain from Maria, and Rossello warned of dangerous mudslides.
“We have a lot of flooding, we have reports of complete devastation of vulnerable housing. Of course it’s still raining over here,” he said.
Maria was blamed for at least 33 deaths, including 15 in Dominica, three in Haiti, two in Guadeloupe and one in the US Virgin Islands, according to reports.
Ricardo Ramos, who heads Puerto Rico’s electricity board, said it could take months before power is fully restored across the island.
“The system … has been totally destroyed,” he said of the power grid.
Utility crews from the US mainland headed to Puerto Rico to help restore the grid. The US military also sent ground forces and aircraft to assist with search and rescue.
While the island had suffered major blackouts in previous hurricanes, Ramos said the impact would be felt much more strongly this time.
“I guess it’s a good time for dads to buy a glove and ball and change the way you entertain your children and the way you are going to go to school and the way you are going to cook,” Ramos told CNN.
Amid reports of looting, Rossello imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the island’s 3.4 million people that will stay in effect until Saturday.