Marilyn González waited with what she describes as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for Hurricane Fiona to pass.

On Wednesday, she came to a small Yabucoa Health Clinic for her check-up.

Other patients of Dr. Gómez haven’t been able to call because the town of about 30,000 residents remained mostly without power and with spotty cell phone service.

“Patients don’t have access to laboratories, pharmacies to continue their treatment and I hope some of their conditions don’t take a turn for the worse,” Dr. Gómez said. “That was my worry, I opened the office to help them.”

Nestled among the mountains, the region was spared from the massive floods from Fiona, but residents can’t plug in their refrigerators and many don’t have clean water.

That’s where Chef Xavier Losada comes in, putting his skills to use making rice and pork stew to feed 100 people.

“I’m feeling really good because I am cooking for people with lots of problems. My family and I cook with love for all Puerto Ricans,” Losada explained.

The kitchen itself is being loaned by a community activist.

“I said: ‘My kitchen is yours for cooking for the needs of the people,’” Ruth Lavoy said. “It feels nice because I want to help.”

And they had an army of volunteers like Jonathan Castellano from New Jersey show up to distribute many of the meals and to clean up the grounds of the non-profit organization in record heat.

“We were here for the hurricane and campuses were closed for college students so we thought: let’s volunteer,” Castellano said.

Grassroots efforts and neighbors helping neighbors are common themes in the different regions of Puerto Rico we have visited.

While the island’s governor said it may take until the weekend to restore electricity, the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority said it will need power back and rivers to recede in order to increase water treatment capacity. Only then will most Puerto Ricans be able to again drink from the tap.