PHOTOS: Puerto Rico endures under the weight of a humanitarian crisis

Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico with winds blowing at up to 250 km/h.

This is what they left behind.

Coverage of Hurricane Maria’s path through Puerto Rico on Globalnews.ca:

Click to play video: 'Aerial footage shows extent of the damage at dam in Puerto Rico'

0:51 Aerial footage shows extent of the damage at dam in Puerto Rico

The U.S. commonwealth has found itself grappling with a humanitarian crisis, a situation that has Gov. Ricardo Rossello governor calling for government aid, and hoping that a 35-metre dam doesn’t collapse and leave more destruction in its wake.

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Many of the commonwealth’s 3.4 million residents are coping with hospitals that have been flooded and damaged. Accessing clean drinking water is a challenge all on its own.

Electricity and basic communication are proving to be out of the reach of several people.

As much as 90 per cent of Puerto Rico’s power distribution system might have been damaged, and 91 per cent of its cell phone sites aren’t working, according to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

And all of this has come as the territory was already facing an economic crisis that had Rossello set to make $1.5-billion in fiscal cuts.

He has called on the U.S. Congress to allow an aid package that could keep living conditions from deteriorating further, he told CNN.

“We need something tangible, a bill that actually answers to our need right now,” Rossello told the network.

“Otherwise, there will be… a massive exodus to the [mainland] United States.”