San Juan-based Dennis Manuel Rivera captured the damage from widespread flooding along the coastal areas and winds that blew the rooftops off homes, filling them with sand.

Puerto Ricans are accustomed to weathering storms, says 28-year-old Rivera, who has spent his life there. But with Maria, he says, "I've seen stuff I've never seen in my life." Where there had been greenery, he saw muddy rivers; the face of the island as he knew it is completely changed.

Rivera spoke to National Geographic from a gasoline line in San Juan, noting that waits for fuel could extend six hours or longer, and that cell phone service was nonexistent outside the city.

He had been unable to reach his parents at their home