Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico as a high-end Category 4 hurricane on September 20, 2017, resulting in the island's most severe natural disaster in modern history. The entire island suffered devastating effects with the whole population losing access to electricity, the majority losing access to clean water, tens of thousands of homes destroyed, and road infrastructure left crippled. A series of cascading infrastructure failures compounded the direct effects of the hurricane. Lack of aid, electricity, water, and access to medical care endangered many people; elderly and poor residents were most impacted.