Chicago Red Cross head to visit Puerto Rico to help hurricane victims

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Eight weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, about 60 percent of the island remains without power, drinking water and food are in scarce supply and about 300 schools are still closed.

Monday morning, Celena Roldan, who is in charge of Chicago's chapter of the Red Cross, and her mother, a mental health expert, will leave for Puerto Rico. They will spend the Thanksgiving holiday trying to help.

Currently, there are about 500 Red Cross relief workers on the island providing aid, but they have yet to get to many remote communities.

Only 50 percent of Puerto Rico residents have power since the hurricane, and communities continue to grapple with power outages. Many residents are not expected to get power restored until mid-December.

In Washington, D.C., on Sunday, thousands, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of "Hamilton," marched on the Capitol to try to get politicians to focus attention on Puerto Rico.

Also on Monday, former President Bill Clinton will travel to Puerto Rico, where he will meet with the governor and the mayor of San Juan.

The Clinton Foundation has provided assistance to the island and the former president plans to try to assess ongoing needs.