Puerto Rico still a viable tourist destination: Gov. Rossello

Alvin Baez | Reuters

Waves crash against the seawall as Hurricane Irma slammed across islands in the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico September 6, 2017.

The fact that the tourism infrastructure wasn’t heavily damaged is good news for the island, which already has about $70 billion in debt on its books and $50 billion in pension liabilities.

Funds are available for rebuilding, though, Rossello said, and the government is working quickly to fix those areas that have been heavily damaged.

There is an emergency fund in Puerto Rico, as well as President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration that will help pay for storm preparations and some of the damage, he said.

“Some of the regions in Puerto Rico have already been determined to be a disaster area, so we will work with our funding, of course, but with the help of FEMA to restore balance and to rebuild again in Puerto Rico.”

He said power has already been restored to over 600,000 of the 1 million customers who have been in the dark since the storm hit.

— Reuters and CNBC’s Jason Gewirtz contributed to this report.