It seems like putting utilities underground would be a wise idea on the island.
Electricity wouldn’t necessarily be a problem in that case.
Just make sure to build in flood prevention.
I made the post below at another site based on surviving in San Juan. It also has a number of comments.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3592336/posts
Each day I Google PR Latest Recovery Updates. [How do you say that in Spanish?] The article below was written by a reporter who managed to get to the central PR town of Orocovis, and gives some sense of what is happening with aid to small towns in the interior. This link also has links to 3 other PR stories written in Oct. and several from late Sept. My son who lives with his family in the southern San Juan suburb of Guaynabo had texted early on that the family was OK. A few days ago he phoned my son in Baltimore that he now had city water. I had phoned the day before Maria hit and he said he had plenty of water, chlorox, and lived in a strong cement building with storm shutters. He also said they had no significant interior damage except for water blowing under the front door. With electric and generator skills I imagine he is working very hard on the recovery.