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Trump has been smarting amid criticisms about the federal government’s response to the growing humanitarian crisis on the island of 3.4 million people.
“Puerto
Rico is devastated. Phone system, electric grid many roads, gone.
FEMA and First Responders are amazing. Governor said ‘great job!'”
he tweeted Thursday.
“FEMA
& First Responders are doing a GREAT job in Puerto Rico. Massive
food & water delivered. Docks & electric grid dead. Locals
trying really hard to help but many have lost their homes. Military
is now on site and I will be there Tuesday. Wish press would treat
fairly!” he wrote earlier Thursday.
"The
loss of life, it's always tragic. But it's been incredible."
29
September, 2017
President
Donald Trump misrepresented the crisis facing Puerto Rico Friday,
bragging that people “can’t believe how successful” the
administration has been at saving lives following Hurricane Maria.
“The
loss of life, it’s always tragic. But it’s been incredible,”
Trump told reporters Friday before taking off for his golf course in
New Jersey. “The results that we’ve had with respect to loss of
life. People can’t believe how successful that has been, relatively
speaking.”
"The loss of life, it's always tragic. But it's been incredible. The results that we've had with respect to loss of life."
Just
minutes later, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz painted a very
different picture of the situation at a press conference.
“I
am going to do what I never thought I would do. I am begging, begging
anyone who can hear us to save us from dying,” Cruz said.
Speaking
of the government’s response to the crisis, Cruz said, “We are
dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency.”
"We are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency." -- San Juan mayor, exasperating with govt response to Puerto Rico
Other
Puerto Ricans are slamming Trump’s response to the crisis, as
ThinkProgress’ E.A. Crunden reported Friday.
Trump
did not address the crisis in the territory for several days after
Hurricane Maria hit, seemingly preoccupied with his ongoing feud with
NFL players who kneel in protest during the national anthem. When
Trump finally did address the crisis, he essentially blamed Puerto
Rico for its own problems.
“Texas
& Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already
suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep
trouble,” Trump tweeted Monday. “It’s old electrical grid,
which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was
destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks
which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top
priorities — and doing well.”
Abi
de la Paz de la Cruz, 3, holds a gas can as she waits in line with
her family, to get fuel from a gas station, in the aftermath of
Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017.
CREDIT: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Subsequently,
when Trump has talked about the crisis, it has been to sing his own
praises.
“Puerto
Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello just stated: ‘The Administration and
the President, every time we’ve spoken, they’ve delivered……’”
Trump tweeted Friday morning.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello just stated: "The Administration and the President, every time we've spoken, they've delivered......
Puerto
Rico mayor weeps as she begs for help while Trump congratulates
himself on good job
San
Juan mayor: 'I am begging, begging anyone who can hear us to save us
from dying'
29
September, 2017
The
mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, sharply rebuked the Trump
administration's efforts to aid the island in the wake of Hurricane
Maria, and delivered an emotional plea to "anyone who can hear
us to save us all."
"I
will do what I never thought I was going to do. I am begging, begging
anyone who can hear us to save us from dying. If anybody out there is
listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the
inefficiency," Carmen Yulín Cruz said on Friday.
Cruz's
plea comes as Puerto Ricans struggle to recover from the devastating
impacts of Maria, after the storm slammed into the island nine days
ago, leaving its millions of residents without power.
Aid
has been slow to arrive to residents on the island, who are in
increasingly dire need of food, water and medicine.
The
Trump administration has come under fierce scrutiny from Puerto
Ricans and lawmakers for not helping the U.S. territory quickly
enough.
The
U.S. Virgin Islands' congressional delegate and the top Democrat on
the House Oversight Committee on Friday called for an "emergency"
Oversight hearing on the disaster response.
“Urgent
action by our Committee now could help accelerate the federal
response to the devastation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands and make a measurable and significant difference in the lives
of American families there,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Del.
Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) wrote in a joint letter.
The
president insisted on Friday afternoon federal officials were doing a
great job with relief efforts.
"We
have done an incredible job, considering there's absolutely nothing
to work with," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"And
a very big question is, what are we going to do with the power plant?
Because the power plant is totally wiped out," he said. "There
is nothing. The power grid is gone."
Cruz
made headlines earlier on Friday after she issued a sharp
condemnation of acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke's
comments in which she called the federal government's response to the
devastation "a good news story."
“Maybe
from where she’s standing, it’s a good news story,” Cruz said.
“When you’re drinking from a creek, it’s not a good news story.
When you don’t have food for a baby, it’s not a good news story.”
She
added: “Damn it, this is not a good news story. This is a
people-are-dying story.”
Royal
Caribbean cancels cruise to send ship on Hurricane Maria humanitarian
mission
29
September, 2017
Royal
Caribbean’s September 30 sailing of Adventure of the Seas has been
cancelled to devote the 3,114-passenger cruise ship to hurricane
relief efforts in the Caribbean.
Based
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was devastated by the "catastrophic"
and “life-threatening” winds of Hurricane Maria, the ship was
diverted to St Croix and St Thomas to transport relief supplies
before helping evacuees and stranded tourists from all three islands
to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The
ship is expected to return to San Juan on October 6 to prepare for
its scheduled October 7 departure from St Croix to Martinique. All
passengers on the cancelled sailing will be refunded and offered a 25
per cent future credit for any new cruises booked within the next 30
days. Several other cruises, including sailings on Harmony of the
Seas and Oasis of the Seas, have been scheduled for other dates in
October.
Adventure
of the Seas is the latest among a host of other ships that have been
used in aid of hurricane relief in recent weeks, including idle ships
from both Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line that been sent to
St Maarten, which suffered severe damage following the recent
hurricanes.
Ships
from Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line and the Caribbean’s
largest cruise operator, were also reported to be delivering
supplies, water and food to the Caribbean earlier this week and were
in discussion with authorities in Puerto Rico on other ways to
provide aid.
Several
cruise lines have been pledging donations. Oceania Cruises this week
announced it will donate £350 of every booking of a veranda
stateroom and above for Caribbean sailings from December 2017 to
April 2018, while Regent Seven Seas announced today it will donate
£300 per guest for new bookings made from now until October 31 on
eight selected 2018 Caribbean voyages on board Seven Seas Explorer,
one of the world’s most luxurious cruise ships.
Both
cruise lines and their sister brands have pledged to raise at least
$2.5 million (£1.87m) for relief efforts, with Oceania having
committed to $1.25 million (£1.12m) in matching donations from
guests, crew, suppliers and travel partners.
"The
outpouring of assistance and support by Royal Caribbean and the
cruise industry, hoteliers, and the many industry partners and
friends of the Caribbean is heartwarming,” Frank J Copito, CEO and
director general of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, told
Telegraph Travel.
“It
will be important that all stakeholders continue to support the
sustained recovery efforts. We believe those affected destinations
can come out stronger and better over time," he added.
The
latest relief initiatives aren’t the first time cruise ships have
been used for non-leisure purposes. Several ships throughout history
have undergone temporary conversions to join the war effort, such as
Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, one of the world’s most famous ocean
liners which marked its 50th anniversary last week.
The
iconic ship was once used in the Falklands War in May 1982 to carry
3,000 troops to the South Atlantic. The ship was refitted for war
service with several features including helicopter pads, steel
plating and an anti-magnetic coil to combat explosive naval mines,
while its public lounges were turned into dormitories.
P&O
Cruises Canberra ocean liner was also used as a troopship in the
Falklands War during its cruise ship tenure between 1961 and 1997.
The ship was sailing in the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar, at the
time when the war broke out. It returned to Southampton to be
refitted and used to transport the Parachute Regiment and Royal
Marines to the islands.
More
recently in 2011, the cruise ship Sea Voyager was used as a residence
hall for students at St Mary’s College of Maryland following an
infestation of mould in two of its dorm rooms on land.
Last
year, several cruise ships, such as Norwegian Cruise Lines'
4,000-passenger Norwegian Getaway, doubled as floating hotels during
the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to create extra accommodation for
visitors.
The
White House on Thursday waived an act that was preventing foreign
ships from delivering supplies to Puerto Rico, more than a week after
Hurricane Maria devastated the US territory.
The
White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said
in a tweet that
Donald Trump had authorized the Jones Act to be waived for Puerto
Rico at the request of its governor, Ricardo Rosselló. “It will go
into effect immediately,” she said.
At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LPZEREZKNFBIPISWVNLVOR3ZT4.jpg)
Federal
and military aid for Puerto Rico increased Tuesday, including news
that the hospital ship Comfort would be deployed, as officials got a
clearer picture of the obscene destruction Hurricane Maria wrought on
the U.S. territory.
Aid sent to Puerto Rico not reaching desperate residents
28
September, 2017
President
Trump on Thursday waived shipping restrictions to get fuel and
supplies to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico — but aid that’s
already there hasn’t been reaching desperate residents.
“There
are plenty of ships and plenty of cargo to come into the island,”
said Mark Miller, a spokesman for shipping company Crowley, which has
3,000 containers of supplies in the US territory.
“From
there, that’s where the supply chain breaks down — getting the
goods from the port to the people on the island who need them,” he
told Bloomberg News.
Around
9,500 containers carrying supplies remained stuck at the Port of San
Juan on Thursday, while the island’s 3.4 million residents faced
another day of food, fuel and water shortages, waiting in hours-long
lines to buy basic items.
“Really,
our biggest challenge has been the logistical assets to try to get
some of the food and some of the water to different areas of Puerto
Rico,” Gov. Ricardo Rosselló told MSNBC.
Many
roads on the island remain washed out or blocked by debris, and
authorities have had trouble reaching out to truck drivers who can
deliver supplies.
“When
we say that we don’t have truck drivers, we mean that we have not
been able to contact them,” Rosselló said.
More
than a week after Hurricane Maria hit the island as a Category 4
storm, Trump waived the Jones Act — which requires that all goods
shipped between US ports be carried by American-owned and -operated
ships — for the next 10 days
House
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced Thursday that the Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief account would receive
another $6.7 billion by the end of the week.
And
the Pentagon said it was sending Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, a
three-star general who served four tours in Iraq, to the island,
where the military was trying to better coordinate the distribution
of supplies to residents.
Earlier
in the day, Sen. Marco Rubio said that only the Defense Department
could manage the logistics of getting aid distributed to residents
quickly.
“The
only people who can restore it, who have the capacity to do so
quickly in the short term and then turn it over to the authorities
there in Puerto Rico, is the Department of Defense,” the Florida
Republican told CNN.
“We
need someone in charge of that with the know-how of logistics, with
the capability to restore logistics and with the authority to make
decisions quickly without having to check with 18 agencies.”
The
Trump administration has been facing criticism over its response to
the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, with some charging
that it was slow to react.
“The
federal response has been a disaster,” said lawmaker José Enrique
Meléndez, a member of Rosselló’s New Progressive Party. “It’s
been really slow.”
But
Trump’s advisers pushed back against those accusations Thursday,
with acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke saying that she
was “very satisfied” with the federal government’s response and
that “the relief effort is under control.”
White
House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said 10,000 federal relief
workers were now stationed in Puerto Rico.
“The
full weight of the United States government is engaged to ensure that
food, water, health care and other lifesaving resources are making it
to the people in need,” she said.
Of
the island’s 69 hospitals, 44 are operational, officials said.
Forty-four percent of Puerto Ricans remain without drinking water and
most of the island is still without power.
Pastor
Irving Figueroa of the Wesleyan Church in the northern municipality
of Guaynabo said islanders were desperate for food, water and
medicine.
“Parents
with two or three kids at home, they need water, and they need milk
and the basics in order to help their kids,” he told The Post.
“This is a catastrophic situation.”
Figueroa
— whose church has been working with World Hope International to
distribute supplies such as water filters, tarps and solar chargers —
said people have been spending 10 to 11 hours in line just to buy
gas.
“There
are 500 to 700 people all in line to get water from the places that
the government are providing,” he explained.
“This
is the worst situation in our history. It’s like being in a
military combat situation.”
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