Aid Is Getting to Puerto Rico. Distributing It Remains a Challenge.
Two weeks after Hurricane Maria split apart Puerto Rico, basic aid is arriving in San Juan and reaching more remote towns and barrios aching for assistance. But some families say that they are still receiving only meager portions, and ill-equipped and overburdened local mayors have been left to figure out how to haul supplies from regional drop-off points to their storm-ravaged towns. The death toll from the hurricane rose to 34, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said on Tuesday.
Amid Promises of Aid, a Puerto Rico Still in Ruins
President Trump said Puerto Ricans should be "proud" of the low death toll after Hurricane Maria. But a tour of the island by New York Times reporters showed that vast humanitarian and logistical challenges remain.
As President Trump visited the island for the first time since the storm, Mr. Rosselló acknowledged at a news conference that officials were still working out kinks that have prevented the distribution of relief supplies sent to the island.
As President Trump visited the island for the first time since the storm, Mr. Rosselló acknowledged at a news conference that officials were still working out kinks that have prevented the distribution of relief supplies sent to the island.
Mr. Rosselló said a major issue was getting transportation to distribute aid to people who need it. He said the government was offering more trucks to the mayors and to the centers where hot food could be prepared and delivered.
"We have delivered food and water, and it hasn't gotten to some people," he said. "They didn't listen, couldn't hear, the information didn't get to them." He added: "I recognize there are still people that might not have gotten those resources."
The relief operation has come under fire for ground-level failures to provide relief and for its overall approach to the effort. In a number of interviews, Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, who is widely credited with turning around the Bush administration's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina has said the Trump administration has underutilized the military, exacerbating the slow delivery of aid and the removal of debris. General Honoré said that by this point, he would have moved 50,000 troops to Puerto Rico.
New York Times
They say the supplies are in central locations but, without phone or Internet access, they have no way of telling the residents in outlying areas where the supplies are located.
DID IT EVER OCCUR TO THE AUTHORITIES TO DROP LEAFLETS FROM HELICOPTERS IN THOSE ISOLATED AREAS?
New York Times
They say the supplies are in central locations but, without phone or Internet access, they have no way of telling the residents in outlying areas where the supplies are located.
DID IT EVER OCCUR TO THE AUTHORITIES TO DROP LEAFLETS FROM HELICOPTERS IN THOSE ISOLATED AREAS?
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