Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 28 sepTember 2017
‘Nothing, nothing.’ Aid lags in hurricane-torn Puerto Rico

By BEN FOX Hurricane Maria’s Cate- At a nearby river, dozens of lect water from wells and They are most visible in San
DANICA COTO gory 4 winds stripped the people gathered to bathe streams, clear roads and Juan, where officials with
Associated Press trees bare and scattered and wash clothes as they repair their own homes FEMA, Homeland Security,
MONTEBELLO, Puerto Rico Customs and Border Pro-
(AP) — Relatives helped tection have a presence
Maribel Valentin Espino at hotels that before the
find shelter when Hurricane storm served tourists in the
Maria roared through her Condado neighborhood
community in northern or at the convention cen-
Puerto Rico. Neighbors ter that has become a
formed volunteer brigades staging ground for relief ef-
to cut fallen trees and clear forts.
twisty mountain roads af- Federal workers supplied
ter the storm had passed. diesel to generators at
Now, friends and a local hospitals and delivered
cattle ranch provide the desperately needed food
water they need to survive and water to hard-hit com-
in the tropical heat. munities across the island.
Valentin and her husband They have repaired the
say they have not seen air traffic control systems
anyone from the Puerto and power at the airport,
Rican government, much which is far from normal
less the Federal Emergen- operations with only about
cy Management Agency, a dozen commercial flights
since the storm tore up the per day. U.S. agents have
island Sept. 20, killing at also provided security
least 16 people and leav- Norma Rios stands in front of her destroyed house in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in Catano, across the island and the
ing nearly all 3.4 million Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017. Many are waiting for help from anyone from the federal Coast Guard has worked
people in Puerto Rico with- or Puerto Rican government. But the scope of the devastation is so broad, and the relief effort so with local authorities to re-
out power and most with- concentrated in San Juan, that many people from outside the capital say they have received store the sea ports, a vital
out water. little to no help. link because Puerto Rico is
“People say FEMA is going (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti) almost completely depen-
to help us,” Valentin said them like matchsticks. “It grumbled about the lack when they are not waiting dent on imports.
Tuesday as she showed seemed like a monster,” of aid. in daylong lines for gasoline In addition, teams from the
Associated Press journalists she recalled. “There’s been no help from and diesel. For most, the Army Corps of Engineers
around the sodden wreck- The roads are passable the mayor or from the fed- only visible sign of authority are helping to repair the
age of her home. “We’re now but the community is eral government,” said are police officers direct- electricity grid and to in-
waiting.” still isolated. 64-year-old retiree Maria ing traffic, a critical service spect and look for ways
Many others are also wait- “Nobody has visited, not Rodriguez as she held a because traffic lights are to avert the collapse of
ing for help from anyone from the government, not coconut in her right hand out across the island. a dam near the western
from the federal or Puerto from the city, no one,” said and took sips from it. “I have seen a lot of heli- town of Quebradillas that
Rican government. Antonio Velez, a 64-year- “After Georges hit us (in copters go by. has developed a crack
But the scope of the dev- old who has lived there his 1998), they responded I assume those are people and that officials have
astation is so broad, and entire life. quickly. But now? Nothing. from FEMA,” said Jesus Ar- said could potentially fail.
the relief effort so concen- The same complaint We need water and food.” gilagos, who lives in Manati And personnel from Health
trated in San Juan, that echoed throughout the Nearby, one girl engaged and works at a grocery and Human Services, the
many people from outside southeast coastal town in a thumb war with a friend store that is only open part Department of Defense
the capital say they have of Yabucoa, the first town as she filled an empty wa- of the day because of the and Veterans Affairs have
received little to no help. Maria hit as it barreled ter bottle with her other power crisis. provided care and helped
Valentin, her husband and across the island with 155 hand. Downstream, a “People get pissed off be- evacuate people from
teenage son live in one mph winds. woman sat cross-legged in cause they see them go- Puerto Rico with chronic
such area, Montebello, a “Nothing, nothing, noth- the water behind a friend ing back and forth and not medical conditions.
20-minute drive into what ing,” said 58-year-old re- and helped wash her hair. doing anything.” A U.S. Navy hospital ship,
used to be lushly forested tiree Angel Luis Rodriguez. The recovery in the first There are several thou- the USNS Comfort, whose
mountains near the north- “I’ve lost everything, and week since the storm sand U.S. federal employ- staff can perform surger-
ern coastal municipality of no one has shown up to has largely been a do-it- ees in Puerto Rico helping ies, also is scheduled to
Manati. see if anyone lives here.” yourself affair. People col- with the recovery effort. arrive in the coming days,
said Resident Commission-
14 slain in attack on drug rehab center in north Mexico er Jennifer Gonzalez, the
island’s representative in
By MARK STEVENSON according to an official the centers.The bloodiest the western Mexican state Congress.
Associated Press with the state prosecutors’ attack of that kind left 19 of Sinaloa and was the Federal teams also were
MEXICO CITY (AP) —Gun- office who was not au- dead in Chihuahua city in right hand of cartel boss scheduled to visit the cen-
men killed 14 people in a thorized to be quoted by 2010.Also Wednesday, the Alfredo Beltran Leyva be- tral mountain town of Ai-
mass shooting at a drug name and spoke on condi- U.S. government offered fore his 2008 arrest.The U.S. bonito, which was cut off
rehabilitation center in the tion of anonymity. a reward of up to $5 mil- government said the orga- from the rest of the island
northern border state of Authorities were still inves- lion for information lead- nization was responsible for for five days.
Chihuahua, Mexican au- tigating the motive of the ing to the arrest of alleged smuggling heroin, metham- Many people began ra-
thorities said Wednesday. late Tuesday attack, but drug trafficker Fausto Isidro phetamine, cocaine and tioning their food and wa-
Thirteen people died at the drug cartels have been Meza Flores.The FBI said in a marijuana into the United ter supplies as they dwin-
scene and another at a known to use rehab centers statement that Meza Flores States. Meza Flores is under dled, unclear of when they
hospital in the state capi- to recruit addicts, and rival is the leader of a traffick- indictment in federal court would have contact with
tal, also called Chihuahua, gangs sometimes assault ing organization based in in Washington.q the outside world. q