Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 14 September 2018
Trump comments sting in Puerto Rico amid slow storm recovery

By DANICA COTO angered by recent discov-
ANGELIKI KASTANIS eries of supplies that never
Associated Press got delivered. A photo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico that emerged Tuesday of
(AP) — President Donald thousands of water bot-
Trump's assertion that the tles abandoned on a run-
federal government's re- way in eastern Puerto Rico
sponse to Hurricane Maria prompted local officials to
was "an incredible, unsung say Wednesday that they
success" fell flat in Puerto were opening an investiga-
Rico, where islanders are tion.
still struggling to recover Ottmar Chavez, the new
from the devastating storm secretary of the island's
a year later. General Services Admin-
"I was indignant," said Glo- istration, said at a news
ria Rosado, a 62-year-old conference that Puerto Ri-
college professor who can officials requested the
watched the president's water from the U.S. govern-
news conference on TV ment and were supposed
late Tuesday from San Juan to pick it up in late May. He
and was still fuming the said some of it was distribut-
next day. "The image of In this Sept. 26, 2017 file photo, Nestor Serrano walks on the upstairs floor of his home, where the ed but people complained
my dead husband immedi- walls were blown off, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. that it smelled bad. He
ately came to my mind ... Associated Press added that it was unclear
as well as all the lives that why the remainder sat on
were lost." U.S. government "did an and private organizations, istration indicate that ap- the runway for nearly four
Rosado's husband, who unappreciated great job in we truly would not have re- provals for disaster loans months.
was hospitalized for re- Puerto Rico." ceived help from anyone," in Puerto Rico were slow Shortly after Maria hit last
spiratory and renal com- A July report by the Federal Ruiz said. "They are treating — the first one was not ap- year, Trump visited Puerto
plications and ultimately Emergency Management us like second-class citizens. proved until 15 days after Rico and was widely criti-
suffered a heart attack, Agency, or FEMA, noted ... If we were another state, the storm was declared, cized for tossing paper
was one of the estimated several shortcomings in its the response would have four times as long as with towels to storm victims in a
2,975 people who died in response, including that it been much faster." Hurricane Harvey. manner seen by many as
the Category 4 storm's af- underestimated how much In Maria's aftermath, ac- For Maria, there was a large insensitive to the scope of
termath when medical re- food and water would be cording to FEMA data ana- gap between when the first the disaster.
sources were strained be- needed after the storm and lyzed by the AP, approvals loan was approved and His latest remarks once
yond the breaking point. that not enough Spanish- for individual assistance when loans started ramp- again dredged up those
For many, Trump's boast speaking aid workers were checks in Puerto Rico were ing up. While 25 percent of same hurt feelings.
about "one of the best jobs deployed to the island. slower compared with Harvey loans were OKed "I ignore them because
that's ever been done" At the same time, the what happened with large within 42 days, for Maria, none of them make sense,"
was hard to square with agency also faced chal- storms last year. From Sept. that didn't happen until said Michelle Cruz, a
their daily reality: Blackouts lenges that were arguably 30 to Oct. 7, not one of those Jan. 9, more than three 48-year-old airline worker
remain common; nearly beyond its control such as checks was approved. On months after the storm hit. whose mother died in De-
60,000 homes are covered the sheer force of the mon- Oct. 8 the approvals be- Overall, compared with cember from septicemia
by only a makeshift roof not ster storm and the logisti- gan rolling again, but with Harvey and Irma, Maria after contracting an infec-
capable of withstanding a cal difficulties of reaching a large spike suggesting a saw more funds loaned to tion in a hospital during sur-
Category 1 hurricane; and the Caribbean island over backlog. homeowners rather than gery after Maria. "It bothers
13 percent of municipalities a thousand miles (1,600 ki- In addition, data from the business owners. me and it hurts. But I don't
lack stable phone or inter- lometers) away from the U.S. Small Business Admin- Islanders have also been pay attention to him."q
net service. mainland.
"Nobody is singing his And many residents say lo-
praises because we all cal officials share much of
saw what happened," San the blame. Puerto Rico's
Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin government has acknowl-
Cruz told The Associated edged that its emergency
Press. "He wasn't up to the plans were designed for
task...and the way that he a Category 1 hurricane,
neglected our lives gave as well as failures to follow
permission to other people those plans and communi-
in his administration to look cations breakdowns.
the other way." Ramon Ruiz, a 56-year-old
Cruz criticized Trump in a business owner whose fa-
series of tweets, including ther died from heart prob-
one that said, "If he thinks lems on Thanksgiving after
the death of 3,000 people riding out the hurricane
(is) a success God help us alone at home, pressed up
all." against the door to keep
That reignited a longstand- it from caving in, is among
ing feud between the may- those who say both lo-
or and Trump, who fired cal and federal authorities
back calling her "totally in- were slow to act.
competent" and saying the "If it wasn't for the churches