PUERTO RICO- It has been a few months since Puerto Rico was slammed by Category 4 Hurricane Maria. Winds of 155 miles per hour ravaged the small island in the early hours of September 20th, and left the whole island without power, and most without clean water. The following day, President Trump administered a state of emergency, and many officials expressed their concern about the restoration of Puerto Rico’s power grid. Amidst other responses from the Presidential cabinet, President Trump would remain dormant for some time.

Nearly five days after landfall, President Trump makes his first direct attempt at mentioning Puerto Rico. His tweets state, “Texas and Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure and massive debt, is in deep trouble. 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.” A week after landfall, tensions start to grow higher, as hospitals are not functioning, and estimates of low drinking water supply rises. In response to the the DHS secretary saying help tactics, “Are a good news story,” Carmen Cruz, the mayor of San Juan says, “Well maybe from where she’s standing, it’s a good news story. When you’re drinking from a creek, it not a good news story. When you don’t have food for a baby, it’s not a good news story. When you have to pull people down from buildings-I’m sorry, that really upsets me and frustrates me.”

The mayor of Puerto Rico is also experiencing extreme tension with the President. The Presidential Administration continues to oblige that Puerto Rico is experiencing great success in terms of Hurricane Relief. Mayor Cruz came back to these comments by saying, “People are dying in this country. I am begging, begging anyone that 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 and the bureaucracy,” to which the President responded, “The mayor of San Juan, who was very complementary only a few days ago, has now been told by the democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.” The House homeland security advisor added to these comments by saying, “I don’t accept that we’re doing anything short of everything we can do.”

This ongoing battle has sparked controversy across the nation. Many are furious that minimal help has come from the administration, while some defend the President and his colleagues. Trump adds to this by saying, “Ultimately the government of Puerto Rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effort… will be funded and organized, and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island.” Regardless of the political monopoly associated with this horrid tragedy. Puerto Rico needs love, compassion, and the Human Spirit to truly rebuild.

Donation efforts are underway. If you wish to donate to those affected by Hurricane Maria, then please do. Every life matters, and your donation could save one. The following is a PBS link that can help you.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/can-help-hurricane-victims-puerto-rico

By Cpl. Juan A. Soto-Delgado, U.S. Marine Corps (Commander of U.S. Army North visits USS Kearsarge) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This image was released by the United States Marine Corps with the ID 171014-M-DL-117-005 

Works Cited:

Hernández, Arelis R., et al. “San Juan Mayor Slams Trump Administration Comments on

Puerto Rico Hurricane Response.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 30 Sept. 2017,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/09/29/san-juan-mayor-slams-trump

-administration-comments-on-puerto-rico-hurricane-response/?utm_term=.66996ea8d13.

Hijazi, Jennifer. “How You Can Help Hurricane Victims in Puerto Rico.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 25 Sept. 2017, www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/can-help-hurricane-victims-puerto-rico.

Meyer, Robinson. “What’s Happening With the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Oct. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico-a-timeline-of-hurricane-maria/541956/.

Description for Picture: U.S Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan speaks about Puerto Rico relief efforts on the USS Kearsarge.ian