Day after horror filled day, Puerto Rican’s continue to suffer and die in a humanitarian crisis brought about by Hurricane Maria’s 155 mph winds. Along with her other weapons, such as rainfall and storm surge, the climate change enhanced wind storm has brought the island to it’s knees. The federal response appears to me as purposeful neglect of 3.5 million American citizens. The recovery debacle is more than incompetence, but rather a result of Trump’s petty and vindictive cruelty to anyone that is not white, or who has even slightly criticized the federal response to this catastrophe. But In a meeting with Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, in the Oval Office on Thursday. Trump gave himself a grade of 10.
“They got hit by a Category 4, grazed, but grazed about, you know, a big portion of the island. … That was bad, but then they got hit dead center, if you look at those maps, by a Category 5. adding “Nobody’s ever heard of a five hitting land. Usually by that time, it’s dissipated. It hit right through. It kept to a five. It hit right through the middle of the island, right through the middle of Puerto Rico. There’s never been anything like that. I give ourselves a 10.”
What a fucking moron!
Recently, seven Democratic senators “sent a letter to FEMA administrator Brock Long on Friday, urging the agency to approve funding for Puerto Rico to rebuild roads, fix the electric grid and repair other damaged infrastructure”.
Alexia Fernández Campbell of Vox writes (in a updated post dated 10-16-17).
Permanent Work funding from FEMA is the main source of federal assistance to help a community repair and rebuild its public infrastructure after a natural disaster, and there should be absolutely no ambiguity that the federal government intends to provide this crucial assistance to help Puerto Rico build back after Hurricane Maria," they wrote.
It's unclear why FEMA hasn't yet authorized what is known as C-G public assistance. Two weeks ago, a FEMA spokesperson in Puerto Rico told Vox that the island "was well on its way" to getting this aid, though he didn't say how soon. FEMA approved this type of reconstruction aid for the US Virgin Islands two weeks after Maria hit; and it was approved for Texas ten days after Harvey.
snip
President Trump could speed up the process if he cared to. The Stafford Act, which gives FEMA authority to carry out emergency missions, also gives the president broad discretion in guiding the agency's efforts: The president “may provide accelerated federal assistance and federal support where necessary to save lives, prevent human suffering, or mitigate severe damage” even without “a specific request.”
If Trump wanted to, in other words, he could fast-track FEMA's response in Puerto Rico. Instead, he has repeatedly suggested that Puerto Rico does not deserve the same level of disaster response that the federal government is giving to others: