Bidens head to Puerto Rico to show support after hurricane
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, travel to Puerto Rico on Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona and show support to the island’s population as it grapples with the atermath of its latest punishing storm.
The president has pledged the US government’s firm support for Puerto Rico as well as the states of Florida and South Carolina, which have also been hit hard in recent days by Hurricane Ian. Biden will travel to Florida on Wednesday. “Our hearts, to state the obvious - it can’t go without saying - are heavy from the devastating hurricane and storms in Puerto Rico, Florida, and South Carolina,” Biden said on Saturday night at an event in Washington.
“We owe Puerto Rico a hell of a lot more than they’ve already goten,” he said.
Storm-ravaged residents in Florida and the Carolinas alone face a disaster recovery expected to cost tens of billions of dollars.
Hundreds of thousands of people have struggled without power since Fiona hit Puerto Rico some two weeks ago.
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said via Twiter on Sunday that power had been restored to 90% of customers on the island.
“This is an important milestone, coming just 13 days ater Fiona made landfall,” she said.
“While we’re grateful for this progress, we realise the work is not over. Efforts to rebuild and help those impacted will continue.”
Last week the Biden administration approved a waiver of US shipping rules to address Puerto Rico’s immediate energy needs.
Residents of the island in 2017 accused then President donald trump of being slow to dispatch aid to the US territory in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
At least 85 storm-related deaths have been confirmed since Ian crashed ashore Florida’s Gulf Coast with catastrophic force on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 240 km per hour.
Florida accounted for all but four of the fatalities, with 42 tallied by the sheriff’s office in coastal Lee County, which bore the brunt of the storm when it made landfall, and 39 other deaths reported by officials in four neighboring counties.