FEMA head: Infighting hurting Maria recovery effort

WASHINGTON — Political differences are hurting the U.S. government’s response to victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday.

“The unity is not where I want it to be,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long said. “When you cannot get elected officials at the local level come to a joint FEMA office because they disagree with the politics of the governor, it makes things difficult and the information fragmented.”

Earlier Monday, Long said in television interviews that he had “filtered out” San Juan Mayor Carmen Cruz, Presdient Donald Trump’s most vocal critic about the hurricane response.

Cruz complained Monday morning via Twitter that “San Juan legislators arrived to the Emergency Operations Center to discuss debris and flooding. The mayor was not invited.”

Long on Monday expressed frustration with the criticism his agency has faced. He attributed the criticism to the inability to disseminate messages to the population via social media or cellphones because the telecommunications were disabled.

“That is a lesson learned,” Long said.

Long said 16,000 federal and military assets are on the ground in Puerto Rico and about 350,000 Puerto Ricans have registered so far in the FEMA system to receive financial assistance.