WHAT THE TRuCK! Aid rots on docks in P.R. aid disaster Trump ripped for delay
ROADS REMAIN impassable, bridges are closed, fuel is in short supply, drivers are nowhere to be found, and the people of Puerto Rico are in desperate need of help.
Food, water and medical supplies — locked inside more than 10,000 shipping containers — are piling up at the islands port and airports, miles from the thousands of families facing starvation and medical emergencies in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
President Trump, confronting intense criticism for what many see as a too-slow response to a humanitarian crisis, tweeted that relief was getting through to the 3.4 million residents left without basic necessities or electricity.
“The electric power grid in Puerto Rico is totally shot. Large numbers of generators are now on Island. Food and water on site,” Trump wrote.
But “on site” appeared to mean stored on pallets and in containers in seaports and airports far from the towns where tired Puerto Ricans lined up for fresh water and a limited number of premade meals.
“The federal response has been a disaster,” said lawmaker Jose Enrique Melendez, a member of Gov. Ricardo Rossello’s New Progressive Party. “It’s been really slow.”
San Juan resident Sebastian Perez told the Daily News that everywhere he looks, people are standing in long lines for the meager amounts of fuel, food, water, medicine and cash.
His mom spent more than an hour in line at an ATM Thursday. When she finally got to her local Costco, the superstore was only letting nonmembers buy one pack of water each while members could buy two, he said.
A local Walgreens was letting groups of 10 shop for only 10 minutes, he said.
“Somehow, a week later, there is not the expected and needed progress done,” he said. “Things are not right. It’s eye tearing, no matter how tough you are.”
While officials maintained Thursday that the number of deaths as a result of the catastrophe was 16, the Center for Investigative Journalism claimed that there are dozens of hurricane-related deaths and the number could rise to the hundreds, the Miami Herald reported.
In what may sadly turn out to be a useless maneuver, Trump on Thursday temporarily waived the federal restrictions on foreign ships delivering cargo to Puerto Rico.
But many fear it could be too little, too late.
Frustrating photos show row after row of shipping containers stacked at the Port of San Juan with no drivers to pick them up.
Jose Ayala, vice president and general manager of shipping company Crowley, told CNN that the 3,000 containers under his jurisdiction contained medicines, water, construction materials and food such as poultry and pork.
He said the drivers who usually ferry cargo to store shelves across the island have been unable to report to work due to