Chaos on ground snarls aid to Puerto Rico’s desperate

Fuel and supplies are there, but getting them to people has been a nightmare

One of the key problems slowing recovery efforts for millions of desperate Puerto Ricans still without power and water: the challenge of distributing fuel and supplies already on the ground.

In many parts of the island of 3.4 million people, the recovery in the first week after Hurricane Maria has largely been a make-itup-as-you-go affair, particularly for those still cut off by blocked roads and unable to communicate to the outside world.

People collect water from wells and streams, clear roads and repair their own homes when they are not waiting in day-long lines for gasoline and diesel. For most, the only visible signs of authority are police officers directing traffic, a crucial service because traffic lights are out across the island.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, breaking down during one TV interview, says people on the island are in a “life and death” struggle. More than 1 million people lack drinking water, and most of the island is without power.

“It’s life or death. ... Every moment we spend just not getting the help we’re supposed to get, people are starting to die.”

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz

“Every moment we spend planning in a meeting or every moment we spend just not getting the help we’re supposed to get, people are starting to die,” Yulín Cruz told WUSA-TV.

But getting supplies from Point A to Point B remains a daunting task in a country still battling to open roads or even get out from under standing water.

“We are well aware of the fuel needs on the ground,” FEMA deputy administrator Daniel Kaniewski said on CNN. He says there is “sufficient fuel” in depots, but “the challenge we have, quite frankly, is distributing it.”

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said on CBS News that emergency administrators were running out of truck drivers to bring supplies to grocery stores and distribution centers. But he did note progress: 450 of the island’s 1,100 gas stations were operational, up from 181 two days earlier, The New York Times reports.

Brock Long, administrator of FEMA, acknowledged Wednesday that badly damaged airports and seaports were making it difficult to get aid and personnel to the stricken island.

Long said 16 Navy and Coast Guard ships were in the waters around Puerto Rico, and 10 more ships were on the way. They include the USNS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship.

Flight access to and from Puerto Rico continued to improve. Most are relief flights; others are passenger flights. The FAA has restored most radar and surveillance equipment and re-established radio frequencies between the island and the control center in Miami that guides planes between airports, according to Greg Martin, an FAA spokesman.

“The situation improves by the minute,” he said.

GERALD HERBERT, AP Men make their way across the Rio San Lorenzo de Morovis after the bridge was swept away by Hurricane Maria.