Puerto Rico pleads for storm relief, while Trump cites debts

Puerto Rico needs immediate aid from Congress to avoid a “humanitarian crisis” after Hurricane Maria, to prevent “thousands if not millions” of residents from flocking to the US mainland, governor Ricardo Rossello said on Tuesday.

“There needs to be unprecedented relief for Puerto Rico so that we can start the immediate effort right now with deployment of resources but also the mid- to long-run recovery,” Rossello told MSNBC.

Rossello’s call came a day after President Donald Trump said Puerto Rico was in “deep trouble” as hurricane devastation adds to the debts that have already pushed the US territory into bankruptcy.

The hurricane, the worst to hit the island in nearly a century, caused flooding, washed away roads and knocked out power to its 3.4-million residents by heavily damaging the state-run electricity system.

“Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble,” Trump tweeted on Monday night.

“Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars … owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with.”

Puerto Rico’s recovery will depend heavily on federal aid because it has little financial wherewithal to cope with a catastrophe such as the storm that passed through last week.

Amid a shrinking economy, the island has defaulted on its bonds and, in May, filed for bankruptcy to escape from more than $70bn of debt.

The fiscal collapse has effectively shut down Puerto Rico’s access to the US bond market, promising to make it more difficult for it to borrow to rebuild.

While Trump offered nothing specific, the tweets followed calls for the administration to step up involvement in recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said the defence department should be mobilised to assist with law enforcement and rescue operations.