After Puerto Rico trip, Rubio urges aid ‘ASAP’

Senator warns of ‘potential for serious crisis’ with no power.

The power is still out on nearly all of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria smashed poles, snarled power lines and flooded electricity-generating plants, knocking out a grid that was already considered antiquated compared to the U.S. mainland’s.

Generators are providing power to the fortunate few who have them, but nearly all the island’s 1.6 million electricity customers are still without Check local conditions, see live radar and keep up with Kimberly Miller’s weather updates. The free PBPost Weather app is available on iTunes and at Google Play. Search for Palm Beach Post WeatherPlus.

power and facing many, many hot days and dark nights to come.

On Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on a visit to the island, highlighted the electricity crisis the people of Puerto

Rico are facing.

“Tremendous damage,” the senator tweeted Monday evening after he returned to the States. “Potential for serious crisis in areas outside of San Juan. MUST get power crews in ASAP,” he wrote.

As a U.S. commonwealth, Puerto Rico has a nonvoting member of the House and no U.S. senators. But a network of Democrats and Republicans who have roots on the island, own property there or represent states and districts with large voting blocs with Puerto Rican heritage tend to use their sway in support of the commonwealth.

“Puerto Rico doesn’t have a senator, so we’ve always treated it as a place we care about a lot,” Rubio said this past week. Florida is home to more than 1 million Puerto Ricans.

About 80,000 Puerto Rico residents moved to the mainland United States this past year, part of an exodus driven by the island’s devastated economy. Most of them moved to Florida.

Also Monday, the top Democrat in the House called on President Donald Trump to deploy the military to help with the humanitarian crisis on the island territory.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Pentagon resources are needed for search-and-rescue oper- ations, maintaining order and helping with transportation.

Pelosi’s comments came after House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised that Washington will make sure that the people of hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico will “have what they need.”

Ryan said Congress is work- ing with the administration to make sure Puerto Rico gets all of the help that’s required.

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and months ahead.

Getting the power back isn’t just a matter of comfort. A long delay will mean even more pain for a Puerto Rican economy that’s already reeling from a decade-long recession. With no power, even more people will leave the island to find better oppor- tunities on the mainland and further drain its workforce. The downed power system is also damaging the tourism industry, which contributed 8 percent to Puerto Rico’s econ- omy this past year.

Puerto Rico’s power plants were not severely damaged, according to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. However, 80 percent of the island’s transmission lines are down, and Rosselló said it would take up to two years to completely rebuild the infrastructure under nor-

ing

VICTOR J. BLUE / THE NEW YORK TIMES Juan Perez rides though a neighborhood Saturday in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, that was flooded by Hurricane Maria, which left the island with massive damage and no power.

ASSOCIATED PRESS CARLOS GIUSTI / National Guard troops arrive Sunday at Barrio Obrero in Santurce, a district in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to distribute water and food to those affected by Hurricane Maria.

VICTOR J. BLUE / THE NEW YORK TIMES Neighbors David Riefkohl (left), Charles Yates and Jose Nieve clear downed power lines Sunday from their block in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. About 80 percent of the island’s transmission lines are down.

Sen. Marco Rubio says: “MUST get power crews in ASAP.”