Tag: Hurricane Maria

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Trump Continues To Lie About Aid To Puerto Rico

Donald Trump

Donald Trump simply can’t stop trolling Puerto Rico on social media.

The Trumpster went on a long Twitter rant about the U.S. territory calling the local leaders there “incompetent” or “corrupt.”

The $91 billion figure Trump quotes is an estimate of the DAMAGES to the island.

So far, according to the Washington Post, Puerto Rico has only received about a quarter of the total amount of money allocated to the island — $11.2 billion.

Officials told The Fact Checker that the president was referring to an internal Office of Management and Budget estimate of the potential liabilities over the life of the disaster that would need to be committed under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. The estimate was described as a high-end estimate subject to change year by year.

Currently, the estimated Stafford liabilities amount to $50 billion. Adding the $41 billion in announced funding to the $50 billion in Stafford liabilities gets you to $91 billion.

But none of that matters to Trump. He continues to rant and groan using incorrect numbers and #fakefacts.

Note that last line of the last tweet about “so little appreciation.” #smh

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Trump: Death Toll From Hurricane Maria In Puerto Rico Made Up By Dems

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to declare the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria - officially reported at 2.975 according to a study done by George Washington University - is a manufactured nothing-burger in an attempt to make him look "as bad as possible."
Donald Trump

Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to declare the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria – officially reported at 2,975 according to an independent study done by George Washington University – is a manufactured nothing-burger in an attempt to make him look “as bad as possible.”

Like the Trumpster really needs help in that department?

You’ll recall during an open meeting/press event in Puerto Rico, when Trump finally went down to the American territory, he claimed the destruction in Puerto Rico was not that bad compared to Hurricane Katrina.

Via Vox:

“If you look at the — every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died and what happened here with a storm that was just totally overbearing. No one has ever seen anything like that. What is your death count?” he said.

“Sixteen,” responded Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

“Sixteen certified,” Trump said, and then told the leaders assembled that they should all be “very proud.”

Earlier this week, Trump called his administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico “an incredible unsung success.”

Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz responded to Trump’s boasts:

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told her Twitter followers that, yes, Trump believes the Dems really made up the death toll figures:

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FEMA Contracted Company For 30 Million Meals For Puerto Rico, Only 50K Delivered

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Federal Emergency Management Agency turned to an Atlanta-based entrepreneur to deliver 30 million meals to the devastated island of Puerto Rico at a cost of $156 million.

Only 50,000 were ever delivered.

From The New York Times:

For this huge task, FEMA tapped Tiffany Brown, an Atlanta entrepreneur with no experience in large-scale disaster relief and at least five canceled government contracts in her past. FEMA awarded her $156 million for the job, and Ms. Brown, who is the sole owner and employee of her company, Tribute Contracting LLC, set out to find some help.

Ms. Brown, who is adept at navigating the federal contracting system, hired a wedding caterer in Atlanta with a staff of 11 to freeze-dry wild mushrooms and rice, chicken and rice, and vegetable soup. She found a nonprofit in Texas that had shipped food aid overseas and domestically, including to a Houston food bank after Hurricane Harvey.

By the time 18.5 million meals were due, Tribute had delivered only 50,000. And FEMA inspectors discovered a problem: The food had been packaged separately from the pouches used to heat them. FEMA’s solicitation required “self-heating meals.”

“Do not ship another meal. Your contract is terminated,” Carolyn Ward, the FEMA contracting officer who handled Tribute’s agreement, wrote to Ms. Brown in an email dated Oct. 19 that Ms. Brown provided to The New York Times. “This is a logistical nightmare.”

Brown refers to herself as “almost like a broker” working to subcontract out all her work. She has no employees and no specific skill in any one arena.

Brown is disputing the cancelled saying the agency did not specify that the meals and heaters had to be together.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico continues to struggle.

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FEMA Website Removes Any Stats That Show Slow Progress In Puerto Rico

The website for the Federal Emergency Management Agency has removed any statistics that might show slow progress being made in Puerto Rico regarding the response and recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

From the Washington Post:

As of Wednesday, half of Puerto Ricans had access to drinking water and 5 percent of the island had electricity, according to statistics published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on its Web page documenting the federal response to Hurricane Maria.

By Thursday morning, both of those key metrics were no longer on the Web page.

FEMA spokesman William Booher noted that both measures are still being reported on a website maintained by the office of Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, www.status.pr. According to that website, which is in Spanish, 9.2 percent of the island now has power and 54.2 percent of residents have access to drinking water. Booher said that these measures are also shared in news conferences and media calls that happen twice a day, but he didn’t elaborate on why they are no longer on the main FEMA page.

“Our mission is to support the governor and his response priorities through the unified command structure to help Puerto Ricans recover and return to routines. Information on the stats you are specifically looking for are readily available” on the website maintained by the governor’s office, Booher said.

Watch below as Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez of Illinois rails at the Trump administration’s response to the horrific devastation in Puerto Rico: “They don’t want you to know the truth.”

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Trump Continues To Blame Puerto Rican Locals For Poor Conditions: “They Have To Give Us More Help”

Donald Trump continued praising the federal government’s efforts in Puerto Rico today as he shifted blame to local truck drivers for any delay in improving conditions on the hurricane-battered island.

From ABC News:

President Donald Trump says the federal government has done a good job in Puerto Rico responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, but says local officials need to “give us more help.”

Trump says Tuesday that “in Texas and in Florida we get an A-plus, and I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.”

Trump says roads are cleared and communications are “starting to come back.” He says on a “local level they have to give us more help.”

The president lashed out at the mayor of San Juan after she criticized the federal response. He now says that San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz “has come back a long way.”

The White House says Cruz had been invited to participate in Tuesday’s events, but it was unclear whether she and the president would meet.

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Donald Trump Attacks Mayor Of San Juan From A Luxury Golf Course

Donald Trump

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the people of Puerto Rico are facing terrible devastation. We’ve seen that all week on the news.

But on Friday, Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, had had enough. In a passionate plea, she called out to anyone who could possibly help Puerto Rico.

“We are dying here,” Cruz said at a press conference. “I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles. So, mayday, we are in trouble.”

And then this morning, from a luxury golf club in New Jersey, Donald Trump attacked the mayor for trying to help her people. He added that “fake news” outlets are trying to “disparage” the first responders in Puerto Rico.

It’s not surprising that Trump attacked the mayor. She’s challenged him, she’s a woman and a Hispanic. We know his track record in these situations.

Cruz pleads for help, “We are dying,” and Trump responds with “poor leadership” and “nasty.”

I also think it’s worth noting that Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory inhabited by primarily Hispanic people, has no electoral votes. On the other hand, Texas and Florida, which commanded Trump’s attention have lots of electoral votes and are primarily white citizens. You do the math.

The Twitterverse responded:

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Mayor Of San Juan: This Is Not “A Good-News Story”

The Trump administration had its own “You’re doing a heckuva job, Brownie” moment when the acting Homeland Security Secretary told the media the situation in Puerto Rico is “a good-news story.”

From CNN:

The mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital sharply criticized a senior Trump administration official Friday for calling the government’s disaster response “a good-news story,” comments that came amid mounting criticism of the federal reaction to the disaster here.

Trump administration officials have defended the federal effort, with acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke telling reporters outside the White House on Thursday that the relief effort “is proceeding very well considering the devastation that took place.” She called the federal response “a good-news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane.”

After watching Duke’s comments, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz appeared taken aback during an interview on CNN, calling the remarks “irresponsible” and saying they upset and frustrated her.

“Maybe from where she’s standing, it’s a good-news story,” Cruz said. “When you’re drinking from a creek, it’s not a good-news story. When you don’t have food for a baby, it’s not a good-news story.”

You really have to wonder if Donald Trump didn’t figure out until this week that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. He was all gung-ho to help Texas and Florida after their recent hurricane devastation.

Trump has said there are difficulties in helping Puerto Rico because Puerto Rico an “island surrounded by water…big water…ocean water.”

Hawaii needs to really worry if anything catastrophic hits them cause, you know, “big water, ocean water.”

Watch the mayor of San Juan below. The pain in Mayor Cruz’s voice is clear.

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Category 5 Hurricane Maria Heads Towards Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands

Terrible news for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as Hurricane Maria heads their way after wrecking massive destruction on the Caribbean island of Dominica.

In just over a 24 hour period Maria intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane.

Forecasters say Maria should hit the Virgin Islands by Tuesday afternoon and Puerto Rico late Tuesday into early Wednesday.

Experts say Maria could prove to be even more destructive than Hurricane Irma.

President Trump has already approved emergency declarations for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and authorized federal assistance and disaster relief efforts. The governor of Puerto Rico is urging evacuations.