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These are the resources deployed by the United States to Puerto Rico as of Friday:

MILITARY RESPONSE

- There are about 4,500 U.S. troops on the ground in Puerto Rico, including active duty and national guard. An additional 1,400 National Guard members are expected to arrive in Puerto Rico in four days

- Forty-three FEMA officials, teams of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and more than 1,600 National Guard members had sheltered in place during the storm.

- The U.S. military has the USS Kearsarge and Oak Hill, amphibious assault ships, assisting in relief efforts. The USS Wasp, which has completed relief efforts off the coast of Dominica, will soon be joining them.

- The USNS Comfort, a hospital ship, is en route to Puerto Rico. The Comfort is equipped to carry up to 1,000 hospital beds, 12 operating room and one of America's largest trauma units.

- Fifty-two tilt/rotary-wing aircraft are taking part in efforts, according to the Pentagon.

- A Defense Logistics Agency shipment of 100 trucks with diesel and fuel will arrive in next few days.

- The Defense Logistics Agency is preparing to distribute potentially 160 million meals in 30 days.

- By Friday, 15,000 gallons of propane were expected to arrive in Puerto Rico.

- On Thursday, a C-5C aircraft landed with a generator to help radar approach operations, the Pentagon said.

POWER AND WATER

- There are 4,000 people working to restore electricity and private U.S. companies will be bringing in 1,000 additional workers this weekend, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) said...

- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed a damage assessment at the Guajataca dam and are consulting on repairs.

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President Donald J. Trump is actively engaged in monitoring the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, and the full weight of the United States government is engaged to ensure that food, water, healthcare, and other lifesaving resources are making it to the people in need. At the request of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, the President authorized Acting Secretary Duke to waive the Jones Act to ensure that ample resources are making it to the island, and we will continue to focus on the challenge of distributing those resources. The island setting presents logistical hurdles that do not exist on the mainland where trucks from around the country can converge on disaster areas. Ten thousand federal government relief workers are there, including 7,200 troops that are now on the island and working tirelessly to get people what they need. Lifesaving resources to hospitals have been prioritized, and 57 of the island's 69 hospitals are now operational. The Army Corps of Engineers is spearheading a massive mobilization to restore power, and this began with providing the diesel fuel necessary for sustainable emergency power generation. They're also working to restore long-term power generation and distribution around the island. There's a long way to go, but we will not rest until everyone is safe and secure. Our message to the incredible people of Puerto Rico is this: The President is behind you. We all are -- the entire country. Your unbreakable spirit is an inspiration to us all. We are praying for you, we are working for you, and we will not let you down.

FEMA Update
Yesterday, FEMA announced that all municipalities in Puerto Rico have been reached by search and rescue thanks to the joint efforts of multiple federal agencies. President Trump and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke received a comprehensive briefing from
FEMA on Thursday morning on disaster relief. Points of this briefing included:

•FEMA and its federal partners continue 24-hour operations to reach inaccessible areas of Puerto Rico to reach survivors, provide fuel to hospitals, and re-open.

•The travel distance to the Islands as well as substantial impacts to air and sea ports, has presented complex challenges requiring a phased approach to the delivery of personnel, resources, equipment to move the resources, and lodging for responders.

•There are thousands of federal staff, including more than 600 FEMA personnel, on the ground in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands engaged in response and recovery operations from Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Hundreds of additional federal personnel are supporting response and recovery operations through mainland coordination centers and logistics facilities.

Acting Secretary of DHS Elaine Duke and Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert Provide Hurricane Update
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke is on the ground in Puerto Rico today. She and Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert provided an update on the ongoing hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands yesterday. Our response is, and has been from day one, people first. The focus is on immediate relief and gaining access to all areas of the island. 4 ports and 8 airports are now open, which allows for supplies to get on the island.

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Tom Bossert, Trump’s homeland security adviser, who joined Duke in addressing reporters, said some of the media reports about the island’s condition had been based on outdated images and data.

“I understand the coverage, in some cases, is giving the appearance that we're not moving fast enough,” Bossert said.

“I think that there's kind of two responses I'd have to that,” he said. “First, there's an understandable degree of devastation on the island, and for anybody that needs food and water, power, lifesaving needs and commodities, health care, there's nothing that can help fast enough. … But what I will tell you is that we are mobilizing and marshaling the resources of the United States of America in a way that is absolutely professional, fast and adequate to meet the needs.”

After saying little publicly about the devastation in the days after Maria’s landfall, Trump has in recent days been promising a robust response.

“The people of Puerto Rico have every bit of support from President Trump that he gave to the citizens of every other state in this country, and I think you’re going to see that continue in a very positive way,” Bossert said.

He later joined the White House press secretary in the briefing room to answer questions about the administration’s response.

“Right now, we've seen 16 fatalities confirmed from the state authorities,” Bossert said. “No fatality's acceptable. If that number increases significantly, that will be a devastating blow. We are doing everything we can to prevent that. Loss of life from the storm is one thing. Loss of life that's preventable is another. And that's why we're trying to marshal our resources.”

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ORIGINAL: servantforuse

She said " We will make it with or without you" . No, they will not make it without the help of the US. That island has been bankrupt for the last 10 years.

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ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

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ORIGINAL: servantforuse

She said " We will make it with or without you" . No, they will not make it without the help of the US. That island has been bankrupt for the last 10 years.

They also pay US taxes.

T^T

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ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

She said " We will make it with or without you" . No, they will not make it without the help of the US. That island has been bankrupt for the last 10 years.

They also pay US taxes.

T^T

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ORIGINAL: MakeM3Urs

quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

She said " We will make it with or without you" . No, they will not make it without the help of the US. That island has been bankrupt for the last 10 years.

They also pay US taxes.

T^T

That's not entirely true. They pay into the Social Security fund, and they pay Federal Excise taxes on things like gasoline and tires, but they do not pay Federal Income Tax, which is what funds FEMA.
So they want FEMA money without ever having paid into it.

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ORIGINAL: Wayward5oul

I am just so sick, and heartsick, at the thought of all of this, and how the U.S. citizens on that island are being neglected by our government, and now being attacked on social media by the one person sworn to represent them. During this tragedy.

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ORIGINAL: MakeM3Urs

quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

She said " We will make it with or without you" . No, they will not make it without the help of the US. That island has been bankrupt for the last 10 years.

They also pay US taxes.

T^T

That's not entirely true. They pay into the Social Security fund, and they pay Federal Excise taxes on things like gasoline and tires, but they do not pay Federal Income Tax, which is what funds FEMA.
So they want FEMA money without ever having paid into it.

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic


WE ARE DYING': Puerto Rico mayor says the island is 'inching close to a genocide'

Mayor Carmen Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico delivered an emotional message on Friday, amid the logistical difficulties and bureaucratic red tape that has slowed down the hurricane-relief effort on the island/

"We are dying here," Cruz said in a press conference. "And I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles long."

"So I am asking the president of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives," Cruz continued. "If anybody is out there is listening to us, we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy."

Hurricane Maria left many of the island's 3.4 million US citizens without basic utilities and resources.

Some of the outrage over the seemingly bungled relief effort was directed at President Donald Trump. His administration on Thursday lifted an obscure shipping law that had been on the books since 1920 in order to quickly get more supplies to the island.

Cruz indicated she was losing patience with the US government: "We will make it with or without you," Cruz said, as she pointed to a pallet of supplies behind her. "Because what stands behind me is all due to the generosity of other people."

"People are drinking off a creek. So I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell," Cruz continued. "So I am asking the members of the press, to send a mayday call all over the world. We are dying here."

"And if it doesn't stop, and if we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, what we are going to see is something close to a genocide."

http://www.businessinsider.com/puerto-rico-crisis-hurricane-maria-san-juan-mayor-2017-9

More at the link.

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ORIGINAL: AtUrCervix

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucylastic


WE ARE DYING': Puerto Rico mayor says the island is 'inching close to a genocide'

Mayor Carmen Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico delivered an emotional message on Friday, amid the logistical difficulties and bureaucratic red tape that has slowed down the hurricane-relief effort on the island/

"We are dying here," Cruz said in a press conference. "And I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles long."

"So I am asking the president of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives," Cruz continued. "If anybody is out there is listening to us, we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy."

Hurricane Maria left many of the island's 3.4 million US citizens without basic utilities and resources.

Some of the outrage over the seemingly bungled relief effort was directed at President Donald Trump. His administration on Thursday lifted an obscure shipping law that had been on the books since 1920 in order to quickly get more supplies to the island.

Cruz indicated she was losing patience with the US government: "We will make it with or without you," Cruz said, as she pointed to a pallet of supplies behind her. "Because what stands behind me is all due to the generosity of other people."

"People are drinking off a creek. So I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell," Cruz continued. "So I am asking the members of the press, to send a mayday call all over the world. We are dying here."

"And if it doesn't stop, and if we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, what we are going to see is something close to a genocide."

http://www.businessinsider.com/puerto-rico-crisis-hurricane-maria-san-juan-mayor-2017-9

More at the link.

Anyone in that situation will be both grasping at straws...as well as reaching out in every possible form of desperation. They may as well have been shelled by 27 countries at one time....it's horrifying at minimum.

It doesn't make the US response inept.

The US has had MULTIPLE catastrophes happen at one time....the LEAST of which compares to Katrina....and then there were multiple others.

At this time, resources are stretched thin.

Roads in Texas, Florida and PR are impassable.

Sheet rock manufacturers are stretched thin....lumber suppliers are stretched thin....contractors are stretched thin.....federal agencies are stretched thin....

And US planes, ships and military are headed to....and are in....ALL locations.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

WE ARE DYING': Puerto Rico mayor says the island is 'inching close to a genocide'

Mayor Carmen Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico delivered an emotional message on Friday, amid the logistical difficulties and bureaucratic red tape that has slowed down the hurricane-relief effort on the island/

"We are dying here," Cruz said in a press conference. "And I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles long."

"So I am asking the president of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives," Cruz continued. "If anybody is out there is listening to us, we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy."

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The Washington Examiner reported earlier today that the mayor of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico criticized neighboring San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for "playing politics" after Hurricane Maria. He also praised President Trump for his hurricane recovery coordination efforts.

Guaynabo Mayor Angel Perez Otero says that Mayor Yulin Cruz has been a no show at coordination meetings between FEMA, U.S. military officials, and Puerto Rican leaders.

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"I've seen other mayors participating. She's not," said Perez Otero.

Perez Otero says he has been in constant contact with U.S. officials and is confident that they will provide the very best recovery efforts they can.

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"We are receiving a lot of help from FEMA and the Red Cross...there is lots of help coming to us," adding, "they won't leave until Puerto Rico is good."

Increasingly though, it would appear Mayor Yulin Cruz seized this natural disaster as a political opportunity to score points as a hero for the people of Puerto Rico, despite not actually working with federal agents in recovery effort.

Perez Otero is now the second person today to report that Yulin Cruz has been non-compliant with federal aid.

FEMA administrator Brock Long told CNN today that "the problem that we have with [Yulin Cruz] unfortunately is that unity of command is ultimately what’s needed to be successful in this response"and “what we need is for the mayor, the good mayor, to make her way to the joint field office and get plugged into what’s going on and be successful."