With a powerful hurricane bearing down on the southeast coast, President Trump today turned attention back to the federal government’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico a year ago, deeming it “incredibly successful” even though nearly 3,000 people died.
“I think Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success,” said Trump today, discussing preparations for Hurricane Florence, which is expected to hit the East Coast later this week. “I think probably the hardest one we had by far was Puerto Rico because of the island nature, and I actually think it was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about.”
The mayor of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, called Trump’s comment “despicable” and added: “If he thinks the death of 3,000 people is a success God help us all.”
President Trump tosses paper towels while visiting hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico.
The administration’s efforts in Puerto Rico has received widespread criticism. Puerto Rico’s governor last month raised the U.S. territory’s official death toll from Hurricane Maria to 2,975. The storm is also estimated to have caused $100 billion in damage.
Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) says it has only approved 75 of the 2,431 overall requests for funeral assistance related to Hurricane Maria.
The agency told Senate Democrats in a letter dated last month that the vast majority of the claims it had received through the end of July, 97 percent, were rejected or awaited a decision due to the agency’s requirement that documentation be provided showing that a death was storm-related.
FEMA did not say how many of the 2,431 requests were deemed eligible for funeral assistance.
“It is relatively common for applicants to identify a disaster need as ‘funeral’ when, after contacted personally by a FEMA employee; the request for a funeral was in error. Until FEMA contacts all applicants, an accurate number of total applicants eligible for funeral assistance is not available,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long wrote to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
More than 3 million US citizens live in Puerto Rico with fewer constitutional rights than anyone living in one of the 50 states. Americans on the island can’t vote for president in the general election or elect a voting member of Congress.
There is a growing opinion across the country that Puerto Rico should officially become America’s 51st state.