Three Years After Maria, Puerto Rico Struggles

 

Today marks the third anniversary of the devastating hurricane Maria that struck Puerto Rico. Yet, the Commonwealth is still struggling mightily with the aftermath, due to sociopath and bigot Donald "Paper Towels" Trump's vindictive and racist view of the overwhelmingly Democratic island. He showed his contempt and callous disregard for the Americans citizens of Puerto Rico when he infamously tossed paper towels into a crowd during a photo-op visit there shortly after the hurricane struck. But, after repeatedly denying the island the resources it desperately needed, Trump's legacy of neglect remains:

"Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory on Sept. 20, 2017, ultimately killing at least 2,975 people; it was the deadliest U.S.-based natural disaster in 100 years.

Over 200,000 Puerto Ricans left for the mainland, many temporarily and some permanently. Island residents had no full power for almost a year. The health system was overwhelmed and an understaffed forensics sciences department couldn't keep up with the bodies piling up during the hurricane's aftermath.

Three years later, there's frustration that crises have only compounded — there's been a series of destructive earthquakes and more recently the coronavirus pandemic — while the Trump administration and island officials haven't made any real progress when it comes to updating the island's antiquated electrical grid and rebuilding destroyed houses." (our emphasis)

Trump's mismanagement of and maliciousness toward the crisis and the people has resulted in just a fraction of the needed aid:

"The federal government has allocated nearly $50 billion to help the island with multiple disasters. But most of the money, specifically funds for housing and infrastructure relief, haven't made their way to communities on the island. Puerto Rico has received $16.7 billion, according to Puerto Rico's Office of Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience.

Over the same time period, President Donald Trump has doubled down multiple times on previous comments opposing disaster funding for Puerto Rico, while also disputing the hurricane's death toll and failing to acknowledge such deaths." (our emphasis)

Now, in a last minute cynical ploy to win over Puerto Rican voters especially in electoral vote-rich Florida, Trump is deceitfully promising "new" aid:

The Trump administration said Friday that FEMA will award almost $13 billion to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical grid and education system in the next five to seven years, "the largest obligations of funding ever awarded." But Congress had approved such aid in 2018. (our emphasis)

Our fellow Puerto Rican Americans won't be fooled by Trump's sudden concern 44 days before the election, and they will likely vote to remove his malignant orange rear end from office.