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Trump boasts of response to deadly Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON, Sept 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump boasted
Tuesday of the US response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, where almost
3,000 people were killed last year, as another major storm barreled toward
the eastern United States.
Speaking to reporters as Hurricane Florence closed in on the US East Coast,
Trump said last year’s operation was “an incredible unsung success.”
Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico in September 2017, wreaking widespread
devastation and causing $90 billion in damages.
It is ranked as the third costliest cyclone in the United States since
1900.
In comparison, the death toll from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina — the
costliest hurricane in US history — was far lower, and estimated at 1,833.
The mayor of San Juan, the capital of the US commonwealth of more than
three million people, was outraged.
“I’m sorry, sir, shame on you,” Carmen Yulin Cruz said on CNN. “You did not
do a good job in Puerto Rico.
“If he thinks that 3,000 people dying on his watch is a good news story or
is an unsung success… nobody’s going to be singing his praises,” she added,
calling the operation a “despicable act of neglect” by the Trump
administration.
“If (Trump) doesn’t learn from his mistakes, he’s going to make them again
and people are going to continue to die.”
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello also criticized Trump for not
providing additional federal funds still needed for emergency housing and
debris removal.
“No relationship between a colony and the federal government can ever be
called ‘successful,’ because Puerto Ricans lack certain inalienable rights
enjoyed by our fellow Americans in the states,” he said in a statement.
“The historical relationship between Puerto Rico and Washington is unfair
and un-American. It is certainly not a successful relationship.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/1031 hrs