Hurricane Maria: Trump to visit storm-ravaged Puerto Rico
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US President Donald Trump has announced he will travel to Puerto Rico next week amid a growing crisis in the wake of destruction caused by Hurricane Maria.
“That island was hit as hard as you can hit,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Puerto Rico’s governor has appealed for federal help, warning the island is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
Maria left at least 13 people dead in the US island territory and knocked out water, electricity and telephone services on the island.
The hurricane ripped through Puerto Rico, home to 3.5m people, as one of the most powerful hurricanes in nearly 90 years, flattening homes and infrastructure.
Mr Trump has asserted that the US was sending food, water and supplies on “an hourly basis”.
“Puerto Rico is very important to me,” he said in the White House on Tuesday, “the people are fantastic. I grew up in New York so I know many Puerto Rican people.”
The president’s announcement came after the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, asked the US to put “people above debt”.
“You don’t put debt above people, you put people above debt,” Mayor Carmin Yulin told CNN in an interview on Tuesday.
Her comments appeared to refer to a string of tweets on Monday night by President Trump saying that the island’s $72bn (£53bn) in debt needed to be addressed amid its appeal for relief aid.
“When someone is in dire need,” Mayor Yulin said, “when someone is in a life or death situation, there is a human, moral imperative to deal with that situation before dealing with anything else.”
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017 Report
End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Skip Twitter post 2 by @realDonaldTrump
…It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017 Report
End of Twitter post 2 by @realDonaldTrump
Skip Twitter post 3 by @realDonaldTrump
…owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities – and doing well. #FEMA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017 Report
End of Twitter post 3 by @realDonaldTrump
