Puerto Rico's aid is trapped in thousands of shipping containers

[DonViejo]

Source: CNN




San Juan, Puerto Rico (CNN)A mountain of food, water and other vital supplies has arrived in Puerto Rico's main Port of San Juan.

But a shortage of truckers and the island's devastated infrastructure are making it tough to move aid to where it's needed most, officials say.

At least 10,000 containers of supplies -- including food, water and medicine -- were sitting Thursday at the San Juan port, said Jose Ayala, the Crowley shipping company's vice president in Puerto Rico. Part of the reason for the distribution backlog is that only 20% of truck drivers have reported back to work since Hurricane Maria swept through, according to a representative for Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

On top of that, a diesel fuel shortage and a tangle of blocked roads mean the distribution of supplies is extremely challenging. Even contacting drivers is a problem because cell towers are still down.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-aid-problem/index.html

[Thomas Hurt]

1. the military has...

helicopters
huge cargo aircraft
landing craft - hovercraft
tenders


and we have sent a hospital ship

the military could do better.

[sdfernando]

3. We've done it before (when competent people led this country)

The military could do it...they have a template already....see Berlin Airlift.

[Igel]

19. Would you fly into an airport with no traffic control or radar?

They fixed the radar and traffic control recently. We knew the airport was wrecked. So who knew the airport was wrecked?

Now we're surprised that, in spite of reports of destroyed roads and lack of fuel and that there are destroyed roads and a lack of fuel.

People were calling for a massive airlift. Now they find that once there are supplies urgently needed on the ground, nothing's happening.

And people passed over the word "federalized." Santini, one PR government PR person, said that they needed to federalize the operation. To say that entails that the operation wasn't federalized: They were using local plans and locals either hadn't ceded authority or the feds weren't ready to accept authority.

The public was equally unaware of the back-and-forth behind a rather massive relief effort a number of years back. One side called for federalizing the operation while the other side protected the state's authority and dared the government to federalize it, but most people in the middle just said, "Why isn't the (federal) government in control?!?!" Ignoring the comments from the feds that they needed a request to take over, and from the governor that she didn't feel it was necessary to cede authority. They wanted to ignore the law of the land, I guess.

[jmowreader]

4. The military also has a very large fleet of Class 8 tractors

Plus we have deployable fuel-handling equipment.

If we had a competent president, she would have:

pulled out a map of military bases in the US
gotten out her grade-school geometry compass
stuck the pointy end on Corry Station in Pensacola, FL
put the pencil tip on Fort Campbell, KY
drawn a pretty circle
and ordered every military base within that circle to ship every M915 linehaul tractor they have to Puerto Rico.

The William Howard Taft wannabe we have in the White House right now, OTOH, couldn't give a shit about anything but himself.

[atreides1]

8. Yes it does have that equipment

What they appear to be lacking is Army and Navy engineers and their equipment! Bring those in and the roads can be fixed enough to allow the flow of vehicle traffic throughout the island!



Actually the hospital ship doesn't leave port until tomorrow!

[pnwmom]

2. The military should be there, handling the logistics. FEMA has taken over the gasoline,

so truckers who are scattered all over the island can't drive their cars to the ports, even if the roads were clear and they weren't hungry or injured.

[underpants]

5. A couple battalions of Rangers or Infantry could do a lot

Just saying

[atreides1]

9. True

Because the engineers(Army and Navy) will need worker bees to do some of the grunt work!

[underpants]

12. A couple plane loads of fuelers Cav Scouts hell anyone

They are used to being in "the field". Trust me.

[7962]

6. Then military should ALWAYS be in charge when something of this magnitude happens.

They KNOW what they're doing. We've seen it when major disasters happen in other countries, so its past time to ramp it up here.

[IronLionZion]

7. What exactly is our defense budget defending?

Let them eat freedom!

A portion of the military's budget that is currently used for NFL sponsorships could be spent on using landing craft and cargo helicopters we already have and pay soldiers who have apparently been disrespected by kneeling football players. Or something.

I wish Obama or Hillary were in charge of this.

[NCjack]

10. This type of mess you get by a group of rich frat boys who only know

how to rip money out of the retirement funds of teachers and nurses.

[LiberalArkie]

11. People, you don't understand.. The military does not do this any more..

They have contractors come in and make roads, cook the food, do logistics. The only skill the military is supposed to have is killing people with bombs or any other expensive method.

[underpants]

13. That is true (and sad) but they do have a lot of people

to at least drive the trucks.

The Army used to be a great place for learning trades.

[RobinA]

15. America

Curled up in the fetal position in a dimly lit room with curled old pictures of the Berlin Airlift fading on the walls...

[pnwmom]

17. Wrong. The military DO have the skills in logistics to manage this. General Russel Honore

says that DT fucked this up by not putting the military in charge right away.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/general-who-led-katrina-response-criticizes-puerto-rico-efforts?utm_content=politics&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics

"It’s kind of like Katrina: We got it. We got it. Oh, s--t, send in the cavalry," Honore, now retired from the military, said in an interview Wednesday. "This is a hit on White House decision making."

He said more people and equipment should have been sent to the island in advance of the storm, and the Department of Defense should be given far greater authority over the response.

Only the military has the ability to move supplies quickly onto the island as many ports remain closed, he said -- what he called "expeditionary logistics," a mix of specialized ships, aircraft and other equipment that the National Guard can’t match. Before the storm hit, the federal government should have positioned more personnel in Puerto Rico, he said.

[joshcryer]

21. The military doesn't even cut its own grass.

But it wouldn't be hard to deploy them to actually do some work. This is menial labor here we're talking about.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

14. If only we had some US military bases over there..... Oh wait! nt

[OkSustainAg]

16. There are already bases and forts there.

130th engineers , the coast guard .Look up all the military stuff there. Its an American place not a third world country. Jeeeezzus. Though Fort Buchanan. Looks like a country club.

[pnwmom]

18. No general was put in charge till yesterday. And the coast guard and the other troops out there

weren't nearly enough and didn't have the resources.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/general-who-led-katrina-response-criticizes-puerto-rico-efforts?utm_content=politics&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics

"It’s kind of like Katrina: We got it. We got it. Oh, s--t, send in the cavalry," Honore, now retired from the military, said in an interview Wednesday. "This is a hit on White House decision making."

He said more people and equipment should have been sent to the island in advance of the storm, and the Department of Defense should be given far greater authority over the response.

Only the military has the ability to move supplies quickly onto the island as many ports remain closed, he said -- what he called "expeditionary logistics," a mix of specialized ships, aircraft and other equipment that the National Guard can’t match. Before the storm hit, the federal government should have positioned more personnel in Puerto Rico, he said.

[AntiFascist]

20. K&R n/t