Trump and his team do a heckuva job in Puerto Rico - The Washington Post Editorial Board
By Editorial Board September 29 at 7:22 PM
HURRICANE KATRINA taught officials who deal with natural disasters some hard lessons about how to prepare and respond to emergencies. The lesson that President Trump apparently learned is to proclaim victory no matter the reality.
GREAT job in Puerto Rico, Mr. Trump tweeted Thursday. Large portions of the U.S. territory were without power. Drinking water and food were in short supply. Local officials were begging for help. The presidents assessment seemed about as apt as President George W. Bushs memorable Brownie, youre doing a heckuva job in praise of the agency head who at the time was bungling the federal response to Katrina.
Now more than a week has passed since Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, resulting in what the territorys governor called the biggest catastrophe in its modern history. At first, the White House seemed to be on top of the situation. The president called officials in the territory, quickly issued an emergency declaration and pledged that the people of Puerto Rico would get the help they needed. But as the extent of the devastation has become tragically apparent, so, too, have the administrations inadequate preparation and halting response.
While Mr. Trump was tweeting last weekend about football, with not a word about the plight of the 3.4 million Americans in Puerto Rico, there were pleas from Puerto Rican officials for broader government assistance, recommendations about the need to step up military involvement and calls to waive a century-old shipping law seen as impeding the relief efforts. The administration eventually did take those actions, dispatching the hospital ship USNS Comfort to Puerto Rico, temporarily waiving the Jones Act and on Thursday appointing a three-star general to coordinate the response.
Officials involved in past disaster responses were critical of the lack of urgency in the Puerto Rico response. Russel L. Honoré, the retired lieutenant general eventually appointed by Mr. Bush to improve the governments efforts after Hurricane Katrina, told the New York Times, They need to scale up. Most telling was the comparison by Post reporters of the Puerto Rico response to the U.S. effort undertaken in 2010 when an earthquake hit Haiti. Within two days of Haitis earthquake, there were 8,000 American troops en route to the island; eight days after Hurricane Maria, just 4,400 service members were participating in efforts in Puerto Rico.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-and-his-team-do-a-heckuva-job-in-puerto-rico/2017/09/29/84eee576-a53d-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html
Squinch
(50,949 posts)But good OPED.
Demit
(11,238 posts)Meaning it's the position of the newspaper, not an opposing opinion to it.
dalton99a
(81,485 posts)shanny
(6,709 posts)--8,000 en route to Haiti 2 days after the earthquake; 4,400 participating 8 days after Hurricane Maria--is a little apples-and-oranges but otoh nobody could have seen the earthquake coming either.
Stuart G
(38,422 posts)Hati..2 days- 8000 troops...Puerto Rico...8 days-4,400 participants