Admin l Friday, September 29, 2017
PUERTO RICO – Life is beginning to return to U.S Island of Puerto Rico weeks after the deadliest storm, Hurricane Maria pounded the island, killed 16 people, cut off power supply and reduced many buildings to ruble. There are 3.5 million people on the island.
So far the only airport on the Island has been opened. Food supplies and generators to power public facilities, especially hospitals have also arrived in an effort to recover and bring succour to residents.
The situation has improved, but there is still a long way to go, John Rabin, the FEMA coordinator, said, noting that federal and commonwealth officials are working closely together.. FEMA and DoD officials — working side by side with Puerto Rican government leaders — have reopened airports and seaports. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers electrical generators have been delivered, and food and water are getting to all the municipalities on the island.
Army medical evacuation helicopters are arriving on the island, and Department of Defence, DoD doctors are working with Puerto Rican medical officials to ensure the hospitals are safe to use.
Officials say about 47 of the 69 hospitals on the island have been assessed. The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort is sailing from Norfolk to provide aid and should arrive next week.
In a phone call with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló today, Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan told the governor that DoD will stay aligned with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s plan to stabilize the situation and sustain life in Puerto Rico, Navy Cmdr. Sarah Higgins, a spokesperson for Shanahan, said.
Shanahan made clear that supporting the territory’s citizens is a top priority, and that DoD will deploy all needed resources to do so, Higgins said in a statement summarizing the call. The leaders discussed the rapid deployment of additional response capacity, expanding airfield throughput, and positioning key DoD leaders in Puerto Rico, she added. U.S. Northern Command officials announced today that Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, Northcom’s land forces component commander, was on his way to Puerto Rico to serve as the DoD liaison to the FEMA effort.
