US performance in Puerto Rico unconscionable

The slowness by the federal government, principally through FEMA, to respond to the dire conditions of the people of Puerto Rico is unconscionable.

It has been over a week since Hurricane Maria devastated that island and still little relief has reached them.

The original assessment by FEMA of how to most quickly serve Puerto Rico’s most urgent needs should have included the realization that clearing roads and repairing bridges or building temporary ones and reestablishing communications had to happen before relief supplies could reach the populace. Either they were too ignorant to realize this, didn’t want to spend the amount of money necessary, or didn’t have the resources and were reluctant to ask for help from, say, the military, which certainly could quickly move into action.

Instead, we have thousands of containers of supplies in ships off the shores of Puerto Rico, waiting for a way to get them to those in need. FEMA spokesmen are still talking about making plans, and the obstacles they face and that they realized that people there were frustrated. Frustrated? People are dying while FEMA is planning.

Where was the planning a week ago? By now the planning should have turned into serious action. When is FEMA going to wake up?

This story was originally published September 30, 2017 at 3:22 PM with the headline "US performance in Puerto Rico unconscionable."