Source: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty
A week after Hurricane Irma decimated Puerto Rico, President Trump has announced that he will amend the Puerto Rico Disaster Declaration to increase federal funding and bump up the cap on cost sharing to 100% for 180 days. He will also visit the U.S. territory next Tuesday, as soon as his presence won’t interrupt first responders. “I read this morning that it is literally destroyed,” said Trump said to the press from the Oval Office this morning. “That island was hit as hard as you could hit.”
Trump also pointed out the “massive amounts” food, water, and other supplies that are being shipped hourly to Puerto Rico. “Puerto Rico is very important to me,” Trump told the press. “[They] are fantastic.” Trump also hopped on Twitter to respond to San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz’s description of the dire conditions on the island.
Cruz had released a statement thanking numerous entities, from Chicago to the Puerto Rico Civil Liberties Foundation to various unions and even New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for sending aid. But many of his words were focused on describing just how bad conditions are in the battered territory:
“We are finding dialysis patients that have not been able to contact their providers. We are having to transport them in near death conditions. We are finding people whose oxygen tanks are running out because our small generators now don’t have any diesel, and disabled people, they live alone and can’t just walk somewhere. They are so petrified and so scared …. Our bodies are so tired, but our souls are so full of strength that we will get to everyone we can get to. “
READ MORE: Uproxx.com
Article Courtesy of CNN, ABC, Twitter, and Uproxx
Picture Courtesy of Brendan Smialowski and Getty Images
President Donald Trump Announces He Will Visit Puerto Rico was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
