Old Rocks
Diamond Member
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.So you are saying that the utter stupidity of local officials had nothing to do with the number of deaths during and after H-Maria? They knew well in advance that it was coming and after it was over people who needed food and medical supplies could not get them:But not worse than Maria
Puerto Rico aid is trapped in thousands of shipping containers - CNN
Puerto Rico aid is trapped in thousands of shipping containers
By Patrick Gillespie, Rafael Romo and Maria Santana, CNN
Anywhere else local officials have been telling people to evacuate before the storm hits and be in places where they can get what they need to survive.
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.
Puerto Ricans waiting for aid
"When we say we that we don't have truck drivers, we mean that we have not been able to contact them," Rosselló said.
Trump authorizes waiver to loosen shipping regulations for Puerto Rico
On Thursday the White House authorized a 10-day waiver of the Jones Act, a federal law that limits shipping to US ports by foreign vessels. Puerto Rico's governor and other US officials had argued that a waiver would expedite supplies to the island.
But as Ayala has indicated, shipping companies already have aid and supplies either waiting at the port to be delivered -- or held up at ports on the US mainland.
Of the 3,000 containers that Crowley alone had sent to San Juan's port as of Wednesday, only 4% had been dispatched from there, Ayala said.
'This hurricane was catastrophic'
Puerto Rico aid is trapped in thousands of shipping containers - CNN
Cell towers down, roads washed out, and the US military, which has a huge number of helicopters, not called in to distribute the supplies. Just another example of the failure of the Trump Presidency.