Head of US emergency response says he has 'filtered out' Puerto Rican mayor's calls for help
The head of US emergency response has dismissed a Puerto Rican official's calls for help as “political noise,” claiming to have “filtered [her] out a long time ago”.
Fema Administrator Brock Long spoke out against San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz in an interview with ABC's This Week. Ms Cruz has repeatedly called for more federal assistance in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
“We filtered out the mayor a long time ago, we don’t have time for political noise,” Mr Long said. “...We filter that out, keep our heads down, and continue to make progress and push forward in restoring central functions for Puerto Rico.”
Hurricane Maria knocked out almost all of the island's power when it struck Puerto Rico late last month. Most of the island is still without electricity, and many residents still lack for food and water.
Ms Cruz has been outspoken about the island’s need for help, what what she sees as the administration's slow response in giving it.
“Power collapses in San Juan hospital with 4 patients now being transferred out,” she tweeted on Saturday night. “Have requested support from FEMA. NOTHING!”
Mr Long shot back in his Sunday-morning interview, saying Fema is "re-stringing a very fragile system every day".
“We built an entire 911 system,” he said. “We monitor the hospital system daily and so if there is power failure at a hospital ... we’re actually [flying] the ICU patients out of those hospitals.”
But the administrator admitted that his agency’s resources were taxed in the wake of several recent hurricanes. Fema is still aiding in recovery efforts from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which devastated swaths of the American South last month.
"Nearly 85 per cent of my entire agency is deployed right now,” Mr Long said. “We're still working massive issues in Harvey, Irma, as well as the issues in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and now this one."
So Ms Cruz has extended her pleas for help to the highest levels, begging President Donald Trump for assistance via interviews and Twitter.
“We are dying here,” she told reporters at press conference late last month. “I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles.”
She added: “So, Mr Trump, I am begging you to take charge and save lives.”
The President responded via Twitter, accusing Puerto Rican officials of wanting “everything to be done for them”.
"The military and first responders, despite no electric, roads, phones etc., have done an amazing job," he wrote. "Puerto Rico was totally destroyed."
