House panel sets Puerto Rico recovery hearing for Oct. 24

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives panel said on Tuesday that it has scheduled an Oct. 24 hearing to examine Puerto Rico's hurricane recovery efforts and the role of a financial oversight board in those efforts. The House Committee on Natural Resources, which last year worked on legislation creating the board to help Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, manage its $72 billion debt load, will hold the hearing. Since Hurricane Maria pounded Puerto Rico in September causing widespread destruction, there have been calls for possibly revising some of the financial board's work related to the island's debt. Committee officials were not immediately available to comment on who might testify at the hearing. (Reporting by Richard Cowan, editing by G Crosse)