Island of Puerto Rico 'destroyed' by Hurricane Maria

Island of Puerto Rico 'destroyed' by Hurricane Maria, officials say

• By MARK OSBORNE
• MORGAN WINSOR
• JULIA JACOBO

Sep 20, 2017, 3:58 PM ET

Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Imag

WATCH Puerto Rico buildings, homes vulnerable to Maria

The island of Puerto Rico has been "destroyed" after Hurricane Maria made landfall there as a Category 4 storm Wednesday morning, according to emergency officials.

Puerto Rico's office of emergency management confirmed that 100 percent of the U.S. territory had lost power, noting that anyone with electricity was using a generator.

Telecommunications throughout the island have "collapsed," Abner Gomez Cortes, executive director of Puerto Rico's office of emergency management and disaster administration agency, told ABC News.

Cortes described Maria as an unprecedented storm, adding that the island had not seen a storm of that strength since 1928.

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SLIDESHOW: Photos: Hurricane Maria pummels Puerto Rico, Caribbean more +

A hurricane task force for the U.S. Department of State is monitoring Maria's path in the Caribbean and will coordinate evacuations for U.S. citizens and provide aid on the ground, a State Department official told ABC News.

Puerto Rico is still experiencing tropical storm force wind and emergency services are waiting before heading out to assess the damage, Cortes said.

More than 12,000 people are currently in shelters, and hospitals are now running on generators, Cortes said. Two hospitals -- one in Caguas and one in Bayamon -- have been damaged.

No deaths have been reported so far. The expected flooding is the danger "that will take lives," Cortes said, advising residents not to venture out of their homes until Thursday because "it is not safe to go out and observe."

"We will rebuild our island with federal and state fund, hard work and the spirit of all Puerto Ricans citizens," Cortes said.

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Tourists flee from the rain on a beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sept. 19, 2017, prior to the arrival of Hurricane Maria. more +

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced via Twitter that a curfew was in effect starting at 6 p.m.

As of 2 p.m. ET, Maria had weakened to a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained wind of 155 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," the National Hurricane Center warned.

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This satellite image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Maria, Sept. 20, 2017. more +

Hurricane Maria is 450 miles wide and hurricane-force winds extend up to 60 miles from its center.

Storm surge was predicted to be 6 to 9 feet in coastal Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Rainfall totals for Puerto Rico were projected at 12 to 18 inches, with as much as 35 inches in isolated areas.

Felix Delgado Montalvo, the mayor of Catano, some 7 miles southwest of San Juan, told ABC News on Wednesday there are hundreds of people in shelters and over 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in the communities of Juana Matos, La Puntilla and Puente Blanco. Most of the homes are flooded and are missing roofs or have collapsed walls, he said.

About 80 percent of residences in the Juana Matos community were destroyed from storm surge and flooding. Homes there are filled with at least 3 to 4 feet of water, according to Montalvo.

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Hurricane Maria is forecast to move through Turks and Caicos, but not make a direct hit, Sat. 21, 2017.more +

Puerto Rico will experience hurricane-force wind gusts through Wednesday afternoon, though the wind will weaken as the day goes on.

Maria is forecast to move off Puerto Rico's northern shores and into open Atlantic waters Wednesday night, potentially allowing the storm to strengthen, according to ABC News meteorologists.
Maria is also forecast to approach the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night, but the Caribbean nation is not expected to get directly hit. Still, Punta Cana could experience hurricane conditions.

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The latest forecast model shows Hurricane Maria missing the United States and moving out to sea. more +

By Friday, Maria will pass to the east of Turks and Caicos, where there's a potential for hurricane-force winds and heavy rain, but the storm is not expected to make a direct hit.

From there, the hurricane is forecast to pass by the southeast Bahamas.

"At this point, it looks like Maria will miss the United States and will move out to sea sometime later next week," ABC News senior meteorologist Max Golembo said. "But this will be a close call, so we will be watching carefully."

Forecast models currently show the storm continuing to weaken next week as it travels far offshore.

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Hurricane Maria battered the small Caribbean islanda of Guadeloupe after it made landfall, Sept. 19, 2017. more +

Maria leaves behind trail of death, destruction in Caribbean

Maria did severe damage to multiple Caribbean islands over the past 36 hours, including Dominica, Guadeloupe and the Virgin Islands.

Hartley Henry, an adviser to Dominica's prime minister, told reporters via WhatsApp on Wednesday that several people have died and the death toll "will rise" as officials continue to assess the widespread damage on the tiny island. Dominica has suffered a "tremendous loss of housing and public buildings" since the storm hit, ripping off roofs and tearing doors from hinges. The island's main general hospital "took a beating" and "patient care has been compromised," he said.

"The country is in a daze -- no electricity, no running water," Henry said via a WhatsApp message. "In summary, the island has been devastated."

Officials in Guadeloupe announced Wednesday that two people were killed and two others were missing due to the storm.

France's Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said some 80,000 people in Guadeloupe -- around 40 percent of the population -- were without electricity Wednesday. Many roads there are impassible due to flooding and French Navy planes have not been able to assess the damage on the island due to bad weather conditions.

In Martinique, about 70,000 homes were without electricity and 50,000 homes did not have access to safe drinking water Wednesday. Fallen trees and downed power poles have blocked many roads there, Collomb said.

Police and soldiers have been deployed in both Martinique and Guadeloupe to ensure security. More than 3,000 first responders are on the French Caribbean islands, according to Collomb.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=49971859

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AVY9Mwy25gE/default.jpg5:07

Hurricane Maria wreaks total destruction in Puerto Rico

CNN

Poor Puerto Rico.

Yes, poor everybody.

But do not ask us for any more money.

We already bailed you out on your bankruptcy.

China has plenty to borrow.

We are 20 trillion in debt.

UPDATE

Puerto Rico Gov.: Power may be out for months

This has to be a nightmare for the people in Puerto Rico.

BREAKING A dam failed and parts of Puerto Rico are evacuating

What Happens If Hundreds of Thousands of Puerto Ricans Flee for the Mainland U.S. ?

Evacuees leave Puerto Rico by cruise ship, some doubting they will return

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By Robin Respaut and Dave Graham
,Reuters•September 28, 2017

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Thousands of people lined up at San Juan harbor on Thursday to board a cruise ship that will take them from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland in one of the largest evacuations since Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico more than a week ago.

Maria, which came ashore as the strongest storm to hit the island in nearly 90 years, has created a humanitarian crisis. The powerful storm knocked out the nation's electric grid and has crippled communications networks, transport and the water supply for the territory's 3.4 million people.

The devastation is likely to feed an exodus that has driven tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans from the economically struggling island in recent years in search of opportunity on the mainland.

"I'm sorry to be leaving Puerto Rico, but I have to. I prefer home, but it's impossible with these conditions," said Ada Reyes, 85. She was in a wheelchair and traveling on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship bound for Florida with her granddaughter, Maria Fernanda, 19.

Fernanda planned to drop her grandmother in Florida, then head to Boston to look into colleges. A second-year student at the University of Puerto Rico, the teenager did not know when classes there would resume.

Royal Caribbean International said its Adventure of the Seas cruise ship will carry 3,800 passengers from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A company spokesman said the cruise line is providing the passages free of charge and that travelers were registered with the help of local officials.

The ship will make humanitarian calls in the hurricane-hit U.S. Virgin Islands, where it will drop off supplies. It will then head to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a planned arrival of October 3.

The cruise line said it will work with airlines to make travel arrangements for passengers looking to meet up with friends and family on the mainland.

"This is a humanitarian mission on behalf of Royal Caribbean," company spokesman Owen Torres said.

At San Juan's main airport, flights are slowly returning. Major carriers including Southwest and JetBlue are still operating at reduced schedules as the airport works to restore power and return to full staffing levels.

JetBlue typically has about 40 flights a day to Puerto Rico but on Thursday it had only seven, which it said was still more than any other airline flying to the U.S. territory.

ONE WAY OR ROUND TRIP?
People have waited for days for a flight out, with some Puerto Ricans wondering if they will stay once they reach the U.S. mainland.

Lilliana Pastor, 34, of San Juan, decided on Tuesday to buy a one-way ticket to Florida for her and her 7-year-old daughter, Leah Aguayo.

"Right now we don’t know about the electricity. We don’t have running water," Pastor said. “I'd rather go to Miami where we have family and see what happens."

As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans can easily move to the United States. Migration to the mainland has soared in recent years, fueled by Puerto Ricans' desire for economic stability, jobs, schools and access to medical care.

Between April 2010 and July 2016, the population of Puerto Rico dropped by 8.4 percent, the U.S. Census said, the largest percentage drop of any U.S. state or territory.

Nearly one-third of those born in Puerto Rico now live on the U.S. mainland, economists wrote in a research report published on a blog site run by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The migrants are mostly younger workers, tilted toward the lower end of the skills and earnings spectrum. The loss of these taxpayers is a blow to the island's already reeling economy, the economists wrote in an August 2016 post for Liberty Street Economics.

Puerto Rico, which earlier this year filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. municipal history, is struggling to regain economic stability in the face of a $72 billion debt load and near-insolvent public health and pension systems.

ECONOMIC DETERIORATION
The out-migration has accelerated the aging of Puerto Rico's remaining population, further straining government services, the economists said.

"If people continue to leave the island at the pace that has been set in recent years, the economic potential of Puerto Rico will only continue to deteriorate," their research said.

Back at San Juan's port, Lara Brown, 42, who runs a child care center, was fighting back tears. She was sending her son, 14, and daughter, 12, to Miami to live with her sister-in-law, where she says life for them will be easier.

"They have no electricity. Sometimes they have water, sometimes they don't," Brown said. "I'm afraid to leave them at home alone."
Brown started to cry.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/evacuees-...-business.html

All these people have nothing left and will be coming here.

Another reason to HALT all immigration to our country and ramp up deportations.

No more refugees, asylum, illegal aliens. No more coming here legally with NO means to support themselves.

End anchor baby scam

Get illegal aliens out of our schools and off healthcare, welfare and food stamps.

We need to plan for what is best for OUR future and bringing in millions of people is not going to bode well for this country.

PR natives are "citizens" - don't know how or why that was relegated. The island is mainly on our welfare system and has not been able to progress into what it could be as a tropical paradise. The residents are not going anywhere but to the USA. Think they can come anytime they wish to.

Unfortunately, islands everywhere will be going under in the future unless they are built up higher to withstand rising sea levels. The storms, well they require more planning to survive them. How much money are we supposed to give to PR w/o devising a way to achieve a return on that investment to improve it?

I have a feeling that's exactly what this administration is thinking about.

I am tired of giving OUR money to pay off bankruptcy and then give more of OUR money to rebuild when disaster hits.

There needs to be procedures in place to stop these Governor's and Mayor's from bankrupting their cities.

Look at Flint MI and we have to pay for the water system to be fixed while they squandered taxpayer money.

Look at Baltimore and the riots and they want MORE of our taxpayer money to clean up.

Look at Jerry Brown of CA giving our taxpayer money to ILLEGAL aliens but refuses to retrofit the dams, roads and bridges or build more reservoirs. Wait until the "big one" hits CA. They will come crying to taxpayers to rebuild the whole State. This is complete BS.

Many cities are in disrepair...many levee's are failing...much waste, fraud and abuse of our money.

Why should they be held accountable if they KNOW they can come to Uncle Sam with their grubby paws out for more bailouts and more money?

Just let the cities crumble to ruins and spend the money on anything you please...this is the new norm and they know they can get away with it.

The $135billion a year drain caused by illegals could go a long way to improve/update our systems instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by artist

The $135billion a year drain caused by illegals could go a long way to improve/update our systems instead.

---

YES!! YES!! YES!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by artist

P.R. natives are "citizens" - don't know how or why that was relegated. . .

---

Why is Puerto Rico a territory of the US?

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. It became a U.S. territory in 1898, when it was acquired from Spain after the Spanish-American War. With approximately 3.5 million residents, Puerto Rico is the most highly populated of all United States territories.

Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory - Puerto Rico Report


When did residents of Puerto Rico became US citizens?

On March 2, 1917, Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, under which Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory and Puerto Ricans were granted statutory citizenship, meaning that citizenship was granted by an act of Congress and not by the Constitution (thus it was not guaranteed by the Constitution).

Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens, are recruited for war effort - Mar ...

Give it back to Spain...let them hemorrhage money to pay for it.

TEXAS Month after Harvey, debris piles show recovery takes time


1,300 people still living in shelters, . . .

More than 60,000 displaced people are still living in hotel rooms paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, . . .

The storm is estimated to have damaged or destroyed more than 176,100 homes in Texas. . .

More than 834,800 people in Texas have registered for FEMA assistance and more than 298,000 have so far been approved. . .

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https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...4Cp_normal.jpgAndrew Weinstein
✔@Weinsteinlaw

ICYMI @realDonaldTrump, here are some pictures of the people of Puerto Rico waiting for everything to be done for them.
5:17 PM - Sep 30, 2017

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Puerto Ricans desperate for cell service turn to Mexican carrier

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By Nick Brown and Robin Respaut
,Reuters•October 2, 2017

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Puerto Ricans exasperated by the patchy U.S. relief response to their hurricane-blasted island are turning to a Mexican billionaire's mobile phone network they say has been faster to restore service.
Claro Puerto Rico, a subsidiary of America Movil owned by Carlos Slim, has stepped up to a challenge in the wake of Hurricane Maria that U.S. peers like AT&T Inc , T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp have been slower to address, residents said.

By Saturday, 11 days after Maria hit, Claro, the island's No. 2 cellular operator, had restored service in 28 of the island's 78 municipalities, reaching about 310,000 customers.

"Claro is the only one with service here," said Francisco Portales, 47, a customer of privately held Puerto Rico-based network provider Open Mobile who was waiting outside the Claro store in Fajardo hoping to buy a phone to call his wife, whom he has heard from just once since the storm.

The coverage picture on Puerto Rico overall remains dire, with 88.8 percent of the island's cell towers out of service as of Sunday, according to the latest U.S. Federal Communications Commission update.

Neither AT&T, the commonwealth's biggest wireless provider, nor T-Mobile or Sprint disclosed how much of their networks are up and running. AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said on Sunday that it was making "steady progress" with temporary cell sites and generators that have processed 100,000 calls in the previous 24 hours, and has more equipment and staff arriving in coming days.

The lack of commercial power remains a significant problem, he added.

Claro said it had power generators, diesel, batteries and vehicles ready 72 hours ahead of the storm.

In contrast, AT&T had readied fuel supplies, but "could not pre-stage recovery assets in fear that they would be lost," Joan Marsh, the company's executive vice president of regulatory and state external affairs, said in a Sept. 28 blog.

Sprint said on Friday its towers were still standing and "largely intact" and that it was working to restore power and connections to towers in the most populous areas.

T-Mobile said on Sunday that it is making progress with repairs and service but that "it's going to be a long road to recovery." It said it had prepared portable generators and fuel for any permanent generators.

Verizon Communications Inc , the biggest U.S. cellular provider, does not have its own network in Puerto Rico, providing service through a roaming agreement with Claro.

Sprint said it had shipped some spare parts to Puerto Rico needed for network restoration ahead of earlier Hurricane Irma.

Wireless providers say they are coordinating service restoration efforts and opening their networks to each other's customers. Activating a roaming service will connect a phone to whatever network is available.

Claro is winning supporters like Mercedes Saldana, a 54-year-old school cafeteria worker and Sprint customer. She had no service and joined friends seeking to buy a Claro prepaid phone.

"I don't have any service, none," she said. "We don't know when Sprint's going to be connected again."

AT&T has a 34 percent share of the island's active wireless numbers, according to research firm Sharetracker. Claro is second with a 26 percent share, followed by T-Mobile with 19 percent, Open Mobile with 11 percent and Sprint with 10 percent.
Luis Pacheco, 64, spent more than an hour in line to shop at a Fajardo Walmart. He was planning to drive with his wife to Canovanas - 30 to 40 minutes west - in hopes of finding a cell signal to text his daughter in California.

Choking up, Pacheco said Canovanas was the only place he knew of where his carrier, AT&T, has a signal.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/puerto-ri...--finance.html

Hollywood can set up a Telethon for charity donations of money...no US taxpayer dollars!

No bailout to this corrupt government.

Mexico plans aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

UPS restores Puerto Rico delivery routes


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Reuters•October 5, 2017

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UPS restores Puerto Rico delivery routes More

(Reuters) - U.S. package delivery service UPS has re-established shipping to the bulk of Puerto Rico's postal areas, the company said on Thursday, although power outages and blocked roads continue to hamper deliveries.

"We are pleased to begin operations again in Puerto Rico, though the situation is dynamic," UPS Americas Region President Romaine Seguin said in a statement.

The company said freight services were now available to 149 of the island's 176 zip codes and added it would offer a hurricane aid discount to individual customers.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ups-resto...--finance.html

Oh good!! Americans of Puerto Rico descent can send food and supplies direct to their relatives!!!

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  Hurricane Maria hits the Caribbean
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Top Puerto Rico bank says four months too long to wait for power

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By Hugh Bronstein
,Reuters•October 6, 2017

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Top Puerto Rico bank says four months too long to wait for power More

By Hugh Bronstein

SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Puerto Rico needs to accelerate the timetable for restoring its power grid or else residents will flee for the mainland rather than live without electricity for months, the chairman of the territory's largest bank said on Friday.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Banco Popular Chairman Richard Carrion said prolonged outages could shrink the U.S. territory's economy and hurt its banking system. More than two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit the island, most of Puerto Rico is still without electricity.

With about $40 billion in assets, Banco Popular is Puerto Rico's biggest financial institution. Carrion said 85 of the bank's 169 branches were open, and that only about 40 percent of its cash machines were operating.

Puerto Rican authorities have estimated that it will take at least four months to restore the electrical grid, something Carrion says is "not acceptable."

"The economy will suffer, and it may push people who are on the fence to say, 'we're leaving'," he said, potentially pushing the bankrupt territory into even worse financial straits.

About 85 percent of the electricity that was used on the island before Maria is no longer being delivered to customers, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Wide areas are marred by telephone poles snapped in two by the storm, leaving transmission lines in tangled roadside heaps.

Carrion said 90 percent of the island's point of sale terminals, where people buy things with a swipe of their bank card, were still not running. The situation has increased the need for cash, a demand that the U.S. Federal Reserve has met by flying in money.

He said he also worries about the effect Maria will have on Puerto Rico's ability to deliver a debt restructuring that would be acceptable to holders of the territory's defaulted bonds.

Asked when a debt deal might be clinched, Carrion said: "If you would have asked that before Maria, we would have said it could be done before the end of the year."

Now, he said, it's anybody's bet.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-puert...235848524.html

These banks needed to keep a manual system on board for back-up when they lose power. After all, we had banks long before we had power.

They can borrow money from China

No US taxpayer money...why should we borrow money from China and give it to PR

They made this mess...I do not want to pay for it

Just like corrupt Jerry Brown, Detroit MI, Flint MI, St Louis, Chicago, Baltimore...they waste taxpayer money, then want to file bankruptcy and force taxpayers and our Federal dollars to go in a rebuild...HELL NO.

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After 2 weeks without power in Puerto Rico, eating candy for dinner is the new norm

By Elizabeth Hagedorn and Andrew Hall
18 Hours Ago

When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, bringing with it sustained winds of up to 150 mph, the zinc roof that Luis Martes had built for his family was ripped to shreds.

"It was like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life," Martes said.

"The wind was so strong that we couldn’t open the doors. We couldn’t get out."

Luis Martes

Martes, the town's former police commissioner, says he and his family of eight are in dire need of food and basic supplies. To run a generator, he's burning through what's left of his savings. Fuel, he says, costs him $20 a day.

“It’s a lot of expenses, and there’s no help. Every day it’s getting worse,” Martes said.
1 of 6

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When President Trump made his first visit to the U.S. territory earlier this week, he praised the both the federal and local response to the Category 4 hurricane that struck Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 as "incredible" and "unbelievable."

“It’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done,” Trump said speaking at a briefing at shortly after his arrival.

But outside the capital of San Juan, where distributing aid remains a major challenge, residents described a different set of circumstances.

"Nobody’s come here and or asked us how we are."

Lisa Quinones

At a gas station in Ceiba, about two dozen people wait in the sweltering heat for a bag of ice. Lisa Quinones says she’s been in line since 5 a.m.

“We'll wait here until 2, 3, 4, 5 in the afternoon. Nobody tells us if the ice is going to arrive or not.”

Quinones says the government rations she's received today — six bottles of water, two cans of sausages and candy — are not enough to feed her large household.

“Candy, it’s not going to take away the hunger. It’s just going to make us thirsty."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Puerto Rican National Guard and local officials are working to deliver supplies to remote parts of the island, Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rosselló said.

But residents here say the relief isn't coming fast enough.

"We need tarps for the houses. My [roof] has sunk. It's been 16 days.

We're still waiting for FEMA," Naguabo resident Ricardo Agosta said.

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Compounding the problem is the lack of communication.

Much of Puerto Rico is still completely without power, and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) says it could be several more months before it's fully restored.

On Wednesday, the Department of Defense said only 5.4 percent of citizens have internet and 12.1 percent have cell service. Unable to pick up the phone or read the news, there's simply no way for most in these rural communities to know when a new round of rations arrives in their town.

Martes, like many in Naguabo, feels like he's been left to his own devices while he waits for assistance from the government. Still, he stresses, things could be worse.

"Being alive is the most important thing. The rest we'll figure out," said Martes.

https://www.circa.com/story/2017/10/...-rico-villages

Puerto Rico's farmers face near total loss from Hurricane Maria

Puerto Rico faces looming Medicaid crisis

Doctors in Puerto Rico only now discovering the problems in remote towns

Yeah, well, we've got medical problems in our "remote" towns in the US.

We have a "looming" healthcare crises in USA too!

Get your own Island up and running and solve your own problems YOU brought on yourselves with your corrupt government wasting and stealing your money.

Clear your own roads!

We sure do!! Especially with all these illegal alien breeders and excess legal immigration folks, too. We don't have the resources to fund all this freeby health care crap. It robs those who could at one time afford their own good coverage and downgrades and depletes the entire system to such a degree they are killing older American patients in hospitals just to get them off the books. What's going on is criminal and must be stopped!!

Puerto Rico hurricane death toll rises by four to 43


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By Hugh Bronstein

,Reuters•October 10, 2017

Pharma's Puerto Rico problems could mean drug shortages in US

Trump asks Congress for $4.9 billion loan to Puerto Rico

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By Roberta Rampton
,Reuters•October 10, 2017

Death toll in Puerto Rico rising as needed relief yet to reach parts of the island

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump asked Congress on Tuesday for a $4.9 billion loan to help the cash-strapped Puerto Rican government pay its bills as it struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria, an administration official said.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello had asked for help with lines of credit in late September, saying his government was in a bind and did not expect to have any near-term revenue.

Weighed down by nearly $72 billion in debt, Puerto Rico struggled with liquidity even before the most powerful hurricane in almost 90 years wiped out the island's power grid, homes, and other infrastructure nearly three weeks ago.

The territory, home to 3.4 million Americans, declared bankruptcy in May.

The community disaster loan proposed by the Trump administration would include a $150 million advance, the administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Further details of the loan were not immediately available.

"The $4.9 billion loan would help them with short-term liquidity problems in financing," such as payroll and pensions, the official said. "The money cannot be used for debt service."

On Saturday, Rossello wrote to Trump pleading for a broad assistance package of at least $4.6 billion through a variety of government programs in what he called a "down payment on hurricane recovery efforts" as the island assesses the damages.

"Absent extraordinary measures to address the halt in economic activity in Puerto Rico, the humanitarian crisis will deepen," Rossello said in the letter, warning the situation could lead to an exodus from the island to the mainland United States.

Moody's last week estimated the hurricane’s total cost to Puerto Rico, including lost output, at $45 billion to $95 billion.

The Trump administration and Congress have so far focused their funding efforts on immediate disaster relief. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to this week consider a request for an additional $13 billion in disaster relief funds for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida.

The White House has also asked federal agencies to estimate by Oct. 25 how much money will be needed for longer-term rebuilding after the hurricanes.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-ask...-business.html

Can we get guaranteed resort towns with $$$profits, marketed hotels, etc and take a % off the top for this loan? What are we getting for this loan? More welfare dependent breeders?

That is why the island never did well - all dependent on a system that is abetting low level living instead of uplifting to make profits as neighboring islands do; that was never the goal and should have been.

And rebuilding for more storms in mind is a must - can we stop with the incompetence? The populations often times in USA are involved with drug related activities; the neighborhoods are filled with crime - police don't even bother. Many are on the dole, welfare, ssi etc. Can't even go to the corner store w/o being robbed, 12 yr old girls readily available, houses with drugs set up to buy like a store. Anything goes.

NO LOANS...NO MORE BAILOUTS!

THEY WILL NOT PAY IT BACK...THERE MUST BE STRINGS ATTACHED THAT GUARANTEES REPAYMENT THROUGH A TAX ON GOODS AND SERVICES THAT GOES DIRECTLY TO PAY THE LOAN!