CRISIS/PUERTO RICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Puerto Ricans still living largely in darkness 12 days after Hurricane Maria leveled their island reveled in small victories on Sunday [10-1-17] in what promises to be a months-long slog back to some semblance of normal life.
Some islanders got their cell phone service back on Sunday, others gathered at bars for drinking and dancing after the dry law was lifted this weekend…
Food and drinking water are still in short supply and power is down for most of the U.S. territory’s 3.4 million people nearly two weeks after the fiercest hurricane to hit the island in 90 years.
U.S. lawmakers urged President Donald Trump on Sunday to stop sniping at Puerto Ricans and get to work helping them recover, two days before he was to visit the island.
The Republican president said his government was doing a ‘great job’ to help Puerto Rico recover and took a new swipe at critics who said he had been slow to aid the island…
Trump faces difficult weeks, if not months, in managing the U.S. territory. His senior general leading military relief operations in Puerto Rico, Lieutenant General Jeff Buchanan, said they were clearing roads and getting more supplies to people, but recognized ‘it’s still a long haul.’
Trump has intensified his praise of the federal response after the mayor of San Juan made clear those efforts fell short and American media continued to broadcast images of the havoc and suffering on the island that belied his words.”
-Robin Respaut and Gabriel Stargardter, “A cell signal, an open bar: tiny wins for Puerto Rico in ruins,” Reuters, Oct. 1, 2017 09:53am