View of a sailboat dragged to the coast by strong waves in the Bay of Samana, after the passage of Hurricane Fiona, in Samana, Dominican Republic on September 20, 2022.
Erika Santelices|AFP|Getty Images
President Joe Biden revealed Thursday that the federal government would cover expenses associated with Hurricane Fiona relief in Puerto Rico completely for the next month.
“I’ve authorized 100% — 100% federal funding for debris removal, search and rescue, water restoration and shelter and food for the whole month,” Biden stated. “To the people of Puerto Rico who are still hurting from Hurricane Maria five years later, they should know that we are with you. We’re not going to walk away. I mean it.”
Hurricane Fiona triggered disastrous damage throughout Puerto Rico, leaving more than 1.4 million individuals without power in the instant after-effects. The storm, which dropped approximately 30 inches of rain in some locations, cut electrical energy and access to running water for the majority of the island.
Biden made the statement at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region 2 head office at One World Trade Center in New York City.
The president on Wednesday authorized a significant catastrophe statement for PuertoRico That followed an emergency situation statement he authorized Sunday prior to the typhoon made landfall, and enables FEMA to offer direct payments to those impacted for momentary real estate and house repair work. Under the statement, FEMA can likewise provide inexpensive loans.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell took a trip to the island on Tuesday to evaluate damage. She sat next to Biden at the instruction in New York.
“We’re laser-focused on what’s occurred to individuals in Puerto Rico once again. We’re talking practically to the day, a minimum of to the week, 5 years after Hurricane Maria was ravaging [the island],” Biden stated. “We’re surging federal resources to Puerto Rico and we’ll do everything, everything we can to reach the urgent needs they have.”
Providing help to Puerto Rico was among Biden’s project promises. He had actually stated previous President Donald Trump “made things worse” for the island with his reaction to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Nearly 3,000 individuals passed away on the island as an outcome of the storm, which left numerous thousands without power for months.
