Biden declares $60 million in assist to Puerto Rico after hurricane By Reuters

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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Automobiles drive underneath a downed energy pole within the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File Photograph

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By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden stated he would offer greater than $60 million in assist to assist U.S. territory Puerto Rico as he headed to the island on Monday to survey damages within the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.

The president has pledged the U.S. authorities’s assist for Puerto Rico in addition to the states of Florida and South Carolina, which have additionally been hit onerous in latest days by Hurricane Ian. Biden will journey to Florida on Wednesday.

“I’m heading to Puerto Rico as a result of they have not been taken superb care of,” Biden instructed reporters as he left the White Home, an obvious reference to how his predecessor, Donald Trump, dealt with a storm that hit Puerto Rico throughout his tenure.

“They have been attempting like hell to catch up from the final hurricane. I wish to see the state of affairs as we speak and ensure we push the whole lot we will,” Biden stated.

Some residents of the island accused Trump of being sluggish to dispatch assist within the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Biden made the help announcement as he flew to Puerto Rico with Federal Emergency Administration Company Administrator Deanne Criswell and first girl Jill Biden.

The funding will assist “shore up levees and flood partitions, and create a brand new flood warning system to assist residents higher put together for future storms,” Biden stated in a Twitter (NYSE:) publish.

The Biden administration is monitoring the impression of Hurricane Ian on the insurance coverage business, Criswell instructed reporters aboard Air Drive One. She stated final week that the damages from Ian could be catastrophic.

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Storm-ravaged residents in Florida and the Carolinas alone face a catastrophe restoration anticipated to value tens of billions of {dollars}.

Tons of of 1000’s of individuals have struggled with out energy since Fiona hit Puerto Rico some two weeks in the past.

U.S. Power Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday stated that energy had been restored to 90% of shoppers on the island.

“This is a vital milestone, coming simply 13 days after Fiona made landfall,” she stated. “Whereas we’re grateful for this progress, we understand the work will not be over. Efforts to rebuild and assist these impacted will proceed.”

Final week the Biden administration accredited a waiver of U.S. delivery guidelines to deal with Puerto Rico’s rapid power wants.

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