President Trump was taken to task by the media for saying “corrupt or incompetent” Puerto Rico officials badly mismanaged relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria, but it turns out that he was on the money.
The island has been rocked by the discovery of a warehouse full of emergency supplies that have been sitting untouched since the massive storm in 2017, as an angry mob stormed the location, according to the New York Post.
Video shared online captured the reaction when the doors were opened:
#Update: This is what they found in the warehouse that is up to 4 football fields big is what I’ve been told by people in #PuertoRico.
– Food lots of them
– Water
– Tents
– Medicine
– Emergency Equipment
– Diapers
– Hygiene productsAnd others pic.twitter.com/EW9jhtazmr
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) January 19, 2020
Donald Trump Jr. responded to a video from Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk of the contents of the warehouse to take a shot at the media: “I look forward to the Wall to wall coverage of this now that we found out @realDonaldTrump was right all along.”
I look forward to the Wall to wall coverage of this now that we found out @realDonaldTrump was right all along. https://t.co/jeN7jDXFGe
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 19, 2020
The supplies were found in the city of Ponce, which was just hit by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that killed one person and caused more than an estimated $200 million in damage. Thousands are reportedly still in shelters.
The Associated Press cited a spokeswoman for the city to report that the warehouse is owned by Puerto Rico’s Company of Commerce and Export.
A video shared online showed firefighters distributing the good to a large crowd.
#Update: And here is a clip of a facebook live video of the firefighters giving out supplies of the Emergency aid to the people of Puerto Rico what was meant for Hurricane Maria back in 2017. #US #PuertoRico pic.twitter.com/gjduv271sw
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) January 19, 2020
Trump has called Puerto Rico “one of the most corrupt places on earth,” and said “their political system is broken,” and the response to Hurricane Maria by the local government seemed to bear this out as relief efforts were marked with controversy.
Even an accurate death toll proved to be a challenge, as it jumped dramatically from an initial report of 64 to 1,427, based on “statistical data.”
And there was San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and her quest for the limelight, as she publicly feuded with Trump over what she claimed was a lackluster relief effort — Cruz and her administration would later face an FBI investigation over reports that critical supplies were prevented from reaching victims of the hurricane.
Gov. Wanda Vázquez quickly fired the director of the island’s emergency management agency after this weekend’s find.
“There are thousands of people who have made sacrifices to help those in the south, and it is unforgivable that resources were kept in the warehouse,” Vazquez said.
On Sunday, the governor reportedly fired two more cabinet members, her secretaries of family services and housing.
Ponce Mayor Maria Melendez said “those involved owe us an explanation.”
“This is outrageous, Melendez said, according to the Post. “Everyone knows what us mayors went through after Hurricane Maria and to try and get help to our cities and how we’ve worked these weeks to provide basic supplies to people affected by earthquakes.”
CBS News reported in August 2018 that donate food and other non-perishable supplies were “left to rot in a parking lot” at Puerto Rico’s elections commission, which has been serving as a collection site for donations after Hurricane Maria.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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