On the ground in Puerto Rico nearly two weeks after a hurricane ravaged the island, President Donald Trump heaped praise Tuesday on his administration’s relief workers and, more selectively, Puerto Rican officials after earlier dismissing critics of the federal response as “politically motivated ingrates.”
In Puerto Rico’s hurricane-ravaged capital, it seems Carmen Yulin Cruz is everywhere these days: handing out bags of ice, wading through chest-deep floodwaters, hugging people in need of comfort. Cruz has long won attention across the island for her hands-on style of leadership in San Juan. But this week she rose to international prominence as a target of Twitter attacks by U.S. President Donald Trump — including one tweet Sunday calling her and others “politically motivated ingrates.”
Florida’s U.S. senators are calling for the “cavalry” – in the form of the U.S. military – to help in Puerto Rico, which was hammered last week by Hurricane Maria.
First, Hurricane Maria knocked out power and water to Puerto Rico. Then diesel fuel, gas and water became scarce. Now, it’s money.
Puerto Rico’s nonvoting representative in the U.S. Congress said Sunday that Hurricane Maria’s destruction has set the island back decades, even as authorities worked to assess the extent of the damage.
Central Florida was the top destination of Puerto Ricans moving from metro San Juan to the mainland two years ago. New data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 6,200 Puerto Ricans moved to metro Orlando from the island’s capital in 2013. The New York metro area was the next most popular destination, with 3,800 former San Juan residents moving there. Puerto Ricans have been leaving the island in the wake of a severe economic crisis. Unlike the…