New York Dems demand more Puerto Rico earthquake relief after Trump's 'inadequate' hurricane response

New York Daily News, The (NY)

Jan. 9--A couple of New York Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to provide Puerto Rico with quick federal relief in the wake of this week's earthquake, saying it's particularly urgent considering the government's "inadequate" response to the hurricanes that ravaged the island in 2017.

In a sternly worded letter to acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor, Brooklyn-Queens Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who grew up in Puerto Rico, and Sen. Chuck Schumer welcomed the emergency order Trump declared for the island Wednesday, but said "clearly more must be done."

"The uneven and inadequate disaster response by FEMA, and other federal agencies, in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria make it even more crucial that Puerto Rico receives a swift, adequately resourced and effectively coordinated response to this disaster," the Democrats wrote in the Thursday letter, which was obtained by the Daily News.

Specifically, Velazquez and Schumer questioned why the administration is dragging its feet on disbursing $8.3 billion in Housing and Urban Development grants earmarked for the commonwealth.

"There is no substantive reason to withhold this congressionally-mandated disaster aid for our fellow Americans on the island," they wrote. "This money must be made available to Puerto Rico now."

The politicians also called on Gaynor to fast-track disaster assessments on the island and promptly approve all channels of aid.

A FEMA spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

The magnitude 6.4 earthquake that rocked Puerto Rico on Tuesday left more than two-thirds of the island's residents without electricity and badly damaged buildings across its southern coast. At least one person has died.

President Trump faced intense criticism in the wake of Maria and Irma over what critics saw as his administration's half-hearted response to the back-to-back 2017 hurricanes, which killed nearly 3,000 people and devastated Puerto Rico's infrastructure.

Trump at first claimed he didn't want to provide the island with federal relief after the hurricanes because of its supposed "corrupt" leadership. He also questioned the death toll and said without evidence that Democrats were inflating it to make him look "as bad as possible."

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