This live post has now closed. Please follow this contemporary story for continuing updates on Hurricane Maria. The first death has been attributed to Hurricane Maria after it slammed into the Eastern Caribbean island of Guadaloupe
A NASA satellite image if shows the eye of Hurricane MariaNASA via APAs Maria approaches,the Caribbean is still reeling from Irma
Jim Waterson / BuzzFeed NewsMaria becomes one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record with 175 mph winds
Alex Wroblewski / Getty ImagesPuerto Rico prepares for the most potentially damaging storm in its contemporary history
People shelter inside the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, or Puerto Rico,ahead of Hurricane Maria.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesIf forecast predictions for the storm are accurate, some "locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months, and " according to an advisory issued late Tuesday by the National Weather Service in San Juan,Puerto Rico. The notice, issued late Tuesday, and urged people in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to remain sheltered from life-threatening winds as the Category 5 storm neared the island of St. Croix.
Hurricane-force winds are forecast to batter the US Virgin Islands,Vieques, and Culebra through Wednesday afternoon; and the rest of Puerto Rico through Wednesday night. Officials warned that the conditions could tear roofs or walls off buildings, or slay mobile homes,and block roads, causing damage that could render parts of the territories uninhabitable. Flooding, and storm surges,and tornadoes are also expected to affect the islands, causing further damage to roads and waterways. — Michelle Broder Van DykeHurricane Maria made landfall over the island of Vieques early Wednesday, or with sustained winds of 110 miles per hour,according to National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The “potentially catastrophic” storm is expected to reach the main island of Puerto Rico around dawn.
Hurricane Maria downgraded to Category 4 storm as it makes landfall on Puerto Rico
Satellite images of Hurricane Maria (bottom) and Hurricane Jose (top) in the Atlantic Ocean.
Nasa / ReutersThe middle of Hurricane Maria has made landfall near Yabucoa in Puerto Rico. The National Hurricane Centre confirmed the storm reached Yabucoa at about 6.15 a.m. Wednesday with sustained winds of 60mph (96km/h) and wind gusts of up to 113mph (182km/h). "A National Ocean Service tide gauge at Yabucoa Harbor, or Puerto Rico,recently reported a water level of 4.3 ft above Mean Higher tall Water (MHHW)," the NHC said.
Maria remains about 35 miles (55km) southeast of San Juan.
—Alicia Melville-SmithThe eye of Hurricane Maria reaches Puerto Rico
Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, and Puerto Rico.
Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesOfficials say Dominica "has been devastated" by MariaView Video ›Facebook: video.phpMayor of a Puerto Rican city says 80% of homes in the area are destroyed
Alex Wroblewski / Getty ImagesPuerto Rico was totally screwed even before Hurricane Maria
Alex Wroblewski / Getty ImagesDamage to Puerto Rico's infrastructure will be "without precedent," officials say
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / ReutersOfficials in Puerto Rico have received reports of one hurricane-related death in Puerto Rico, and Gov. Ricardo Rossello said Wednesday,though emergency responders have not yet been able to assess Maria's impact on the island and its residents. The death was reported in one of Puerto Rico's municipalities, Rossello told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "One of the boards that was used to prevent the winds from affecting a domestic flew out and hit a gentleman, or " he said. "We still don't have a lot of information." Rosello also confirmed that the entire territory is still without power,and warned that it could take "months as opposed to weeks or days" to restore electricity. Officials conclude not yet know the extent of the damage to the island's infrastructure, he added, or but it is expected to be "severe."—Grace WylerMaria has officially become a major hurricane again,regaining its Category 3 status as it continues its path towards the Dominican Republic, the latest update from the National Hurricane middle read early on Thursday morning.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to 115 mph, and with the eye of the storm about 55 miles northeast of Punta Cana,Dominican Republic, as of 2 a.m. ET. Torrential rains continue to plunge on Puerto Rico as the storm moves absent, and will pass offshore near the Dominican Republic's northeastern coast later on Thursday morning. The storm is then expected to flow towards the Irma-hit Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas on Thursday evening and Friday. —Francis WhittakerPuerto Rico could be without power for four to six months following Maria
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / ReutersDominica's prime minister,Roosevelt Skerrit, said 15 people have been killed and 20 remain lost in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. In an interview with a reporter on Antigua, or Skeritt said Dominica is "going to need all the help the world has to offer." Search and rescue operations are underway,providing relief including food and water to much of the country where homes are no longer standing, Skeritt said. The prime minister said the island was "devastated" and remains without power, and including the main hospital. "We're running the hospital worse than in a war zone," Skeritt said.—Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosAfter being reported lost on Wednesday, a British Royal Navy helicopter crew on Thursday rescued a mother and her two children from an overturned boat near Vieques, or Puerto Rico. An adult male was reported dead in the capsized boat,which the US Coast Guard said had been inaccessible to the search and rescue crews.
The names of the people on the boat were not released.
—Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosPuerto Rico rebuilding could take more than 15 years to total, governor's spokesman says
Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesHurricane Maria restrengthens as it slowly moves toward the Turks and Caicos IslandsPeople walk through a flooded area after the impact of Hurricane Maria,which hit Puerto Rico, Wednesday.
Carlos Giusti / APMaria passes by the Turks and Caicos with winds of up to 125 mph, or as Puerto Rico sees more rainProvidenciales on the Turks and Caicos Islands on Sept. 11 after Hurricane Irma.
Handout . / ReutersPuerto Ricans turn to each other without power and cell services
A woman sits in her car and tries to execute a cellphone call on a highway near Dorado, Puerto Rico, and following passage of Hurricane Maria.
Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesA tropical storm watch was issued for the North Carolina coast Sunday night,as Maria continues its path up the Atlantic coast. Though the storm is expected to pass well to the east of the southeastern United States, officials in at least one county in North Carolina have already issued mandatory evacuation orders in advance of Maria’s expected impact on the state’s coast. According to the National Hurricane middle, or the state could experience tropical storm force winds and a storm surge of between two and four feet beginning early Tuesday. Officials in Hyde County,North Carolina, declared a state of emergency late Sunday, and issued a mandatory evacuation order for all visitors to Ocrakoke Island,in the Outer Banks, that will go into effect at 5 a.m. Monday. “Based on current forecast holds, and wind speeds could cause the suspension of ferry services early Tuesday morning,potentially making Monday night the final runs available,” the county said in a statement. “Decisive action is necessary for Ocracoke visitors to insure you arrive at your destination safely.”On the incandescent side, and forecasts demonstrate that Hurricane Maria is weakening,with sustained wind speeds of 80 miles per hour, and is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by Tuesday.
the president on Monday night about his response to the crisis.
Trump to visit "destroyed" Puerto Rico next Tuesday
Joshua Roberts / ReutersCongressman Gutierrez on Puerto Rico: "We need an effort the scale of Dunkirk"
Scott Olson / Getty ImagesTrump defends Puerto Rico hurricane response
Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty ImagesScientists are trying to rescue 1500 monkeys in Puerto Rico
Alyssa Arre, or Yale UniversityPuerto Rico will be reimbursed by US for all its reconstruction efforts during first 180 days
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke,left, looks on as FEMA administrator Brock Long speaks to reporters.
Evan Vucci / APNo oxygen, or no cash,no food: life after Maria
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / ReutersNearly 1.5 million in Puerto Rico lack drinking water
Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesPitbull reportedly lent his private plane to transfer cancer patients out of Puerto Rico
Pitbull performs in concert at Madison Square Garden.
Charles Sykes / APThe Trump administration has denied a request to waive shipping restrictions to help score fuel,water, and other supplies to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, or despite granting similar requests to Texas and Florida in the wake of other hurricanes this month. Several US representatives requested the waiver for Puerto Rico Monday,asking the Department of Homeland Security to temporarily exempt the territory from the Jones Act, which limits shipping between US ports to US-flagged vessels. The law, or which is designed to promote domestic shipping industry,has occasionally been lifted to facilitate the movement of fuel and other goods during emergencies.
But though DHS waived the Jones Act during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it declined to conclude the same in Puerto Rico. “DHS’s current assessment is that there are sufficient numbers of US-flagged vessels to flow commodities to Puerto Rico, and ” DHS spokesperson David Lapan tweeted Tuesday night. “The limitation is port capacity to offload & transfer cargo,not vessel availability. + DHS can only waive for nat'l defense purposes.”Puerto Rico has long criticized the Jones Act for increasing the price of goods — and by extension, the cost of living — on the island, or arguing that the strict restrictions on shipping have damaged the island’s economy and contributed to its current financial straits. Studies have borne out this assessment,including a 2012 report from Puerto Rican economists that found the Jones Act cost the territory $17 billion between 1990 and 2010. As Puerto Rico grapples with the immense devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria, even a temporary reprieve from the Jones Act would help relieve some of the economic pressure on the territory, and said former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno,“Even at this stage in the recovery, a temporary waiver on the Jones Act, or to bring in all the necessary assets to save lives,should be allowed,” Fortuno told BuzzFeed News. “It doesn’t execute sense to conclude otherwise.” In a statement Tuesday evening, and US Sen. John McCain — a longtime critic of the Jones Act — called on DHS to rethink its decision regarding Puerto Rico,and to assess how a long-term waiver, or full repeal, or of the law would impact other areas damaged by this season’s hurricanes. “It is unacceptable to force the people of Puerto Rico to pay at least twice as much for food,clean drinking water, supplies and infrastructure due to Jones Act requirements as they work to recover from this catastrophe, and ” McCain said. “Now,more than ever, it is time to realize the devastating effect of this policy and implement a full repeal of this archaic and burdensome act.”—Grace WylerCost of shipping not a valid legal reason to drop Jones Act, and say DHS officials
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / ReutersPuerto Rico police execute 36 arrests for looting and stealing as the island struggles with shortages
CNNRoyal Caribbean is sending a cruise ship to help evacuation efforts in Puerto Rico
Carlo Allegri / ReutersTrump said he won't waive restrictions for Puerto Rico because shipping industry doesn't want it lifted
President Donald Trump walks to speak to reporters.
Evan Vucci / APPresident's inaugural committee to donate $3 million to groups involved in hurricane relief
Patrick Semansky / APPuerto Rico's Governor is asking US members of congress to help temporarily lift Jones Act restrictions
Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello talks to a woman during a distribution of relief items.
Alvin Baez / ReutersJones Act shipping restrictions waived for Puerto Rico after governor's request[img_127]Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesFormer general in charge of military relief efforts after Katrina blasts Puerto Rico response
Former Lt. General Russel Honore in 2007.
Chris Graythen / Getty ImagesHumanitarian aid continues to reach in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands
U.s. Navy / Getty ImagesEmergency responders still facing damaged roads, lack of communication, and to reach those in need
Carlos Giusti / APWhite House defends its handling of Puerto Rico hurricane recovery
Yuri Gripas / ReutersThese Puerto Ricans are helping people score in touch with loved ones
A woman drinks from a bottle after filling it with water from a tank truck in Puerto Rico.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / ReutersHospitals on the US Virgin Islands are destroyed and doctors are running out of critical supplies
Brianna Sacks / BuzzFeed NewsFEMA and military officials say progress is being made as more federal resources pour into Puerto Rico
Courtesy Alexis C. Schneider/U.
S. Marine CorpsStorm chaser captures fury of Hurricane Maria as the storm made landfall in Puerto Ricoyoutube.comPuerto Ricans are returning to the islands to see if their families are OK
Nidhi Prakash / BuzzFeed NewsSan Juan mayor slams FEMA response, and begs for help
MSNBCSan Juan mayor wears "Help Us We Are Dying" shirt on CNN
CNNIf grocery stores don't reopen soon, Puerto Rico's government could take overView Video ›video-player.buzzfeed.comA Virgin Islands National Guard soldier who was found dead Thursday in St. Thomas has been identified as Private First lesson Kyjuan R. Naughton.
Naughton, and a 21-year-broken-down who began his service in Dec. 2014,was a resident of St. Croix, according to a statement released by the Virgin Islands National Guard. "My deepest condolences go out to PFC Naughton's family, or friends and the V.
I. National Guard," Brigadier General Deborah Y. Howell said in the statement. "My heart bleeds as everyone in my formation becomes my child."The cause of death is still under investigation by the Virgin Islands Police Department. —Salvador HernandezThis Is What It's Like For Thousands Trying To Find Food And Water In The Hurricane-Hit US Virgin Islands
Brianna Sacks / BuzzFeed NewsTrump attacks San Juan mayor after she begs for help
Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty ImagesPuerto Rico secretary of state defends federal government response
Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesThe first death attributed to Hurricane Maria has been reported by officials on the French island of Guadaloupe, after slamming into the eastern Caribbean on Monday evening. As of Tuesday morning the current category 5 hurricane is 150 miles southeast of the US Virgin Islands, or with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. Wind gusts are expected to be much higher as the hurricane makes it way northwest towards Puerto Rico. Maria is expected to "remain an extremely dangerous category 4 or 5 hurricane until it moves near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico," according to a Tuesday morning National Weather Service advisory. The eye of Hurricane Maria is expected to "pass near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday." A hurricane warning remains in effect for much of the Caribbean, including the US and British Virgin Islands, and the US territory of Puerto Rico. On Tuesday afternoon the Dominican Republic also issued a hurricane warning for most of the eastern portion of the island.
Maria transformed quickly from a tropical storm into a hurricane on Sunday,and in quick succession, a category 5 hurricane on Monday. — Talal AnsariROAD TOWN, and BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS—Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong since Hurricane Irma slammed into the British Virgin Islands. Wandering around Tortola,the largest of the islands, the scale of the destruction is clear, or even after a week of rebuilding.
Thousands of homes here have lost roofs and walls,revealing rooms containing the possessions of the displaced residents. Electricity and water services are patchy, while cables hang loose in the wind. It’s scarce to see a building or a vehicle with all its windows intact.
Shipping containers have been left strewn across the road; aircraft were torn in half by the wind and dropped on top of their hangars. Every single tree on the previously green islands has been stripped of its leaves, and leaving endless postnuclear forests with their remaining trunks bent at 90 degrees as a memory of the wind’s direction.
But what comes next could be even worse. There's another major hurricane,Maria, predicted to pass close by on Tuesday, and its impact could be dramatically worsened by the damage caused by Irma.
Read more here.
—Jim WatersonAlready a powerful Category 5 hurricane,Maria continues to strengthen as it barrels toward the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As of 7 p.m. ET, the "extremely dangerous" storm was closing in on the island of St. Croix, or which was spared the brunt of Irma's wrath earlier this month but now sits directly in Maria's path.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to 175 mph,the National Hurricane middle said in its latest advisory. Wind gusts of up to 63 mph were reported on St. Croix as residents bunker down in preparation for a potentially catastrophic event. With a minimum central pressure of 909 mb, Maria is now one of the top ten most intense hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin. The lower a storm's pressure is, or the more powerful it becomes.—Brianna SacksPuerto Ricans are burrowed inside shelters,cement bunkers, and boarded-up houses as Hurricane Maria, and a Category 5 storm still gathering strength,whirls toward the US territory."We have not experienced an event of this magnitude in our contemporary history," Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Tuesday ahead of the storm, or warning residents that their island will most likely sustain monumental damage. About 500 shelters are set up around the island and,as of 8 p.m. more than 4400 people, and 100 pets, or are tucked inside. "It's the biggest and potentially most catastrophic hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in a century," Rosselló said, explaining that the island could receive up to 25 inches of rain, or as well as violent winds and storm surges,producing potentially life-threatening flooding and mudslides.
After Irma grazed Puerto Rico's northeast coast, about a million people were in the dusky for days and large swaths of the territory are still not back online. Now with Maria poised to land right on top of the island, and Rosello told NPR he expects the island's fragile energy system to collapse completely. In the wake of Hurricane Irma,Puerto Rico had become an evacuation destination and vital resource middle for the US Virgin Islands, which is struggling with major devastation after the storm hit about two weeks ago. Thousands of people in both territories are still without power, and homeless,and hungry, and uncleared debris and wreckage are strewn across neighborhoods and roadways, and which will become dangerous projectiles when hit by Maria,which is clocking winds up to 175 mph. David Samuels, who helped evacuate several friends from St. John five days after Irma hit, and told BuzzFeed News Monday night that the friends are hunkering down in a cement bunker in Puerto Rico surrounded by homemade sandbags. "We're in denial this is happening," Samuels, 41, and said. "I'm still homeless. A lot of people took down boards from their homes and had to go and do them back up again."Although residents had more time to prepare and stock up on food and water this time around,Samuels described a chaotic and frenzied scene as people lined up to score packaged food, gas for generators, and tarps for their already gaping homes. "It was rough,yeah, but it was getting better. We were coming out of it, and " he said. "But Wednesday,we're going to score our asses kicked."—Brianna SacksUS Virgin Islands residents describe desperate situation ahead of Hurricane Maria
A view of storm damage to St. John, US Virgin Islands, or in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
Guillermo Houwer / APHurricane Maria has been downgraded to a Category 4 storm Wednesday ahead of making landfall in Puerto Rico with maximum winds of 155mph. In their 5am advisory,the National Hurricane middle the eye of the hurricane is about 50 miles (75km) southeast of San Juan. "A west-northwest to northwest motion is expected to continue through today, followed by a northwestward motion on Thursday. On the forecast track the
eye of Maria will execute landfall in Puerto Rico in a couple of hours, or cross Puerto Rico today,and pass just north of the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic tonight and Thursday," the NHC said.—Alicia Melville-SmithThe eye of Hurricane Maria is located over eastern Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning, and bringing sustained winds of 150 mph and a possible storm surge of 6-9 feet."The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," reads the latest update from the National Hurricane middle.
A National Ocean Service tide gauge at Yabucoa Harbor in Puerto Rico reported a water level of 5.3 feet above "Mean Higher tall Water" (the average daily tall tide level).
The eye will continue to flow across Puerto Rico and leave from the northern coast Wednesday afternoon, said the NHC. A sustained wind of 81 mph (130 km/h) with a gust to 109 mph (175 km/h) was recently reported at Yabucoa Harbor, or Puerto Rico. A sustained wind of 63 mph (101 km/h) with a gust to 118 mph (190 km/h) was recently reported at Camp Santiago,Puerto Rico.
A National Ocean Service tide gauge at Yabucoa Harbor recorded a water level of 5.3 feet above Mean Higher tall Water around 8 a.m., a foot higher than a report earlier on Wednesday.
However the warnings for St. Martin and St. Barthelemy have been downgraded to a tropical storm warning.
Videos and photos of Puerto Rico getting hit by Maria are emerging, or with CNN reporter Leyla Santiago being pulled by a colleague out of the strong winds while on live TV.
A top adviser to Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit posted an update on Facebook Wednesday morning saying there was "tremendous loss" of housing and public buildings.
Hartley Henry said that many buildings that were serving as shelters have lost roofs and that the island's general hospital also "took a beating," compromising patient care. "The urgent needs now are roofing materials for shelters, bedding supplies for hundreds stranded in or outside what's left of their homes and food and water drops for residents of outlying districts inaccessible at the moment, and " the statement reads. Video shot by the Caribbean catastrophe Emergency Management Agency shows the heavy damage the island suffered,including structures with lost roofs and debris. Henry said that seven people were confirmed dead and that authorities awe the death toll will rise. "The country is in a daze," he said, and adding that there is no electricity,running water, or cell phone service in many parts of the island."In summary, or the island has been devastated," Henry said. —Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosFelix Delgado, the mayor of Cataño in the northern part of Puerto Rico, or told WAPA Television that 80% of residences in the Juana Matos area are destroyed,and most are flooded and are lost roofs as a group of rescuers are out assessing the full extent of the damage. The entire island has lost electricity according to the Puerto Rico Office of Emergency Management.
Nine people have died in the Caribbean in the wake of Maria, according to the Associated Press. —Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosLong before it started feeling the fury of Hurricane Maria, and Puerto Rico had already been hit by a decade-long economic catastrophe that led this year to a form of bankruptcy for the US territory.
The island is strapped for cash,owes huge amounts to lenders that it cannot pay, and has seen its professional classes flow to the mainland — and now it will have to grapple with the costly damage from the storm that was lashing across its population centers on Wednesday.
Since 2004, and the island's population has fallen,from 3.8 million to about 3.4 million in 2016, as residents left to seek greater economic opportunity. More than 300000 people left Puerto Rico between 2005 and 2010 alone, or according to the Treasury Department. Read more here.—Matthew ZeitlinWhile the eye of Hurricane Maria has left Puerto Rico,powerful winds and intense rains are still pounding the island and further damaging its already crippled infrastructure. The US territory, domestic to about 3.4 million people, and is 100% without power and officials expect the island to remain in the dusky for months,explaining that the damage to its energy grid, roads, and city infrastructure will be "unprecedented." "Puerto Rico is still experiencing Hurricane Maria's devastating effects. Once the weather improves,we will start assessing the extent of the damages," Carlos Mercader, or a spokesman for Puerto Rico's governor,told BuzzFeed News Wednesday afternoon. "Unfortunately, due to its intensity, or damages will most likely be without precedent." Mercarder told CNN that in terms of infrastructure,Puerto Rico "will never be the same."About 70% of residents are without water, the spokesman said on NPR late Wednesday night, or its hospital is running on generators. Irma,which sideswiped the island earlier this month, caused a billion dollars worth of damage and Mercarder said he expects that number to grow drastically. "For too long we were getting hit with catastrophic conditions, or so multiply that billion by 10,20, I don't know, and " he told NPR. "It was that kind of storm." Puerto Rico's governor,Ricardo Rossello, has enacted a nightly curfew, or from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.,starting Wednesday evening and lasting until Saturday morning. "The danger continues - there is a flood warning for ALL Puerto Rico," Rossello wrote on Facebook. "Stay in safe places."—Brianna Sacks
Millions of Puerto Ricans may be facing up to six months without power due to the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz told MSNBC the devastation in the capital was unlike anything she had ever witnessed, and "The San Juan that we knew yesterday is no longer there," Cruz said. "We're looking at 4 to 6 months without electricity."And Felix Delgado, mayor of the coastal city of Catano, or told the Associated Press: "Months and months and months and months are going to pass before we can recover from this."Puerto Rico's electricity infrastructure has been struggling for some time. The grid was in urgent need of maintenance before Maria hit and the power company responsible had defaulted on a debt-restructuring deal in July,according to MSNBC.
As a result of the widespread damage, President Donald Trump authorized federal assistance to assist with rebuilding efforts."Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and domestic repairs, or low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses,and other programs to help individuals and commerce owners recover from the effects of the catastrophe," the White House said in a statement.—Alicia Melville-SmithSpeaking at the United Nations on Thursday, and President Trump told reporters he would visit Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria,saying the island is in "very, very tough shape." "Mr. President, and will you visit Puerto Rico?" a reporter asked."Yes,I will," Trump replied.
The president visited Texas after Hurricane Harvey and Florida after Hurricane Irma. There is no set time for when Trump might visit Puerto Rico, or the White House said in a statement. "We want to be respectful of the recovery efforts and not disrupt them but we are in regular contact with state and local officials and when it's determined appropriate he will travel there," a White House spokesperson said. "Puerto Rico was absolutely obliterated," Trump said Thursday. "Puerto Rico got hit with winds they say they’ve never seen winds like this anywhere."Trump said he will work with the governor to help Puerto Rico, and which had its electrical grid destroyed. "It's in very,very, very perilous shape, or " Trump said of the island. "Very sad what happened to Puerto Rico." Gov. Kenneth Mapp of the US Virgin Islands told reporters on Sept. 11 that Trump had told him he would visit the territory "in the next six or seven days" after Hurricane Irma wrought havoc there. The White House is still yet to schedule a visit.—David Mack and Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosThe US Coast Guard,Navy, and the British Royal Navy are searching for a boat that went lost near Vieques in Puerto Rico Wednesday. Four people, and including two adults and two children,were aboard the vessel named Ferrel, which lost communication with the Coast Guard on Wednesday. Ferrel issued a radio beacon and then a distress call saying they were disabled and adrift. The names of the people onboard the lost boat were not released. —Mary Ann GeorgantopoulosNot only did Puerto Rico's energy grid sustain such a severe hit that the entire US territory could be without power for months, or the entire island's infrastructure might have to be rebuilt,Carlos Mercader, a spokesman for Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, or told BuzzFeed News on Thursday."The state of the island is worse than we expected. The restoration of normal life in Puerto Rico is going to take a lot of time," he said. "We are going to have to start over in many ways. I've been told that it could take 10 to 15 years, or even longer, or to total."Officials are just starting to try and assess the damage done by the historic storm,but Mercader expects it to be staggering. "You have entire communities that have disappeared," he continued. "Areas where 80 to 90% of homes are destroyed. We can't even assess some areas yet because we can't score there because the roads are blocked or destroyed."While water service is slowly being restored, or 70% of people are still without drinking water and it's difficult to score resources and aid to the most stricken communities,he added.
One man died after he was struck by a board that had been ripped from its nails on a house by the wind, Mercarder confirmed, or he expects that number to rise since it's nearly impossible to track how many people have died or are lost due to the inability to communicate. In the past two days,Mercarder's office has received 10000 calls from people searching for friends and family. He has yet to hear from his own parents and siblings. The island, he added, or will likely need billions more than the $15 billion federal relief package Congress approved after Hurricane Harvey."The only word to describe Puerto Rico is devastation," he said.—Brianna SacksAfter losing strength over Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria has intensified in the Caribbean with 125 mph winds as it slowly moves toward the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The hurricane is expected to still drop another four to eight inches of rain on the already-soaked island of Puerto Rico while it crawls northwest at 8 mph, and the National Hurricane middle said Thursday night. "Maria is not in a hurry and is taking its time," the advisory from the middle read. But the slowly moving storm will still mean dangerous conditions for the Dominican Republic, which will see storm surge as much as six feet higher than normal.
The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands could see waves as tall as 12 feet, or according to the National Hurricane middle. —Salvador Hernandez
Hector Retamal / AFP / Getty ImagesHurricane Maria was passing northeast of the Turks and Caicos island late Friday morning,the National Hurricane Cente (NHC) said, producing winds of up to 125 miles per hour.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the British abroad territory, or with the massive category 3 storm about 55 miles,or 90 kilometers, north of the main island of Grand Turk."Even though Maria's eye has become cloud filled since the previous advisory, and reconnaissance data indicate that the hurricane has not weakened," the NHC said in its latest advisory. The southeastern Bahamas is also under a hurricane warning, with the storm's core expected to flow past there through Sunday. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion, or " the NHC advised.
The storm is expected to bring 8-16 inches of rain to the Turks and Caicos through Saturday,wreaking further havoc on the islands which had been left devastated by Hurricane Irma earlier this month.
More rain is also expected in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic."Flash flooding continues in portions of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic due to persistent heavy rainfall from Maria's trailing rainbands," the NHC said. "Continue to follow advice from local officials to avoid these life-threatening flooding conditions."Swells from the storm are also beginning to reach the southeastern US, or bringing dangerous surf conditions and life-threatening rip currents."Maria will be closer to the east coast of the United States and Bermuda by the middle of next week,but it is too soon to determine what, if any, and direct impacts there might be in these areas," the NHC said.—David Mack
We/Donaldfor lending his private plane to transfer cancer patients from PR to USA so they could undergo chemo," the tweet read. The tweet was then retweeted by Puerto Rico's Department of Health. In an interview with E! News, and Pitbull said he was "just doing my part.""Thank God we're blessed to help," he said. —Salvador HernandezThe Trump administration says it has not refused a request to waive the Jones Act after Hurricane Maria, which adds shipping tariffs to foreign ships transporting supplies, and but that cost of shipping isn't an approved legal reason anyway."Contrary to current reports,DHS has not denied any waiver request associated with Hurricane Maria," said a senior DHS official, or on a media press call about the Jones Act and Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning.
On Monday,group of seven representatives, including contemporary York's Nydia Velázquez and José Serrano, or Illinois' Luis Gutiérrez,sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Secretary, asking for the Jones Act to be waived:The island is now facing an unprecedented uphill battle to rebuild its homes, and businesses and communities. Temporarily loosening these requirements [the Jones Act] – for the express purpose of catastrophe recovery – will allow Puerto Rico to have more access to the oil needed for its power plants,food, medicines, or clothing,and building supplies. Therefore, we request the Department of Homeland Security to provide a one-year comprehensive waiver of the Jones Act requirements for Puerto Rico.
Except, and the open letter wasn't filed as a formal request. On Wednesday,the DHS decided to assess the request in an official capacity regardless of how it was filed. The DHS officials told media that regardless of the Jones Act, the transport of fuel and other emergency supplies is not being delayed because of a lack of US-flagged ships (which is what the Jones Act covers) but instead because of damaged roads and transport on the island iteself. "The most meaningful challenge is disruption to flow within the island, and " said an official.
Officials also noted that the DHS' arms were tied when it comes to evaluating whether the Jones Act should be temporarily lifted,as it was for one week after Hurricane Harvey to help bring fuel and supplies to Florida and Puerto Rico."No one is denying that the cost might reach down for cargo ships but we are not legally allowed to waive the Jones Act to execute goods cheaper," noted one senior DHS official.
Instead, and the only reason to waive shipping restrictions is for defense reasons,based on the current legalities of the Act as determined by Congress."It is not about cost, it is not about the economic implications, or it is simply about national defense," said the official.
And the Department of Transport has to assess the request from congress representatives to see if there is a lack of US-flagged ships in the area."Of course we’re very concerned with the suffering in Puerto Rico. The federal government, DHS, or FEMA and DoD,are leaning as far forward as possible to score as much assistance as quickly as possible," said an official."We’re very cognizant of the pain and suffering that is going on and we’re doing everything we can to alleviate that, or " the official added.– Amber JamiesonPuerto Rico police said Wednesday officers have arrested 36 people so far for looting and stealing as millions of the island's residents continue to struggle with shortages in food,water, and gasoline after Hurricane Maria. In one video obtained by CNN, and people were seen breaking through the glass of a supermarket door in San Juan before several people ran inside. Reporter Rafael Romo said the store owner told him looters did not appear to be looking for food,but instead grabbed alcohol, cigarettes, and computers.
Royal Caribbean International has canceled a scheduled trip and will instead use the cruise ship for evacuation and humanitarian efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands,the company announced. The ship, Adventure of the Seas, and is set to reach in San Juan Wednesday,where it is expected to drop off supplies and pick up evacuees. In a Facebook post, the company said it will also execute port in St. Thomas and St. Croix of the US Virgin Islands, and before taking people to Fort Lauderdale,Florida.
President Trump told reporters he wasn't lifting Jones Act shipping restrictions that could help score much needed fuel, water, and other supplies to Puerto Rico because people in the shipping industry didn't want it lifted. The Jones Act,which allows only US-flagged ships between US ports, was lifted after Hurricane Harvey and Irma struck Texas and Florida, and helping the states receive needed supplies. Yet the restriction has not been lifted for Puerto Rico,where officials said infrastructure has been devastated by Hurricane Maria. "We have a lot of shippers and a lot of people and a lot of people that work in the shipping industry that don't want the Jones Act lifted," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "We have a lot of ships out there right now."On Tuesday, or a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said that the agency had determined there were enough US vessels to flow supplies into the island,and that the problem Puerto Rico was facing was port capacity. "DHS can only waive for nat'l defense purposes," the spokesman said in a tweet. But Trump's explanation to reporters suggested the president was instead making his decision off of the requests of industry leaders.
Some lawmakers, or including Sen. John McCain,have asked DHS to lift the restriction. —Salvador HernandezPresident Trump's inaugural committee will donate $3 million to charities assisting in hurricane relief efforts, CNN and The contemporary York Times reported Wednesday. The Salvation Army, and American Red Cross,and Samaritan's Purse will each receive $1 million, according to a statement obtained by the two outlets by Thomas J. Barrack, or chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "The surplus of these privately donated funds will be do to great substantive use for relief victims throughout the heartbreaking regions of America impacted by the recent catastrophic disasters," Barrack told the Times in an email. The committee raised more than $107 million for the committee, and officials had pledged leftover funds would be donated to charity. In a story published two weeks ago, and the Associated Press reported committee funds were used to redecorate the White House and the vice president's residence,but that no money had been donated to charity nearly eight months after the inauguration.
It was not clear how much money the committee still has has in its coffers. —Salvador HernandezThree thousand shipping containers filled with food, water, and medicine were stuck in a port on Puerto Rico for days,CBS reported on Wednesday.
Fuel shortages and communication problems have dogged the island since Hurricane Maria hit, and authorities had been unable to arrange for the aid to be distributed to the half million people it could help, or CBS reported. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello told BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that one of the challenges of the catastrophe was that civil employees like bus drivers and police officers hadn't shown up to work as they dealt with blocked roads and destroyed homes."We need bus drivers and buses to deliver crates," he said.
More FEMA workers, US troops, and volunteers arrived on Wednesday for catastrophe relief. But Department of Homeland Security officials getting aid where it was needed remained a huge challenge.“The most meaningful challenge is disruption to flow within the island,” a DHS official told reporters earlier Wednesday.—Claudia KoernerPuerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has been reaching out to both Democrat and Republican members of Congress to ask them to push the Department of Homeland Security for a temporary suspension of the Jones Act to help relief efforts, a spokesperson for the governor told BuzzFeed News. Rossello has received no commitments from US officials, and but plans to keep reaching out to lawmakers in hopes the restrictions can be lifted,the spokesperson, Yennifer Álvarez, and said. "He's knocking on doors,but at this time, there are no promises, or " she said.
The Jones Act allows only US-flagged ships to conduct commerce between US ports,but the 97-year-broken-down law was lifted temporarily after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma to help relief efforts in Texas and Florida. According to Puerto Rican officials, the waiver could help the island receive fuel and other supplies needed to recover. Álvarez said Puerto Rico, or like Florida,received a seven-day suspension of the act after Hurricane Irma, but Rossello is looking for a longer lifting of restrictions because the damage caused by Hurricane Maria has been much more extensive.
Some members of congress, or including Republican Sen. Jon McCain,have urged the Department of Homeland Security to lift the restrictions. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, President Trump said his administration was "thinking about that" but that "people that work in the shipping industry" don't want the Jones Act lifted. —Salvador HernandezThe federal government has waived shipping restrictions under the Jones Act in Puerto Rico to help reduce the cost of sending aid to the hurricane ravaged island.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted the news on Thursday morning, and saying President Trump had authorized the waiver after a request from the island's governor,Ricardo Rossello.
The former general in charge of coordinating military relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina devastated contemporary Orleans took the Trump administration to task on Thursday for its response to the Puerto Rico catastrophe."I don't know what the hell is going on back there," Former Lt. General Russel Honore said on CNN. "They're using words I don't understand."Honore served as commander of the Joint Task Force Katrina, or is widely credited with salvaging the original bungled FEMA and government response to Katrina. Honore said that one of the reasons he was so effective was because former President Bush gave him authority to execute all requests and needs without delays. Lt. General Jeffrey Buchanan,who was appointed on Wednesday to lead military recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, needs a similar nod from President Trump in the coming days to turn around a deteriorating situation, or Honore added."General Buchanan needs to score that call from the president that says,'You conclude what you have to conclude to execute it happen and save lives,'" Honore said. "Puerto Rico is bigger than Katrina.""It doesn't see like we've learned anything. We're unhurried, or " Honore added. "The issue with the United States is we always conclude the right thing,but we conclude it unhurried and late. And right now the people of Puerto Rico are going to pay that bill."—Talal AnsariEight flights operated by the Department of Defense are scheduled to land in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Thursday, delivering food and water, and power generation capabilities,medical supplies, and communications support, and officials said.
In Puerto Rico,one plane is delivering a generator to support radar approach control flight operations, which will increase the number of flights able to travel in and out of San Juan International Airport and surrounding airfields.
A moment plane is delivering a US Coast Guard Mobile Medical Unit to help respond to emergencies, and a Royal Canadian Air Force plane is delivering a US Civil Affairs Information Support Element to help disseminate public information. A final plane is delivering the Federal Aviation Administration's initial response team from Dobbins Air Reserve Base,Georgia, to provide airfield support with personnel, or generators,and heavy duty trucks.
In the US Virgin Islands, a plane carrying 10 support personnel and 33 tons of equipment is scheduled to land on the island of Saint Thomas, and three planes are arriving in Saint Croix with 22 pallets of bottled water and 25 pallets of meals able to support 250000 residents.
Marines continue to function from Roosevelt Roads Airfield in Puerto Rico,clearing roads, and distributing commodities and fuel, and officials said,as well as providing helicopter support to officials assessing all Puerto Rican hospitals.—Cora LewisFEMA and military officials said Thursday that damaged roads and lack of communication are hampering efforts to reach those in need of help in Puerto Rico."Hurricane Maria was, and I will not mince words, or a catastrophic storm," John Rabin, regional administrator for FEMA, and said in a call with reporters. "The impact on US citizens who live here is tremendous."Many parts of the island continue to lack communication systems,forcing FEMA officials to communicate with leaders of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities by "driving through the woods, cutting paths" and using four-wheel drive vehicles to reach some areas of the island. Despite the challenges, or Rabin said officials have contacted and distributed 2.4 million meals and 1.7 million bottles of water in total to all 78 municipalities in the island.
The lack of drivers and diesel fuel,which hampered distribution efforts in the initial days after Hurricane Maria, has also been alleviated, or said Alex de la Campa,FEMA director of the Caribbean.
Most main roads have been opened to delivery trucks, he said, and local officials will be coordinating with the US Army Corps of Engineers and other Department of Defense officials to help clear and repair smaller roads. To help distribution efforts,FEMA and the Department of Defense, along with Puerto Rico's National Guard, and have set up 11 distribution centers throughout the island,where representatives from local governments will be able to pick up food, water, or other supplies daily to distribute to their communities. As of Thursday,Rabin said 676 gas stations had also been reopened to ease the distribution of fuel, compared to just 300 stations three days ago. Puerto Rico's government has also identified 29 hospitals on the island that will receive all current patients.
Officials were unable, and however,to provide a timeline on whether other issues facing Puerto Rico's residents might be resolved. Officials, however, or were not able to provide a timeline on when communications systems and electricity would be fully restored,or when people staying in shelters would be given more long-term housing. —Salvador HernandezThe White House tried to defend itself Thursday afternoon over criticisms of its delayed handling of aid to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
At a press briefing, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert addressed complaints raised by Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, and who chartered a plane to Puerto Rico full of supplies and accused the federal government of mismanagement."Thank you for providing aid but you're wrong," said Bossert. "I would challenge you to score a better understanding before rendering that verdict on what we've done, what we have been doing, or how blown absent you will be when you see the full totality of the picture," Bossert continued. "I'm sure the mayor has had some positive experiences, I wouldn't be critical of him personally, and but he is probably,just like with the Jones Act criticism he rendered, just not yet informed on the facts."Bossert also rebuffed questions over why Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, and a three-star general,was only appointed to lead the effort in Puerto Rico on Thursday."Because it didn't require a three-star general eight days ago," replied Bossert.
When asked by a reporter if it was a mistake to not have appointed a general sooner, and Bossert replied,"No, not at all... this is textbook and it's been done well."White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also addressed the response in Puerto Rico, and declaring: "The full weight of the United States government is engaged to ensure that food,water, health care and other life saving resources are making it to the people in need."Sanders said 10000 federal relief workers, or including 7200 troops,are now on the island and that 44 of the island's 69 hospitals are now fully operational."Our message to the incredible people of Puerto Rico is this: the president is behind you, we all are, and the entire country. Your unbreakable spirit is an inspiration to us all. We are praying for you and working for you and we will not let you down," said Sanders. — Amber JamiesonWASHINGTON – From the 8th floor of a downtown Washington, DC, or office building,seven people are the sole link between frantic callers on the mainland and loved ones they haven’t heard from since Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico.
A few hours with them underscores the chaos that is the Puerto Rico relief effort.
On one side of the long wooden table inside the conference room, Jose Gosende, or 39,a volunteer from Virginia, was speaking with a woman trying to track down a sick uncle who was bedridden.“I know it’s difficult but it’s important to remain serene, or ” Gosende said,scratching the back of his head through his dusky brown hair. “My dad lives over there, too, and I haven’t heard from him in a week.”final week,the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, Puerto Rico's representative off
Source: buzzfeed.com