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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Chaos in Puerto Rico as mob finds unused disaster supplies
2020-01-20
[NYPOST] An angry crowd in earthquake-rattled Puerto Rico stormed a warehouse Saturday after learning that it contained a stash of emergency supplies ‐ that had been sitting untouched since Hurricane Maria slammed the island in 2017.
That was... ummm... divide by twelve, carry the nine... two and a half years ago, more or less...
The chaos in the historic city of Ponce comes just one week after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook the island, which has yet to recover from the devastation of Maria ‐ a category 5 hurricane that killed more than 3,000 people and left much of the country without electricity.
That word you're probably looking for is 'Corruption.'
Word of the squandered supplies spread online Saturday after blogger Lorenzo Delgado posted a video on Facebook of locals breaking into the warehouse, which is shown to be holding cases of bottled water and other emergency supplies.
We had a similar story about warehouses full of assistance that hadn't been distribute. Apparently thy didn't believe it.
Locals are seen hauling cases out of the warehouse, and — in one image — distributing the supplies to a throng of people outside.
A bit late in the game, but better not to let the stuff go to waste.
"This is outrageous," Ponce Mayor Maria Melendez told news hounds. "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. Those involved owe us an explanation," she said.
I'm sure Trump's to blame, somehow.
The discovery prompted Gov. Wanda Vazquez to fire the island’s director of emergency management, Carlos Acevedo, and to order a full investigation into the matter.
First step...
"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, noting that the supplies had been in the warehouse since Maria.

The governor has asked the Puerto Rican senate to install Jose Reyes, head of the island’s national guard, as the new commissioner of emergency management.

Secretary of State Elmer Roman told Univision news Saturday that there may also be other warehouses on the island with unused stores of supplies.

He said officials hoped to wrap up the initial probe into the controversy within 48 hours.

"The instructions are clear: All of the supplies that are available will be distributed," Roman told the Spanish-language network.
Related:
Wanda Vazquez: 2020-01-08 Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez declares a state of emergency and activates the National Guard following a series of earthquakes
Wanda Vazquez: 2019-07-29 Puerto Rico: new twist in leadership crisis
Related:
Hurricane Maria: 2019-09-11 Former top FEMA official busted for taking bribes after Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria: 2019-09-11 Former top FEMA official busted for taking bribes after Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria: 2019-08-13 New Puerto Rico governor suspends contract to rebuild power grid
Posted by:Fred

#21  Whew! You are cooking with gas today, Skidmark!
Posted by: trailing wife   2020-01-20 23:23  

#20  Haiti Needs $2 Billion the Clinton Foundation Stole From Its Relief Funds
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-01-20 21:44  

#19  Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-01-20 21:43  

#18  U.N. chief names Bill Clinton special Haiti envoy


Former Haitian Senate President Calls Clintons "Common Thieves Who Should Be In Jail"
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-01-20 21:42  

#17  Ahh, yes. The Clintons and Haiti
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2020-01-20 16:03  

#16  Re. #11, Didn't that Kazakh uranium-scamming Clinton donor Frank Giustra give the Clinton Global Grifters $20 million for a "Haiti Development Fund"?

IIRC, the "fund" never made any investments. Also, the Mexican global grifter/oligarch (and major NYTimes shareholder) Carlos Slim was also in on the Haiti grift.

Posted by: Lex   2020-01-20 13:57  

#15  Bingo, #11 JQC!
Posted by: Barbara   2020-01-20 12:27  

#14  ^ foxes' den (L)... chicken coop (R)
Posted by: Lex   2020-01-20 11:58  

#13  
Posted by: Frank G   2020-01-20 11:39  

#12  Picture over at Rantingly, the warehouse is right next door to a "government office." Uh-oh...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-01-20 10:58  

#11  Reads like the Clinton relief effort in Haiti; the one where the Clintons relieved Haiti of their aid funds. Dem playbook.
Posted by: JohnQC   2020-01-20 10:16  

#10  Why do I smell Clintons in this?
Posted by: AlanC   2020-01-20 09:46  

#9  Pitbulls....it's just the breed.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-01-20 09:24  

#8  Dear Alex Cora:

Now that you're no longer the manager of the Boston Red Sox because of your extensive involvement in sign-stealing over a one to two year period, you'll have plenty of time to apologize for being so horribly wrong on the whole Trump aid to your home country, right?
Posted by: Raj   2020-01-20 09:22  

#7  I wonder how much they have sold already. For how much. And where the gains went.
Posted by: gorb   2020-01-20 08:57  

#6  Of course, Trump called it-- YEARS ago. He was pilloried for it (RACIST!! BULLY!!).

But he was right.

The FBI has arrested two former Puerto Rico officials for funneling disaster aid payments to politically connected contractors.
The Wednesday arrests have prompted concern on Capitol Hill that the island’s corruption will blunt the effectiveness of a recently passed disaster aid bill. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., has called for Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation, according to the Washington Post.

The FBI indictment charges Puerto Rico's former Education Secretary Julia Keleher, former Health Insurance Agency Chief Ángela Ávila-Marrero, and four others with crimes related to grifting U.S. disaster aid. Keleher and Ávila-Marrero both served in Rosselló's administration before leaving in April and June, respectively. Rosselló himself is not under investigation. Grijalva is the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which is overseeing the recovery effort on the island from Hurricane Maria in 2017. ...The arrests come weeks after Congress passed a $19 billion disaster aid bill to the island that is still struggling after the September 2017 hurricane severely damaged the island's infrastructure and power grid.

Posted by: Lex   2020-01-20 08:32  

#5  It goes a LOT higher up in the PR food chain than her, SteveS.

She may not have even been in the loop.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2020-01-20 08:12  

#4  It's deep corruption. The warehouse belonged to a Puerto Rican government owned import-export company.

US taxpayers filled it. It will be shown Puerto Rican government officials were selling the contents and pocketing the money. There will be many like it. A lot of the $90 billion for the 2017 hurricane disappeared like the aid into that warehouse.
Posted by: Graiter Grasing8630   2020-01-20 03:16  

#3  So it's not even corruption?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-01-20 02:48  

#2  The discovery prompted Gov. Wanda Vazquez to fire the island’s director of emergency management, Carlos Acevedo, and to order a full investigation into the matter.

...I've seen this movie.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2020-01-20 02:20  

#1  Maria, you got some 'splaining to do!
Posted by: SteveS   2020-01-20 01:13  

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