President Donald Trump will visit Puerto Rico next Tuesday as the American territory faces devastation left by Hurricane Maria.
FILE PHOTO: A neighbourhood is flooded after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Catano municipality, southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 21, 2017. REUTERS/Alvin Baez/File Photo
Much of the island of 3.5 million remains without power or running water.
Trump said Tuesday before a White House meeting that Puerto Rico is “literally destroyed,” but added, “they’ll be back.” Maria hit Puerto Rico Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 storm.
“We still need some more help. This is clearly a critical disaster in Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosello told The Washington Post in a recent interview.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson told NBC Monday that more than 10,000 federal staff are on the ground helping. Trump remarked, “I grew up in New York, so I know many people from Puerto Rico. … And these are great people and we have to help them.”
“We have shipped massive amounts of food and water and supplies to Puerto Rico and we are continuing to do it on an hourly basis. But that island was hit as hard as you could hit,” Trump added.