Tag Archives: natural disasters

Talking Points Memo reports: “We are going to work something out. We have to look at their whole debt structure,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday night. “You know they owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street. We’re gonna have to wipe that out. That’s gonna have to be — you …

The Hill reports: President Trump employed an unusual method of distributing supplies to hurricane survivors during his visit to a church in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, at one point tossing paper towels into the crowd. Trump entered Calvary Chapel to cheers from the crowd. Signs in the room read “Let’s Make Puerto Rico Great Again” and “God bless You Mr. …

Vox reports: President Donald Trump met with local leaders and federal responders shortly after landing at an Air Force base in Carolina, Puerto Rico, for what was supposed to be a briefing on the situation on the island. Instead, Trump turned it into an opportunity to congratulate himself and the federal government’s response to the disaster and to say the …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says the federal government has done a good job in Puerto Rico responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, but says local officials need to “give us more help.” Trump says Tuesday that “in Texas and in Florida we get an A-plus, and I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just …

Via Mediaite: On Meet The Press this morning, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defended President Trump over questions about his combative Puerto Rico tweets. Chuck Todd opened by asking why the President seemed “so angry in his tweets” yesterday. Trump in particular blasted San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, and Todd asked Mnuchin why Trump wasn’t showing more “empathy” for her …

The New York Daily News reports: President Trump woke up Sunday still fuming about criticism of his Puerto Rico recovery management, firing off another series of tweets attacking naysayers and patting his administration on the back. Trump has spent the weekend complaining on Twitter about the widespread criticism that his administration has been slow to help people in Puerto Rico …

The Washington Examiner reports: President Trump told residents of Puerto Rico not to believe the “fake news” media regarding the federal response to Hurricane Maria, and said the administration is “getting great marks” for its recovery efforts. Trump has been criticized for his response to the crisis in Puerto Rico, and Democrats accused the president of paying more attention to …

The Hill reports: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Saturday denied the veracity of a Washington Post report that claimed that recovery efforts on Puerto Rico have been hampered by President Trump’s excursion last weekend to his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. The Post reported on Friday that Trump and his team effectively “went dark” after departing for …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump lashed out at the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city early on Saturday as the row over his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria escalated. Ahead of his visit to the US territory next week, the US president used Twitter to say of Carmen Yulín Cruz “… such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San …

San Juan Mayor Carmen Cruz became tearful and furious during a CNN interview this morning after being told that the Trump administration is continuing to congratulate itself over the response to Hurricane Maria. Via Raw Story: After viewing a clip of acting secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke telling reporters this was “a good news story,” Cruz became increasingly furious …

ABC News reports: In a Pew poll in early September 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, just a quarter of Americans thought climate change likely was responsible for its severity. Two-thirds said it was more likely “just the kind of severe weather that happens from time to time.” As the storm’s impact became clear, more, 39 percent, blamed climate change just …

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced early Thursday that President Trump has waived the Jones Act, lifting shipping restrictions to bolster relief efforts on hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that the administration was considering lifting the law, which bans foreign-flagged ships from carrying freight between U.S. ports. But …

The Washington Post reports: In the wake of Hurricane Maria, pretty much the entire island of Puerto Rico is dark, hot and running out of supplies — quickly. Because it’s an island, many lifesaving supplies will arrive by boat. But Puerto Rico has to wait until American boats can reach its shores with supplies because of an obscure, World War …

The Associated Press reports: Jennifer Lopez has pledged $1 million toward hurricane relief efforts in her family’s native Puerto Rico. Lopez announced during a news conference with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday that she would give money from her ongoing Las Vegas residency to various charities in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Lopez says she’s also enlisting the …

CNN reports: A damaged dam is in danger of bursting. Most buildings are damaged or destroyed. Millions are without power, and the communication network is crippled. Puerto Rico is in a dire situation after Hurricane Maria, Governor Ricardo Rosselló told CNN in an interview on “New Day” Monday morning. “This is a game changer,” he said. “We need to prevent …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A powerful earthquake jolted Mexico City on Tuesday, seriously damaging buildings and sending people fleeing into the streets on the anniversary of a 1985 quake that did major damage to the capital. Local television stations broadcast images of collapsed facades and streets filled with rubble. The extent of damage and injuries was not immediately clear. …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump has claimed the reason he did not reach out to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto immediately after the country’s huge earthquake was because there was no cellphone reception in Mexico. The president was asked why he had not yet contacted Peña Nieto following last Thursday’s magnitude 8.1 earthquake in Mexico that left at least 96 …

CBS News reports: Five people are dead at a Florida nursing home that was evacuated early Wednesday after several days without power. Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief said about 100 patients were evacuated from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills early Wednesday and officials are working to relocate them to safety. Three people were found dead at the nursing home …

The Washington Post reports: Millions of Floridians grappled with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Wednesday, confronting a sweltering reality: More than 40 percent of Florida still lacked electricity, and for some of them, the lights might not come back on for days or even weeks. “We understand what it means to be in the dark,” said Robert Gould, vice …

Reuters reports: Residents who fled the Florida Keys in anticipation of Hurricane Irma’s wrath were told they could not return to their island homes on Monday, news that angered evacuees anxious to get back to assess the damage. Authorities reported widespread damage on the archipelago off the tip of southern Florida. At the White House, U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Tom …