Biden Pledges More Federal Help for Puerto Rico

Voice of America
23 Sep 2022, 06:35 GMT+10

Washington - The U.S. government is sending money and personnel to Puerto Rico to help the territory in the Caribbean recover from Hurricane Fiona, which has reportedly killed eight people on the island.

The destructive storm devastated Puerto Rico's fragile power grid, blacking out the island, which is home to 3 million people.

During a visit Thursday to the New York City office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Joe Biden received a briefing and announced more help is on the way.

Photo Gallery:

Hurricane Fiona Aftermath

"Too many homes and businesses are still without power, without clean drinking water," Biden said. "Yesterday at the governor's request I immediately approved an expedited major disaster declaration to provide individual and public assistance to help people and communities recover from [the hurricane] and this declaration is going to, well, get federal resources there quickly. And it's going to help people start rebuilding their lives."

The federal government for the next month, according to the president, will fully cover the cost of debris removal, search and rescue operations and power and water supply restoration, as well as for temporary shelters and food.

Puerto Rico has still been struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria five years ago. That storm killed 3,000 people and left the entire territory without electricity for a week.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to South America Times.

More Information

16 ℃

Fair in Buenos Aires/Aeroparque

International

Section

Picture of King Charles to slowly become circulated on UK currency

LONDON, England: As Britain adjusts to its first new head of state in 70 years, the government printers responsible for ...

Women, children among 25 dead after Bangladesh ferry sinks

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Jahurul Islam, district administrator of northern Panchagarh, Bangladesh, has confirmed that a boat carrying Hindu devotees sank in ...

Government of India warns students in Canada about hate crimes

NEW DELHI, India: The Indian government has advised students and other nationals in Canada to be wary of "incidents of ...

Pope Francis asks Italians: 'More births, more children'

MATERA, Italy: In off-the-cuff remarks on September 26, Pope Francis urged Italians to have more children. While in southern Italy ...

U.S. commits $56 million in humanitarian aid to Pakistan, promising more

WASHINGTON DC, USA - As floods devastate the South Asian country, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Pakistan to ...

Australia weighs US offer to build nuclear submarines

WASHINGTON D.C.: The Biden Administration and the Australian government are in discussions regarding the U.S. building the island nation's first ...

Latin America

Section