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FEMA and PR
Posted on: October 12, 2017 at 09:10:45 CT
Silas MU
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U.S. officials have privately acknowledged that Puerto Rico is facing a massive food shortage amid an escalating humanitarian crisis, a new report claims. The news comes as the island continues to face staggering water and power shortages and growing anger among its citizens that the U.S. government has not done enough.
Officials working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) say that only 200,000 meals per day are being provided by the government, according to the Guardian. That small allotment is meant to feed more than 2 million people, with many of the meals made in a “military ready-to-eat” style that can be challenging to digest over an extended period of time, the publication reported. According to the disaster-relief nonprofit World Central Kitchen, the organization’s agreement with FEMA expired on Tuesday, ending the mere 20,000 meals per day it had been supplying, which was outlined in its contract.
“There is no urgency in the government response to this humanitarian crisis. They have all the officials and armed guards at headquarters, but they have no information about the island,” World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés told the Guardian. “They don’t even have a map they can share about who needs food. FEMA is over-paying and it is under-delivering.”
Officials from FEMA declined to comment on the issue to ThinkProgress, suggesting only that the FEMA website provides all the information necessary on the topic. While no acknowledgement of food shortages appears anywhere on the site, FEMA does claim that it has given out “millions of meals and millions of liters of water” to Puerto Ricans since the crisis began.
No further specifics were given.
FEMA has come under fire for its handling of the crisis in Puerto Rico, which began three weeks ago after a Category 4 hurricane slammed into the island. More than 20 days later, at least 45 people are dead and more than 110 remain unaccounted for. Those who survived the hurricane are grappling with an increasingly dire situation. Around 89 percent of the island is without power and nearly half lack cell phone access.
Officials working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) say that only 200,000 meals per day are being provided by the government, according to the Guardian. That small allotment is meant to feed more than 2 million people, with many of the meals made in a “military ready-to-eat” style that can be challenging to digest over an extended period of time, the publication reported. According to the disaster-relief nonprofit World Central Kitchen, the organization’s agreement with FEMA expired on Tuesday, ending the mere 20,000 meals per day it had been supplying, which was outlined in its contract.
“There is no urgency in the government response to this humanitarian crisis. They have all the officials and armed guards at headquarters, but they have no information about the island,” World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés told the Guardian. “They don’t even have a map they can share about who needs food. FEMA is over-paying and it is under-delivering.”
Officials from FEMA declined to comment on the issue to ThinkProgress, suggesting only that the FEMA website provides all the information necessary on the topic. While no acknowledgement of food shortages appears anywhere on the site, FEMA does claim that it has given out “millions of meals and millions of liters of water” to Puerto Ricans since the crisis began.
No further specifics were given.
FEMA has come under fire for its handling of the crisis in Puerto Rico, which began three weeks ago after a Category 4 hurricane slammed into the island. More than 20 days later, at least 45 people are dead and more than 110 remain unaccounted for. Those who survived the hurricane are grappling with an increasingly dire situation. Around 89 percent of the island is without power and nearly half lack cell phone access.
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FEMA and PR - Silas MU - 10/12 09:10:45
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