Thousands of bottles of FEMA water abandoned in Puerto Rico on unused runway for months

[HumblePi]

Amid the uproar over President Donald Trump's claim of an "unsung success" in the government's response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico last year comes the odd report of a stockpile of tens of thousands of abandoned bottles of water sitting on an unused runway in Puerto Rico for almost nine months. Roughly 38 millions bottles of drinking water.



Photos of the long stretch of bottles wrapped in blue plastic on about 20,000 pallets surfaced earlier this week. CBS News, which broke the story, said the photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police.

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

He said a career official for the General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) requested FEMA's inventory of excess water this year through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26, 2018.

But by the time 700 bottles were distributed, the water was undrinkable, with residents complaining of its foul smell and taste.

Many people in Puerto Rico had no access to potable drinking water so they resorted to drinking rain water or water flowing from rocks or in streams that was contaminated by animal feces or hazardous waste. No doubt that many people may have died, particularly invalid or older people, from bacterial infections caused by drinking impure water out of desperation.

 

[OrphanSlug]

But Trump said this was a success!

 

[Rexedgar]

It would seem that the water bottles are being treated like a “hot potato





https://usat.ly/2CRqxML


Fromthe USA Today article:

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

 

[Erod]

Socialism can't even hand out water.

 

[pilot16]

Sorry but if I am dying from lack of clean water, I am going to do anything to get it. I cant believe nobody took this water. Good grief.

 

[pilot16]

It would seem that the water bottles are being treated like a “hot potato





https://usat.ly/2CRqxML


Fromthe USA Today article:

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

Lots of finger pointing and the governor there is taking a lot of heat because apparently he signed the paperwork so he knew it was there. They claim they didnt have enough drivers to distribute it. None of it????

 

[Felis Leo]

Amid the uproar over President Donald Trump's claim of an "unsung success" in the government's response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico last year comes the odd report of a stockpile of tens of thousands of abandoned bottles of water sitting on an unused runway in Puerto Rico for almost nine months. Roughly 38 millions bottles of drinking water.

View attachment 67240310

Photos of the long stretch of bottles wrapped in blue plastic on about 20,000 pallets surfaced earlier this week. CBS News, which broke the story, said the photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police.

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

He said a career official for the General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) requested FEMA's inventory of excess water this year through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26, 2018.

But by the time 700 bottles were distributed, the water was undrinkable, with residents complaining of its foul smell and taste.

Many people in Puerto Rico had no access to potable drinking water so they resorted to drinking rain water or water flowing from rocks or in streams that was contaminated by animal feces or hazardous waste. No doubt that many people may have died, particularly invalid or older people, from bacterial infections caused by drinking impure water out of desperation.

I am a little bit confused, and I think there needs to be some clarification. Executive Director Carlos Mercader said that these bottles were not delivered to the Puerto Rican government. How were they not delivered, when they were sitting at a Puerto Rican airport for nine months? It's not as though they were found undelivered at an Airport in Florida, or Mississippi or Alabama having been left unshipped to Puerto Rico. Did the Federal government simply not inform the Puerto Rican government that millions of gallons of potable water was waiting for them to pick up off the tarmac? Was the Puerto Rican government not allowed to go get the water? Were they unable to distribute the water?

Because they did distribute this water after all nine months later. When did the relevant agencies find out about it?

 

[Felis Leo]

Lots of finger pointing and the governor there is taking a lot of heat because apparently he signed the paperwork so he knew it was there. They claim they didnt have enough drivers to distribute it. None of it????

You would think if that were the case, they would just send a notice to officials in surrounding local municipalities: "Hey, we have literally tons of drinkable water, but no way to transport it. Bring your cars, trucks, your wagons, wheelbarrows, anything with a wheel on it, and pick it up to take back to your towns!"

 

[hanger4]

FEMA handles getting the supplies to Puerto Rico who in turn handle distributing those items at a local level. Someone failed.

 

[Roadvirus]

Another example of local government negligence.

 

[holbritter]

Amid the uproar over President Donald Trump's claim of an "unsung success" in the government's response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico last year comes the odd report of a stockpile of tens of thousands of abandoned bottles of water sitting on an unused runway in Puerto Rico for almost nine months. Roughly 38 millions bottles of drinking water.

View attachment 67240310

Photos of the long stretch of bottles wrapped in blue plastic on about 20,000 pallets surfaced earlier this week. CBS News, which broke the story, said the photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police.

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

He said a career official for the General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) requested FEMA's inventory of excess water this year through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26, 2018.

But by the time 700 bottles were distributed, the water was undrinkable, with residents complaining of its foul smell and taste.

Many people in Puerto Rico had no access to potable drinking water so they resorted to drinking rain water or water flowing from rocks or in streams that was contaminated by animal feces or hazardous waste. No doubt that many people may have died, particularly invalid or older people, from bacterial infections caused by drinking impure water out of desperation.

He said a career official for the General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) requested FEMA's inventory of excess water this year through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26, 2018.

But by the time 700 bottles were distributed, the water was undrinkable, with residents complaining of its foul smell and taste.


Bottled water goes bad? And in 9 days??

Edit: It was delivered to PR, and the PR government let it sit on the runway for 9 months. Not FEMA.

 

[Felis Leo]

FEMA handles getting the supplies to Puerto Rico who in turn handle distributing those items at a local level. Someone failed.

Once the water got to the island, I do not see how local authorities can blame FEMA for its failure to distribute unless the local government was never informed about the water's arrival.

 

[Rexedgar]

Another example of local government negligence.

If only the bottled water was paper towels...............................

 

[pilot16]

Horrific communication there. CNN sued to get an accurate death count. The governor said it was 64 two months ago WTH??

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/05/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-death-records/index.html

 

[pilot16]

Once the water got to the island, I do not see how local authorities can blame FEMA for its failure to distribute unless the local government was never informed about the water's arrival.

Nobody stumbled upon it?? They had mass cleanups and people wandering looking for help. Doctors used this airfield. Nobody found it?? Something isnt right here.

 

[holbritter]

I am a little bit confused, and I think there needs to be some clarification. Executive Director Carlos Mercader said that these bottles were not delivered to the Puerto Rican government. How were they not delivered, when they were sitting at a Puerto Rican airport for nine months? It's not as though they were found undelivered at an Airport in Florida, or Mississippi or Alabama having been left unshipped to Puerto Rico. Did the Federal government simply not inform the Puerto Rican government that millions of gallons of potable water was waiting for them to pick up off the tarmac? Was the Puerto Rican government not allowed to go get the water? Were they unable to distribute the water?

Because they did distribute this water after all nine months later. When did the relevant agencies find out about it?

The water was sitting on an unused runway in Puerto Rico for almost nine months.

“Once the transfer of water took place, the water became property of the government of Puerto Rico,” FEMA said, according to Reuters.

Sounds like PR screwed up, but of course it's Trumps fault.

 

[hanger4]

If only the bottled water was paper towels...............................

Cute dig, irrelevant, but cute.

 

[Common Sense 1]

Amid the uproar over President Donald Trump's claim of an "unsung success" in the government's response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico last year comes the odd report of a stockpile of tens of thousands of abandoned bottles of water sitting on an unused runway in Puerto Rico for almost nine months. Roughly 38 millions bottles of drinking water.

View attachment 67240310

Photos of the long stretch of bottles wrapped in blue plastic on about 20,000 pallets surfaced earlier this week. CBS News, which broke the story, said the photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police.

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

He said a career official for the General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) requested FEMA's inventory of excess water this year through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26, 2018.

But by the time 700 bottles were distributed, the water was undrinkable, with residents complaining of its foul smell and taste.

Many people in Puerto Rico had no access to potable drinking water so they resorted to drinking rain water or water flowing from rocks or in streams that was contaminated by animal feces or hazardous waste. No doubt that many people may have died, particularly invalid or older people, from bacterial infections caused by drinking impure water out of desperation.

Why didn't the local national guard deliver the water? Maybe because a lot of them never bothered to show up?
PR was a mess before the first hurricane and after the 2nd one they had to start from scratch. The local government failed on many fronts.
The constant crying about President Trump is just more of the same crap we see every day on DP.

 

[marke]

Amid the uproar over President Donald Trump's claim of an "unsung success" in the government's response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico last year comes the odd report of a stockpile of tens of thousands of abandoned bottles of water sitting on an unused runway in Puerto Rico for almost nine months. Roughly 38 millions bottles of drinking water.

View attachment 67240310

Photos of the long stretch of bottles wrapped in blue plastic on about 20,000 pallets surfaced earlier this week. CBS News, which broke the story, said the photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works with the United Forces of Rapid Action agency of the Puerto Rican Police.

Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in a statement that the bottles were not delivered to the government of Puerto Rico during last year's emergency because they were in the custody of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until April 2018.

He said a career official for the General Services Administration in Puerto Rico (GSA) requested FEMA's inventory of excess water this year through a federal program on April 17 and was given approval to use the supplies on April 26, 2018.

But by the time 700 bottles were distributed, the water was undrinkable, with residents complaining of its foul smell and taste.

Many people in Puerto Rico had no access to potable drinking water so they resorted to drinking rain water or water flowing from rocks or in streams that was contaminated by animal feces or hazardous waste. No doubt that many people may have died, particularly invalid or older people, from bacterial infections caused by drinking impure water out of desperation.

More evidence that human government cannot be completely relied on for deliverance from troubles brought on by natural disasters. People should look to God for relief, not human governments or politicians.

 

[HumblePi]

Another example of local government negligence.

You're wrong. I'm sure that everyone will be pointing their fingers blaming each other but the bottom line is that FEMA delivered the cases of water and left them out on the tarmac. According to the government of Puerto Rico, they didn’t initially distribute the water because it was in FEMA’s custody, and that agency had not delivered or released it to them. IMO it's the responsibility of FEMA not only to fly a plane there with 38 million bottles of water just to dump it on the landing field and take off. They're the ones who should have given authority to the local government to either take the shipment and arrange for civilians to distribute it or distribute it with FEMA workers. There's just no excuse from either side who can fix an error so egregious that it may have cost human lives because of it.

 

[HumblePi]

More evidence that human government cannot be completely relied on for deliverance from troubles brought on by natural disasters. People should look to God for relief, not human governments or politicians.

We can't blame God for bringing it and can't rely on God to make it all better. Natural disasters happen all the time all over the world.

 

[Lesh]

More evidence that human government cannot be completely relied on for deliverance from troubles brought on by natural disasters. People should look to God for relief, not human governments or politicians.

More evidence that REPUBLICAN government cannot be relied on at all.

ANd in GOP administrations...just about all you have is God. Worked well in PR and NOLA huh?

 

[slick]

A year ago when then dopey Russian Collusion nonsense was burning bright I posted that if we wait awhile the
'resistance' will be blaming Trump for 'floods & boll weevils' I can't believe but we are halfway there after the
imagined Trump failure in PR.

When the Boll Weevil crossed the Rio Grande & was able to unexpectedly winter over in the North Texas
plains damaging the staple crop of the south until the late 1930's Trump wasn't even around then. But wait
a minute I'm sure some of his equally offensive to the left ancestors were. Could have they prevented the
pheromone, which attracts cotton boll weevils to a malathion trap, from being produced in mass scale
until the 30's while selling cotton short on the New York Cotton Exchange. I hear that CNN is feverishly
looking into that important matter & will submit 'BREAKING NEWS' shortly before the midterm elections.

 

[marke]

We can't blame God for bringing it and can't rely on God to make it all better. Natural disasters happen all the time all over the world.

People can cry out to the government for relief or they can call on God for deliverance. I am happy to let the world seek relief from crummy sources if that is what they want. I will trust God for deliverance.

 

[marke]

More evidence that REPUBLICAN government cannot be relied on at all.

ANd in GOP administrations...just about all you have is God. Worked well in PR and NOLA huh?

All nations that forget God will be turned into hell. America is not exempt but, of course, Christians in America still fight the wicked barbarians at the gate seeking to fundamentally change America into an image more in line with degenerate ungodly atheistic or false religionist civilizations.