FEMA says it is ‘slowly’ making progress in Puerto Rico1 hour, 46 minutes | Washington

Federal emergency officials said Monday they are working in Puerto Rico to restore power and other essential services to the devastated island. FEMA officials say they're 'slowly starting to make progress' in Puerto Rico Federal emergency officials said Monday they are working in Puerto Rico to restore power and other essential services to the devastated island.

Lawmakers seek Puerto Rico exemption to law that slowed aid

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are pushing to exempt Puerto Rico from a federal law that prohibits foreign-flagged ships from shuttling goods between U.S. ports. President Donald Trump temporarily waived the Jones Act last month amid criticism that the once-obscure law hindered relief efforts to in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

Seafarers Fret Over New Assault on Jones Act in Wake of Storms

On the darkened bridge of the Chesapeake Trader, with radio chatter filling the air, three officers were easing the giant freighter into San Francisco Bay when an unexpected vessel suddenly appeared on the starboard side. They scrambled to avoid catastrophe.

Liberty Elementary celebrates vibrant Hispanic culture

Liberty Elementary School students wave the flags of different Latin American countries at the annual Hispanic Heritage Month presentation Friday. The girl second in line is waving the Puerto Rican flag, and students performed a dance in honor of the U.S. territory slowly recovering from widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

U.S. to boost military personnel in Puerto Rico: senator

The United States plans to have 17,000 military personnel in Puerto Rico to aid disaster recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria, a Democratic senator briefed on the plan told reporters on Saturday. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, speaking to news media after a bipartisan Congressional visit to the island, said Brigadier General Jose Reyes, Assistant Adjutant General of the Puerto Rico National Guard, told Blumenthal that "there will be 17,000 military personnel," including 8,600 National Guard troops from 13 U.S. states.

USNS Comfort responds to second hospital generator failure

The U.S. Health and Human Services and Puerto Rico Department of Health representatives are prioritizing patients at each stop prior to Comfort's arrival. The Department of Defense is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency, in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria to minimize suffering and is one component of the overall whole-of-government response effort.

Puerto Rico still devastated, storm Nate threatens

We end today's show where we began the week: in Puerto Rico . Doctors say the island's health system remains crippled two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit the island , leaving more than 90 percent of the island without electricity and half of its residents without drinking water.

San Juan residents pitch in with cleanup, lifting their own spirits

Puerto Rican society is starting to mirror the island's jarring post-Maria natural landscape, where the ghostly gray-brown of wind-slashed tropical trees is already being overtaken by the iridescent green of emphatic new growth. Roberto Figueroa Caballero sits on a small table in his destroyed home Oct. 5 in the La Perla neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Why scientists are rushing to save Monkey Island in Puerto Rico

As thousands of troops and government workers struggle to restore normal life to Puerto Rico , a small group of scientists is racing to save more than 1,000 monkeys whose brains may contain clues to some of the most important mysteries of the human mind. One of the first places Hurricane Maria hit in the US territory Sept.

Hurricane mauled PR’s renowned Monkey Island research center

As thousands of troops and government workers struggle to restore normal life to Puerto Rico, a small group of scientists is racing to save more than 1,000 monkeys whose brains may contain clues to some of the most important mysteries of the human mind. One of the first places Hurricane Maria hit in the U.S. territory Sept.

As Nate looms, cost of federal hurricane disaster relief grows

While President Donald Trump said this week that disaster aid efforts in Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria were "throwing our budget a little of whack," the reality is that the relief numbers are quickly growing overall as the feds help deliver aid to those hit hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, with Tropical Storm Nate now possibly ready to take aim at the Gulf Coast in coming days as well. The White House on Wednesday sent Congress a $29 billion request for extra disaster relief funds, which GOP leaders say will be voted on in the House next week, as the Trump Administration acknowledged the cost is not small change.

LCPD officers on hold for Puerto Rico duty

Las Cruces officers on hold for Puerto Rico duty LCPD officers waiting for possible deployment to hurricane-devastated island at a later time. Check out this story on lcsun-news.com: People wait in line to see a representative of FEMA at the Parque de Nino in Yabucuo in Puerto Rico on Oct. 2, 2017.

Hillary Slams Trump’s Response to Puerto Rico: Was He Busy ‘Golfing’ and ‘Tweeting’?

During an appearance on The Tonight Show , Clinton excoriated President Donald Trump for his administration's slow response to Puerto Rico in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. After telling host Jimmy Fallon that she was of course disappointed Trump was president at this time due to his temperament, Fallon asked her if she felt she could handle things differently.

Russian collusion findings endorsed

The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday largely endorsed the findings of the intelligence community that Russia sought to sway the 2016 U.S. elections through a hacking and influence campaign, and they called for a "more aggressive, whole-of-government approach" to ensure future elections are not similarly compromised.

Hurricane deployments stretch US military thin

The extended deployment of military cargo jets and Navy ships to help with Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma relief efforts is causing military planners to scramble and recalculate future deployments all the way from Afghanistan to the Korean Peninsula, according to several defense officials familiar with the current discussions underway inside the Defense Department. Due to security concerns, officials refused to discuss specific changes in deployment timelines or the units involved, but sketched out how they could impact overseas deployments into 2018.

Americans unhappy with Trump’s Puerto Rico failures

Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of President Donald Trump's handling of the Puerto Rico hurricane relief effort. According to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, just 32 percent approve of how Trump is handling disaster relief in the U.S. territory, while 49 percent disapprove.

With little food, water or power, Puerto Rico residents say a no one has comea to help

In a 13-story apartment building just 15 minutes from the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lizbeth Vasquez Delgado is caring for her parents and their neighbors the best way she knows how. After Hurricane Maria came ashore as a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane in September, Vasquez, who lives in New York City, is tending to their needs.