I just heard on the news that 20 barges from FEMA were on their way to Puerto Rico with food, generators and supplies and medical teams. Also a hospital ship.

We are sending the hospital ship Comfort to Puerto Rico

Numero Siete just checked in with the other family in P.R. The oldest Man is coming back because he can't hang in there in the heat. The rest want to stay there and rebuild no matter what. They Love it there. God Bless Em, God help them. They put together a family meal today of Chicken & Rice. They are very resourceful, hard working, kind, religious people. They love me and I love them back, They call me Gordito??? I don't know what they're talking about! :shrug:

Hospitals have taken their world relief boxes and sent them to PR. Just one hospitals donation can run a triage for weeks. Every hospital in every part of the country has world relief boxes packed and ready to go to wherever it's needed. And in a disaster like this you would be surprised at how many more boxes can be quickly put together and shipped immediately.

Comletely agree w you!

It seems like you and Madelaine have missed much of the news re P.R. relief from the mainland! Especially this item, "Rossello and other officials praised the federal government for planning its response in detail before the storm hit, a contrast with what Puerto Rico has long seen as the neglect of 3.4 million Americans living in a territory without a vote in Congress or the electoral college."
Aid begins to flow to hurricane-hit Puerto Rico - POLITICO

C130s began relief drops as soon as the airport reopened. Better that they have the space than Air Force 1 - no?

And ships began delivering relief supplies as soon as the port reopened.

Maybe these articles will catch you and Madelaine up on what has been happening on the Federal relief level.
Federal response in Puerto Rico to Hurricane Maria slowly takes shape - NewsChannel 5 Nashville
Aid reaches Puerto Rico after Maria as threat from cracked dam recedes | World news | The Guardian
$1B OK'd for Puerto Rico hurricane aid, but governor says he'll seek more | Fox News

ONE hospital ship is not going to help much. It's better then nothing. I feel so sorry for those people.

[QUOTE=njbchbum;1454179]It seems like you and Madelaine have missed much of the news re P.R. relief from the mainland! QUOTE]

I don't think we have missed anything about the early neglect of help to PR. It would seem that the powers that be have finally woken up to the need of their citizens on this island. Better late than never, but not before people have died.

[QUOTE=Madelaine Amee;1454188]IMHO you missed the information someplace. I spend a lot of time in Puerto Rico and still have a sail boat there. I have many friends there so I have following this very close. There was significant planning well before the storm hit. The logistics problem caused a delay in execution. The airports were all closed and so were all the ports. They couldn't get planes or ships into the country. The first planes to arrive after they opened a single runway were C-130's loaded with aid. Ships have been waiting and ports just started to open. Is it enough? Probably not, but they are also trying to help US Virgin Islands and BVI as well.

The biggest problems in Puerto Rico is they have spent all the money on hiring people which gets votes. Over 60% of the working population works for the country and local governments. That is not a sustainable model. No money has been spent on infrastructure for years. So a storm like this destroyed everything.

So yes I feel very sorry for them. I am actively trying to get there to help. I have sent personal stuff to folks I know. Not even sure it can get there. But the reason why the island was so damaged were somewhat self inflicted by the way the country has been run for the last twenty years.

I go to a marina in Fajardo a dozen or more times a year. There is a highway bridge down to a single lane because a new bridge is being built. It has been that way for over 10 years. And I have seen people working on the bridge only twice in that time frame. I struggle to hire anyone to do work on my boat. I usually give up and take it over to St Thomas. I can only get something done by paying under the table in cash. Nobody wants to work. It's a huge problem that has created an infrastructure that is crumbling. They are broke and have been for many years because such a huge percent of the work force works in public service of some type.

Please don't take this as a political statement, it is just information as to why they had the extent of the damage they did from personal observations from someone who has spent a lot of time there.

If you get on Univision News you will hear about all the help being sent there. It's not "news" the major news networks want to focus on. They have already mentioned Trump has not been to see the devastation yet! Really? Do people not understand the amount of security and,preparations required to get ANY President to a small island like that? Time, resources and manpower,taken away from the supplies and repairs already happening. I have cousins there, they tell me what they are experiencing and I have more information to go on than our newscasters here. And yes, Where is the Foreign Aid from other countries?
Una Boricua rezando por mi isla.

Here are a few articles to catch you up on what the Federal govt is and has been doing at the direction of the President Trump and his administration:
Federal response in Puerto Rico to Hurricane Maria slowly takes shape - NewsChannel 5 Nashville
Aid reaches Puerto Rico after Maria as threat from cracked dam recedes | World news | The Guardian
Aid begins to flow to hurricane-hit Puerto Rico - POLITICO
$1B OK'd for Puerto Rico hurricane aid, but governor says he'll seek more | Fox News

[QUOTE=Madelaine Amee;1454188]LOL How was aid supposed to arrive to an island nation when there was no airport and no shipping port? Drones?

"early neglect"? You surely missed this paragraph, "Rossello and other officials praised the federal government for planning its response in detail before the storm hit, a contrast with what Puerto Rico has long seen as the neglect of 3.4 million Americans living in a territory without a vote in Congress or the electoral college." Aid begins to flow to hurricane-hit Puerto Rico - POLITICO

In post #20 I gave a link to an article telling where to donate responsibly. I did donate a week or so ago to AmeriCares, because it gets good marks from Charity Navigator, and the $ would go directly to Puerto Ricans. Here is an email I received from them today:

"[UPDATE] October 4, 2017
Puerto Rico

Americares chartered an airlift of medicines and supplies that arrived in San Juan on Sunday, October 1. The shipment contained three tons of critical medicines and supplies, valued at over $1,000,000, including antibiotics, wound-care supplies, intravenous fluids, mental health medications and chronic disease treatments.

The Americares team immediately unloaded the plane and personally trucked the shipment directly to the Department of Health.

In light of news reports of aid piling up on the piers, we wanted to let you know that Americares does not allow any of our medicine and supplies to go undelivered. Nothing is left on the tarmac. Nothing leaves our hands until it reaches its destination.

We have another airlift planned for Friday to deliver medicines and supplies directly to one of the hospitals in Puerto Rico.

We will continue to update you on our response and recovery efforts. Thank you for all you do."

God willing it will be distributed from there to where it needs to be! Friday's delivery sounds great!