New reporting has revealed approximately 20,000 pallets of bottled water are just sitting there baking in the sun on a runway in Puerto Rico despite the fact that results in the hurricane-ravaged island are still in need despite President Donald Trump’s boasts about doing an “unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico.” Calling it an example of the governments failed response, CNN’s Bill Weir today talked about the water going unused that they found thanks to a social media post from a local law enforcement officer. “Some 20,000 pallets of bottled water by our back of the envelope math, that’s about 38 million bottles of water, ten for every resident of Puerto Rico or so. Just sitting there. Baking in the sun,” Weir said. “Apparently, it’s — FEMA started delivering to that air strip back in the fall, October or November or so. They didn’t start distributing it until May, and then some residents complained of a foul odor and taste, unsure whether it came that way or got that way from sitting in the sun for months in the heat down there. Then that prompted more water testing, and it’s just been sort of a perfect storm of logistical nightmares.” He added that there was definitely need for the water. “I couldn’t help think back to all the folks I saw a month after the storm drinking rain water, drinking creek water.” The CNN reporter added he also thought of “all the very solid earnest National Guardsmen and FEMA workers who brought that water down here, thinking they were going to save and help lives.” Weir also pointed out that the water still could be used by those in need, noting he’d met a woman yesterday. That woman, he said, “has to go down into town and carry up this cistern in the back of her truck to field her animals, herself and her baby. So there is still plenty of need. But that disconnect is still so vivid a year after.” Trump has praised his own response to Puerto Rico, tweeting out this early Wednesday morning: We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan). We are ready for the big one that is coming! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2018 He also claimed in an Oval Office briefing the relief efforts in Puerto Rico “was an incredible, unsung success.” Watch above, via CNN [image via screengrab] Have a tip we should know? [email protected]<doc-sep>Millions of water bottles sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria never reached their intended recipients, The Hill reported on Wednesday. FEMA told CBS News correspondent David Begnaud on Tuesday that a vast amount of relief water had never been distributed. Begnaud had tweeted that the bottles were sitting on a runway in Ceiba, an eastern municipality bordering the Atlantic Ocean. FEMA told Begnaud that it had turned the water over to the central government. Puerto Rican photographer Abdiel Santana had captured images of piles of water bottles. "Although you don't believe it…almost a million boxes of water that were never delivered to the village," Santana write in a Facebook post. BREAKING: What may be millions of water bottles. meant for victims of Hurricane Maria, have been sitting on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, since last year, according to @FEMA, which confirmed the news to me, late tonight, after pictures, posted today on social media, went viral. pic.twitter.com/jidGJAvCyJ — David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) September 12, 2018 Begnaud wrote about the aid failure the same day that President Donald Trump described the recovery effort a success. "I actually think it was one of the best jobs that's ever been with respect to what this is all about," Trump told reporters Tuesday at the Oval Office. "The job that FEMA and law enforcement and everybody did, working along with the governor in Puerto Rico, I think, was tremendous. I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success." The president said his government's response was praiseworthy, because the island already had infrastructure problems before both hurricanes, Irma and Maria, struck the island. The storm and its subsequent impact killed nearly 3,000 people, according to a study from researchers at George Washington University. Hundreds of thousands of people lacked power for months, and essential food and clean water aid was slow to reach isolated areas in the commonwealth. Damage caused by flooding, rain and winds that reached 155 miles per hour resulted in $90 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz repeatedly criticized and pleaded with the Trump administration to provide more aid after the devastating storm, which prompted an exodus of 200,000 Puerto Ricans to the continental U.S. 2,431 applications for funeral assistance were submitted to @fema after María. Only 75 approved. Oh yes Mr Pres another sign of success? — Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) September 12, 2018 Cruz issued an incredulous response to Trump's comments on Tuesday. "Success? Federal response according to Trump in Puerto Rico a success? If he thinks the death of 3,000 people [is] a success God help us all," she wrote on Twitter. Last month, The New York Times reported that the National Guard failed to distribute 10 trailers of food, water and other supplies donated after the hurricane. The Government Accountability Office described the FEMA effort as "the largest and longest single response in the agency's history. As of April 2018, FEMA had obligated over $12 billion for response and recovery for Hurricane Maria (see figure below) reflecting the scale and complexity of efforts given the widespread damage." But the report also criticized the response, noting that FEMA struggled with logistical challenges and a lack of preparation to effectively provide aid after a Category 5 hurricane, particularly during a heavy hurricane season. A FEMA report assessing the response to the 2017 storm season noted that the agency was not prepared to respond to crises outside the continental United States and was hindered by too few workers, an understocked warehouse and a lack of organization.<doc-sep>FEMA has confirmed that a huge stockpile of bottled water, sent to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, has been sitting on a runway for a year - despite Donald Trump branding the US response an incredible success. Photos of the consignment were shared online by photographer Abdiel Santana who estimated there were possibly millions of water bottles sitting on a runway in Ceiba. Santana, who is a photographer for a Puerto Rican police agency, questioned why the water was left sitting there unused and not delivered to hurricane survivors. READ MORE: Puerto Rico raises death toll of Hurricane Maria to 2,975 from initial 64 Santana said he first saw the water consignment in October last year and was maddened to discover that it was still there. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told CBS News that the water was distributed to the central government of Puerto Rico as part of hurricane relief efforts last year. Mr. President, @fema has confirmed to @CBSNews that water (possibly million of bottles) sent by FEMA to Puerto Rico - and turned over the govt of Puerto Rico - has been sitting on a runway in Ceiba, PR, since last year - unused. https://t.co/Y7gCCIJpNmhttps://t.co/R5bfsU0jol — David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) September 12, 2018 Jose Andres, a chef who prepared millions of free meals for islanders following the hurricane, said his team were aware of the stockpiles but not allowed to access it. He called on the governor of Puerto Rico Ricardo Rossello to launch an official independent investigation into the incident. My teams @WCKitchen@natemook@ErinSchrode knew about it but first they will say no we can not use them, months later water was no good for human consumption.We were “buying” water because they wouldn’t give it to us @ricardorossello we need an official independent investigation! https://t.co/FG2bainoVD — José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) September 12, 2018 It comes as President Trump cause outrage by claiming that the US response to Hurricane Maria was “an incredible unsung success.” In a further statement, Wednesday, Trump said his administration did an “unappreciated great job” in supporting Puerto Rico despite the inaccessibility of the island, poor electricity and an “incompetent mayor.” The 3,000 people who died in Puerto Rico would probably differ with Trump's self-assessment that he did "an unappreciated great job" https://t.co/0L8FZvTVxu — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 12, 2018 3,000 died waiting for help in Puerto Rico waiting for help. The response was a failure, and this Congress has been derelict in refusing to investigate.This is not about you. Lies and bluster will not help as we focus on preparing for Florence. https://t.co/YMNZsT19TD — Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) September 12, 2018 Nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico, likely in part because of the administration’s ineptitude, and he’s still upset that people aren’t giving him more credit (and is still taking jabs at the San Juan mayor who rightly said they weren’t doing enough). What a gross man. pic.twitter.com/0GHPIVsgSH — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) September 12, 2018 Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20 2017.Initial figures from authorities recorded 64 deaths however last month the US territory estimated the death toll stood at 2,975, making it the deadliest storm to have hit Puerto Rico since the 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane. The administration’s efforts in Puerto Rico were widely criticized as slow and insufficient.<doc-sep>
A photographer said Tuesday that a stockpile of bottled water he saw on a tarmac in Puerto Rico a year ago was still there during a recent trip. The Federal Emergency Management Agency reportedly told the CBS News correspondent David Begnaud that it provided the water to the central government in response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, but it is unclear what kept the water from being distributed. Many of the deaths in the aftermath of Maria were attributed to power failures and limited access to healthcare and clean drinking water. A photographer working for a Puerto Rican police agency posted photos online Tuesday that he said showed a stockpile of bottled water on a runway in the city of Ceiba that had gone unused for about a year. The water was believed to be part of relief efforts after Hurricane Maria wrought devastation on the US territory last September. The photographer, Abdiel Santana, said he first spotted the stockpile of what could be millions of water bottles last year but took the photos after seeing it in the same place during a recent trip to the island. The bottles were provided by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and turned over to the central government last year, according to the CBS News correspondent David Begnaud, who first reported on the revelation. "The water was kept in an area that was pretty hard hit during the storm and could have used all the water they could have gotten," Begnaud said in a video report. Nearly 3,000 deaths have been attributed to Hurricane Maria, making it the second-deadliest storm in the US. Many of the deaths were attributed to power failures and a lack of access to healthcare and clean water, according to a study from the George Washington University. The Puerto Rican government initially linked just 64 deaths to Maria. The government withheld data behind its figures, prompting news organizations like CNN to take legal action. The apparent bureaucratic breakdown comes as another looming natural disaster bears down on the US mainland. Hurricane Florence, a Category 4 storm, is expected to hit the Carolinas and Virginia as early as Thursday night with the potential for strong winds, a massive storm surge, and heavy rain. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump boasted about his administration's response to Maria: "Puerto Rico was incredibly successful," Trump said, pointing to some of the problems the island had before the hurricane. "It was one of the best jobs that's ever been done with respect to what this is all about." Trump earned some heavy criticism for those remarks, including from the outspoken mayor of the capital San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, on Tuesday night.