CONTROL BOARD: Puerto Rico Needs ‘Unprecedented’ United States Help To Recover From Hurricane Maria

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SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico has suffered such extensive devastation from Hurricane Maria that its recovery will fail unless the island gets more United States help.

That’s the word from Natalie Jaresko, executive director of a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances.

Jaresko tells Congress that the U.S. commonwealth needs emergency and restoration funds “on an unprecedented scale” to restore housing, water and electric power.

Puerto Rican authorities have estimated the island suffered $45 billion to $95 billion in damage in the September storm. So far, Congress has approved nearly $5 billion in aid.

The head of Puerto Rico’s power authority isn’t testifying as scheduled before a House committee — citing “urgent efforts” on power restoration.

To read more:

http://time.com/5003470/united-nations-puerto-rico-hurricane-response/

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.