Breaking news, breaking news and the devastation of the Caribbean

Exactly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, another catastrophic storm is testing the federal government’s ability to mount a rapid response on an island exposed with its primitive infrastructure and vulnerability to climate change.

Biden White House mobilizes wave of help after Hurricane Fiona It caused torrential rains, severe flooding, landslides and power outages. Echoes of 2017, when Maria caused more than 2,000 deaths and caused billions of dollars in damage, haunt locals still in the process of rebuilding their homes. Some of those whose homes are flooded may face the prospect of having to start over.

“It was a catastrophic rain that wouldn’t stop,” Robert Little, the FEMA coordinator on the island, told CNN reporter Erin Burnett, as government relief efforts began to intensify. “The FEMA team has been ramping up its efforts since we received the call to come here.”

(credit: Puerto Rican National Guard)

The effort builds on strengthening the federal presence on the island since Maria, when the Trump administration came under fire for a chaotic response and for praising itself despite the tragedy that unfolded for months as technicians struggled to restore the electrical grid. Although they are often overlooked in Washington, Puerto Ricans are US citizens who live on US island territory and are entitled to assistance from the federal government.

Detailed assessments of storm damage were still being compiled as of Tuesday morning, but some residents said the horrific floods and mudslides were reminiscent of the devastation wrought by Maria.

The arrival of the latest hurricane has been particularly harsh as many Puerto Ricans have had a hard time since 2017, as they struggled through dark seasons of storms, earthquakes, epidemic and political turmoil.

“This is destruction by devastation,” former San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz told CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room.

While most of the damage five years ago was caused by hurricane-force winds, the problem this time is the amount of rain, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday night. But he said that while the power grid was fixed after Maria, it hasn’t really improved.

However, Berluisi added, “We are now much more prepared than we were in Puerto Rico five years ago when Hurricane Maria hit. Just to give you an example, FEMA now has four warehouses located all over Puerto Rico instead of one.”

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