Last week, Congress questioned FEMA over the delay in restoration to the remaining 100,000 Puerto Rico residents who have been without power for six months. “I just want you to imagine your own hometown here in the mainland without electricity for two months — three, four, six months without power, with also failing communications with the only assurance that ‘we are working on it,’” said Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico), at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Subcommittee on National Security, expressing frustration over the slow recovery. Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plasket asked, “We’re now several months ahead of hurricane season again. Predictions are that this hurricane season should be the same level of activity as last year’s. Does FEMA have in place prioritization for the hurricane season that is coming, knowing the compromised state that the Caribbean-Americans are in right now?”
Michael Byrne, assistant administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Field Operations Directorate replied that the coming hurricane season will likely be difficult. “We are going to take extraordinary steps to make sure we have stuff in place, but I have to be honest, it’s going to be a rough year,” Brynes said. “There’s a fragile stability we’ve built and we’re going to need to take extra steps.”
