We need to lay the blame for Puerto Rico where it belongs: on DT and FEMA's feeble response.

Not on the people of Puerto Rico, or a perceived lack of volunteers, or the local elected government.

It was obvious from before the hurricane hit that this would be a major disaster, and DT's administration failed to step up to the challenge. They should have had the military prepositioned and ready to spring into action. Even after the scale of the disaster was manifestly clear, DT continued to make horrendous decisions -- like refusing to waive the Jones Act till today (even though he had quickly waived it for Harvey and Irma) which would have made it much easier and cheaper for supplies to be delivered to the island; like requiring refugees from the storm to pay full price for airline flights off the island, and to have their passports taken till they could repay the cost.

Lt. General Russel Honore, who turned around the Katrina disaster, is infuriated about DT's handling of P.R. -- and he is right.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/general-who-led-katrina-response-criticizes-puerto-rico-efforts?utm_content=politics&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics

"It’s kind of like Katrina: We got it. We got it. Oh, s--t, send in the cavalry," Honore, now retired from the military, said in an interview Wednesday. "This is a hit on White House decision making."

He said more people and equipment should have been sent to the island in advance of the storm, and the Department of Defense should be given far greater authority over the response.

Only the military has the ability to move supplies quickly onto the island as many ports remain closed, he said -- what he called "expeditionary logistics," a mix of specialized ships, aircraft and other equipment that the National Guard can’t match. Before the storm hit, the federal government should have positioned more personnel in Puerto Rico, he said.

SNIP

He said the administration wasn’t adequately prepared before Maria hit.

"The model you want is what was done in Florida" before Hurricane Irma, he said, where "every town had National Guard in it" -- opening shelters, helping direct traffic and doing similar tasks.

Trump should direct the military’s Northern Command, created after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 to respond to major disasters in the U.S., to take charge of the response, Honore said.