TWO WEEKS LATER: PR's Ready as Trump Finally Makes Landfall: 'Come See for Yourself the Devastation'

TWO WEEKS LATER

Puerto Ricans Ready as Trump Finally Makes Landfall: ‘Come See for Yourself the Devastation’

The president is expected to arrive on the devastated island Tuesday, 19 hours short of Hurricane Maria’s own wrath two weeks ago.

INGRID ARNESEN
10.03.17 5:00 AM ET

SAN JUAN—President Donald Trump is expected to make landfall in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 11:45 a.m., 19 hours short of Hurricane Maria’s own landfall two weeks ago. It will be Trump’s first visit here since the Category 4 hurricane slammed the island, wreaking disaster from one end to the other, the worst hurricane in 80 years.

“Come see for yourself the devastation we have today and what we’ll need in the months ahead,” said Ramon Rosario, secretary of Public Affairs, when asked by The Daily Beast what message he had for the U.S. president.

“We desperately need more help, our own resources are not enough, we need more deployments,” said Rosario, emphasizing that the central part of the island was completely destroyed. Broken roads and widespread mounds of debris made these worst hit areas inaccessible still.

The USNS Comfort, a Mercy-class hospital ship with a capacity to treat 1,000 patients, is also expected to arrive Tuesday.

In the wake of the massacre in Las Vegas on Sunday night that left at least 59 people dead, security here is at its highest. According to a source with knowledge of the president’s trip, Marine One is already in place at International Luis Marín Airport in San Juan, as well as V-22 escort aircrafts.

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/puerto-ricans-as-president-trump-arrives-come-see-for-yourself-the-devastation