Tens of Thousands of Water Bottles Intended for Hurricane Victims Were Found in Puerto Rico Field
Tens of Thousands of Water Bottles Intended for Hurricane Victims Were Found in Puerto Rico Field
Sea of Expired Water Bottles Dumped on Puerto Rican Farm
Tens of thousands of water bottles meant for Hurricane Maria survivors in Puerto Rico have been found sitting on a private estate unopened and expired, two years after the disaster killed nearly 3,000 people.
At a Glance
- The water bottles had been sent to Puerto Rico as part of relief efforts after Hurricane Maria.
- Reconstruction efforts in Puerto Rico have been plagued with controversy.
Tens of thousands of water bottles meant for survivors of the two hurricanes that pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017 have been found sitting unopened and expired on a private estate.
Aerial images from the news agency AFP show fields covered in piles of water bottles, many packaged in giant bundles that look like they were never opened. AFP said the site is about 25 miles west of San Juan.
A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency told AFP the water bottles had been sent to Puerto Rico as part of relief efforts after Hurricane Mariain September 2017, which destroyed much of the United States territory and, by some estimates, killed nearly 3,000 people. The storm hit just two weeks after Hurricane Irmaskirted the island, causing widespread damage and power outages.
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The FEMA spokesman declined to comment further to AFP, other than to say that issues surrounding the dumped water bottles were "under review by the legal department."
In a similar incident last year, some 20,000 pallets of unused water bottleswere found sitting on an airport tarmac, CNN.com reported.
Controversy has surrounded relief efforts in Puerto Rico since shortly after Maria hit. Rebuilding is ongoing, and some of the financial aid from the U.S. was tied up for months amid political wrangling.
Six government officials were recently charged with embezzling $15 million in hurricane reconstruction money, AFP also reported.
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https://weather.com/news/news/2019-07-30-puerto-rico-expired-water-bottles-field