The disaster of Hurricane Maria was twofold: first, a natural disaster. Second, a delayed response to a humanitarian crisis and the longest blackout in American history. Grid restoration work is finally picking up speed nearly seven weeks after the hurricane's strike.
Speaking with reporters yesterday, House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), whose committee has jurisdiction over U.S. territorial issues, said restoring energy to the island would require coordination among four players.
"We have to get away from the idea that somebody is in power, and in control, and realize that you've got four separate entities that have to work together and not in an adversarial way," Bishop said, naming the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Army Corps of Engineers, the government of Puerto Rico and the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, established by Congress to watch over the commonwealth's bankruptcy.
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