A brigadier general will arrive in Puerto Rico on Wednesday to manage the disaster response after the territory was hit by two hurricanes, the Defense Department said.
The new ground commander, Brig. Gen. Richard Kim, will set up an operational headquarters as the military ramps up efforts on the island with more airlifts and ships, and shifts from a short-term relief mission primarily from the sea to a land-based mission aimed at long-term aid, according to Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
Meanwhile, the Navy’s hospital ship USNS Comfort was set to leave for Puerto Rico within the next few days. The ship can provide surgery and other medical care to some of the island’s 3.4 million American citizens who are victims of Hurricane Maria, which raked across the territory and U.S. Virgin Islands last week.
“You’ll probably see here in the next, for Puerto Rico, in the next 12-24 hours we’re going to start even more stuff, but you have to understand what is happening on the ground so you don’t add to the burden,” said Gen. Lori Robinson, commander of U.S. Northern Command, which is overseeing the military response.
The DOD is sending Kim, who is deputy commanding general of operations for U.S Army North, and the USNS Comfort after some criticism of the disaster response effort from Democrats and Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the House Armed Services ranking member, called the response a disgrace and urged President Trump to send a military commander to the island.
“At a minimum, President Trump needs to assemble a coordinated military effort headed by a three-star general officer, as President Bush did after Hurricane Katrina,” he said.
Trump will travel to Puerto Rico on Tuesday, and he defended his administration’s handling of the widespread destruction from Maria, which came on the heels of the powerful category 5 storm Hurricane Irma.
“A massive effort is underway, and we have been really treated very, very nicely by the governor and by everybody else. They know how hard we’re working and what a good job we’re doing,” he said during a joint press conference.
Meanwhile, congressional leaders in the House and Senate said they were poised this week to approve more funding for disaster recovery on the U.S. territories in the Caribbean.
“I expect we’ll hear more soon on what additional resources will be necessary in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the paths of the storms,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.
