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Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico Asks For Federal Help to Recover

Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico Asks For Federal Help to Recover
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Food, water and medical aid are "top priorities" for Puerto Rico after a Category 4 storm lashed the island, but the US territory also needs to deal with crushing debt and collapsed infrastructure, said US President Donald Trump.

Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico Asks For Federal Help to Recover

In a series of tweets on Monday evening, Trump said that Puerto Rico's debt to Wall Street and the banks "must be dealt with" as the island continues to fight for federal funding after Hurricane Maria.

Most of the island is without power, entire communities are flooded, and tens of thousands of residents were told to evacuate as several dams could fail at any moment.

Trump's social media announcements come after Puerto Rico's government asked a federal judge for up to four extra weeks to meet key deadlines in its bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reported.

Hurricane Maria further worsened the island's already fragile infrastructure.

On Monday afternoon, residents evacuated from the northwestern corner of the island were told to stay put as the Guajataca Dam could fail at any time.

"Stay away or be swept away," the San Juan office of the National Weather Service said in a flash flooding warning. "River banks and culverts can become unstable and unsafe. Stay away from evacuated areas until told by emergency officials it is safe to return."

Nearly 70,000 people live downriver from the dam. Governor Rossello said he was working on the assumption that the 120-foot [35- meter] dam would eventually collapse, Reuters reported.

"I'd rather be wrong on that front than doing nothing and having that fail and costing people lives," Rossello said. "Most of the people in the near vicinity have evacuated."

It remained unclear whether he was referring to all 70,000 residents in the area at risk, or only the several hundred nearest to the dam.

About 320 residents from the nearby towns had moved to safety, Reuters reported, citing local media.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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