This week, FEMA announced the plan to end shipments of emergency food and water to Puerto Rico; effective Wednesday, January 31, NPR reports.
The agency said food and water aid was no longer necessary.
"The reality is that we just need to look around. Supermarkets are open, and things are going back to normal," Alejandro De La Campa, FEMA's director in Puerto Rico said.
De La Campa added that FEMA would pivot from providing emergency aid in order to move toward and focus on long-term recovery such as rebuilding the island's economy.
"If we're giving free water and food, that means that families are not going to supermarkets to buy," De La Campa said. "It is affecting the economy of Puerto Rico. So we need to create a balance. With the financial assistance we're providing to families and the municipalities, they're able to go back to the normal economy."
The news was not received well. San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a vocal critic of the federal government's response to the crisis in Puerto Rico said the move was premature.
“During all the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, there's been a feature of the Trump administration and that is that they take away the aid before it's done,” Cruz told NBC News.
Cruz, who attended yesterday's State of the Union address, had remarks.
"While I’m standing here with you, there are children without food in Puerto Rico.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who invited Cruz as her guest at the State of the Union, supported the mayor.
“There is a need in Puerto Rico and we ask the president to, for once, do the right thing and not take the aid away from Puerto Rico,” Gillibrand said.
Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) expressed her rancor as well.
“This is outrageous,” Velázquez said. “In New Orleans [after Katrina], FEMA stayed there for 10 years. This is another sign of a president that is totally disengaged from how they treat fellow citizens in the island of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.”
After facing backlash, for the decision to cease food and water aid, FEMA put out a new statement. Spokesperson, William Booher, said that the agency's aid would not end on January 31 after all, noting that the original date "was mistakenly provided."
"Provision of those commodities will continue," Booher said, while also confirming that FEMA still planned to end food and water distribution in the future. The spokesperson also clarified that FEMA has no plans to ship any new food and water to the island, and will decide whether or not to bring more once current stockpiles run out.
Much of Puerto Rico brought in the new year still struggling without electricity; parts of the island have been without a power source for 100 days after Hurricane Maria damaged large parts of the territory. Corruption scandals and accusations of misconduct on the part of federal aid workers have slowed progress towards recovery.
