Trump's damning inaction on Puerto Rico, by the numbers


The Trump administration has been widely criticized for bungling the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, where tens of thousands are still without power six months after the storm. In order to fully understand President Trump's response, though, Politico compared the government's reaction to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico to Hurricane Harvey in Texas several weeks earlier. Here are some of the most damning statistics — and you can read even more in the full investigation at Politico here. Jeva Lange
Six days: How long it took for there to be 73 essential life-saving helicopters operating over Houston
At least three weeks: How long it took for there to be at least 70 such helicopters in Puerto Rico
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
$141.8 million: FEMA assistance to Harvey victims just over a week after the storm
$6.2 million: FEMA assistance to Maria victims just over a week after the storm
30,000: Number of personnel responding in the Houston area within nine days
10,000: Number of personnel responding in Puerto Rico within nine days
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
103: Official death toll as a result of Hurricane Harvey
62: Official death toll as a result of Hurricane Maria
1,052: How high the real death toll in Puerto Rico might be
2: How many times President Trump visited Texas in the first eight days after the storm
1: How many times President Trump visited Puerto Rico 13 days after the storm
24: How many times Trump brought up Hurricane Harvey on Twitter in the first week after the storm
8: How many times Trump brought up Hurricane Maria on Twitter in the first week after the storm
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
How clean-air efforts may have exacerbated global warming
Under the Radar Air pollution artificially cooled the Earth, ‘masking’ extent of temperature increase
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants