US President Donald Trump is still trying to deny that thousands of Americans were killed in Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year as the country is bracing for another storm, House Democrats said in a Twitter post on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2018) US President Donald Trump is still trying to deny that thousands of Americans were killed in Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year as the country is bracing for another storm, House Democrats said in a Twitter post on Thursday.
"President Trump won't acknowledge the thousands of Americans who died on his watch," the Democrats said. "And even worse, Republicans have no interest in holding this administration accountable."
Trump tweeted earlier in the day that a report claiming that 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico in two hurricanes was not accurate. The president argued that when visited the island, only 6 to 18 deaths had been registered and the toll did not increase after the storm passed.
An independent study conducted by the George Washington University Milken Institute school of Public Health and released in August concluded that Hurricane Maria caused the deaths of 2,975 people in Puerto Rico between September 2017 and February 2018.
The argument over the number of deaths in Puerto Rico is back in the spotlight as the United States awaits another powerful storm, Hurricane Florence, which is expected to hit the Carolinas this weekend. The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has warned the residents of North Carolina that the natural disaster could cause massive damage to infrastructure and loss of power. Local authorities have advised people to respond to evacuation orders promptly and closely follow weather reports.
The US president has been asked this week whether the administration is prepared for the disaster. Trump said with confidence that the federal government is ready to respond to Hurricane Florence as it has done in the past.
