Imagine you wake up to a bright beautiful morning. Birds are chirping, the sun is smiling bright, radiating warmth to you through your window. You’re having a good day. You eat a good breakfast. You won’t be late for work. Suddenly a storm hits. Trees crash, streets flood, alarms go off. Loud, Scary, Frantic. “Hurricane Maria has hit. Evacuate immediately.” Now imagine going back to the home you once left stable, you see it ruined. Trashed. Destroyed. Help will not come.

On Sept. 20,  Hurricane Maria, a category four hurricane with 150 mph winds, hit Puerto Rico. Many families were left without their homes and belongings. The hurricane destroyed the entire island and drenched it with multiple feet of rain. The hurricane caused hundreds of deaths, the virtual destruction of the electrical power grid, the elimination of thousands of housing structures, and the collapse of most telephone lines and cell networks. Little has been done to help aid Puerto Rico since the disaster. Today the island still has little power and many places still have no water to drink, bathe, and flush the toilet with.  Even with all these damages The Federal Emergency Management Agency still has not authorized full reconstruction aid to Puerto Rico. The government needs to send more aid to Puerto Rico and help it’s economy recover.

What’s the hold up? Well, President Trump’s leadership after Hurricane Maria has been absent. He has only delivered nonsense to pass as presidential speeches and has not proposed any solutions. It’s funny how Trump is quick to tweet out responding to the football players exercising their freedom of speech by kneeling during the National Anthem, yet he is slow to recognize the devastation Hurricane Maria caused in Puerto Rico. The Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, has begged for help. He warned that the death toll was rising, most of the island was without power, and supplies necessary for survival were running low. Even after his request for aid, the government still did not respond.

Puerto Rico is an Island located in U.S territory. Citizens of Puerto Rico are entitled to the same government response as any other state in the U.S but the citizens of Puerto Rico are unaware. The government should have handled the crisis in Puerto Rico as they did in Texas and Florida.

On August 26, 2017 Texas was hit by Hurricane Harvey. On September 10, 2017 Florida was hit by Hurricane Irma. On both occasions the government responded quickly and sent out aid to both states. President Trump can also be heard in one of his speeches, discussing the disasters, boasting about how much better the states were doing after aid was sent to them.

How do you think residents of Puerto Rico feel, knowing the other states are receiving help but they have to keep waiting for their saviors to come. I would be furious. The government is their to protect the states and provide aid to citizens of the United States. The government is being unfair with the way it is treating Puerto Rico.  Although it might not seem like it, Puerto Rico is still a part of the U.S and the people living there are citizens. Hurricane Maria is a terrible disaster that deserves more attention and a better response.