Senators to visit Puerto Rico to survey damage, relief

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of five senators will travel to Puerto Rico Saturday to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and monitor relief efforts.

The hurricane has killed at least 34 people and most residents are still without electricity.

Democratic lawmakers participating in the trip are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cory Gardner of Colorado will also make the trip. The Department of Homeland Security is coordinating the visit.

The government is spending almost $200 million a day for emergency hurricane response. Lawmakers in the coming weeks will likely consider a $29 billion disaster aid package to pay for recovery efforts and federal flood insurance claims.

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Volunteers help a patient to his feet after treating him in Yabucoa’s, Puerto Rico, where SCORE, a non-profit based in Toledo, Ohio, set up a makeshift medical clinic, Oct. 2, 2017. More than a dozen medical professionals and fourth-year medical students came to the island to help after Hurricane Maria as a part of SCORE, a non-profit based in Toledo, Ohio.  
Carrie Cochran, The Enquirer via the USA TODAY Network
Aurelio Beltran drives through his plantain fields, which were destroyed by Hurricane Maria, Oct. 2, 2017. Acres and acres of destroyed plantain crops litter the Yabucoa valley — Puerto Rico’s largest plantain-producing region. According to Angel Morales, the president of the farming cooperative in Yabucoa, the valley has three to four thousand acres of plantains. Though they have insurance, not only will plantain farmers make no profit because of Hurricane Maria’s damage, they will lose half of their investment, as it costs about $6 or $7 dollars investment for each plant, and they will receive $3.25 back from insurance when it comes through.  
Ricky Flores and Carrie Cochran, USA TODAY NETWORK
Sgt. Jose Castillo of the Puerto Rico National Guard, and Ashley Hernandez give Carmen Bermudez Rosa kisses at the Ruben Rodriguez Figueroa High School’s in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, which is now a makeshift shelter. All of their homes were destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Castillo has been volunteering his time, organizing the residents there to have different duties. “We were strangers when we got here. Now, we are family,” Castillo said. They have been together for a week and started out as strangers. “We are a family,” he said. at a high school in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, about 45 minutes outside of San Juan. 
Carrie Cochran, The Enquirer via the USA TODAY N
Gerald Ramirez, 5, left, and Deyanery Ramirez, 3, right, look down Calle San Miguel in the La Perla neighborhood on Sept. 21, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The majority of the island has lost power, in San Juan many are left without running water or cell phone service, and the governor said Maria is the “most devastating storm to hit the island this century.” 
Alex Wroblewski, Getty Images

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