As Ian batters Florida, Puerto Ricans fear being forgotten

Residents of the island territory still suffer power and water outages from this month's Hurricane Fiona, along with damage lingering from Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Puerto Ricans still trying to recover from Hurricane Fiona have a plea for the Biden administration: Don’t forget about us.

Even before Florida suffered its own devastating hurricane landfall Wednesday, community and nonprofit leaders in Puerto Rico were criticizing the Biden administration for what they call missteps in the government’s response to Fiona. Those include not initially covering all of Puerto Rico in President Joe Biden’s declaration of a major disaster, as well as a slow flow of federal aid to communities that experienced catastrophic flooding after receiving 20 to 32 inches of rain.

Now, some in the U.S. island territory fear that the undeniable recovery needs in Florida, after the state’s pummeling by Category 4 Hurricane Ian, will shift attention and resources away from Puerto Rico when it remains vulnerable.

That won’t happen, Biden said after a FEMA briefing Thursday, adding that it is his intention to go to Puerto Rico.

“I want to be clear: To the people of Puerto Rico, we’re not going away,” the president said. “I am committed to you and the recovery of the island. We’ll stand by you for however long it takes to get it done.”