Leading up to President Trump's trip to Puerto Rico on Tuesday, October 3, the official death toll from Hurricane Maria was 16. However, that count had not been updated since last Wednesday, thus, rendering much of the narrative made of it obsolete. Now it appears that soundbites of the President throwing the number around - while simultaneously touting the work done by first responders and downplaying the severity of the storm - may come back to haunt him, as the total would jump to 34 by Tuesday evening.
A whopping 95 percent of the 3 million-plus citizens on the island are still without power, and only 47 currently have access to potable water. And most have gone without cellphone service since the devastating storm hit land on September 20, thus, scores of people remain missing with some believed to simply lack the ability to travel and others dreaded to be deceased. According to San Juan Mayor, Carmen Yulin meeting with U.S. officials did help sort out some logistical inconveniences so that aid that has been centralized on the coast could make its way into the island's interior.
Yulin also noted that better communication has been established so that those on the ground and Washington could be on the same page, albeit Yulin remains critical of the President on the topic of communication. In an interview with MSNBC, the mayor called Trump the "Miscommunicator-In-Chief."
Source: abcnews.go.com
