Hurricane Fiona drenched parts of Puerto Rico with more than 30 inches of rain leading to wide-spread blackouts and flooding. Five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, is calling for humanitarian aid.
"Last time Puerto Rico experienced this kind of natural disaster our country failed to respond," he said. "We need to remember, our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico deserve the same kinds of all-in, all-hands-on-deck response."
In 2019, Connecticut was home to the 6th largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the United States according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
Blumenthal said he plans to formally request aid this week in Washington DC.
He said one pressing issue is making sure the electrical grid in Puerto Rico is resilient in the weeks and months to come. The island’s private electricity provider, LUMA Energy, says it could take several days until power is restored across the island.
This story will be updated.