Study: Puerto Rico received slower, less "generous" federal disaster aid than Texas, Florida

The federal government's response to hurricanes Harvey and Irma on the mainland was faster and more "generous" — in terms of resources and funds — than its assistance to Puerto Rico before and in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, according to a newly released study.

By analyzing federal spending estimates and other statistics, researchers at the University of Michigan found significant differences between the aid Texas and Florida received after the two states were hit by powerful storms and the assistance dispatched to Puerto Rico when María struck the island and U.S. territory in the fall of 2017.

"The federal government responded on a larger scale and much more quickly across measures of federal money and staffing to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida, compared with Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico," researchers wrote in the report. "The variation in the responses was not commensurate with storm severity and need after landfall in the case of Puerto Rico compared with Texas and Florida."

According to the study, within nine days of landfall in the U.S. for Harvey and Irma, survivors in Texas and Florida received approximately $100 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds, while María survivors received about $6 million in FEMA assistance in the same amount of time.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-puerto-rico-received-slower-less-generous-federal-disaster-aid-than-texas-florida/