Puerto Rico's emergency director fired after discovery of warehouse full of hurricane supplies

A warehouse full of food, diapers and baby formula intended to help Puerto Ricans ride out Hurricane Maria two years ago was found Saturday.

“There are thousands of people who have made sacrifices to bring help to the south, and it is unforgivable that resources have been kept in a warehouse,” Gov. Wanda Vazquez said in a statement.

Vazquez announced a 48-hour investigation into the supplies — where they came from and why they weren’t distributed — but officials believe the Ponce warehouse was intended to help residents after Maria devastated the country in September 2017.

News of the warehouse went public after a blogger shared video online of people breaking into the building, taking the supplies stashed inside.

“This is outrageous,” Ponce Mayor María Meléndez said. “Everyone knows what us mayors went through after Hurricane Maria to try and get help to our cities and how we’ve worked these weeks to provide basic supplies to people affected by earthquakes. Those involved owe us an explanation.”

Carlos Acevedo, the director of Puerto Rico’s emergency management agency, was fired Saturday in response to the discovered warehouse. Before his firing, Acevedo insisted that “no citizen has been denied any of the items found at this place," but did not explain why the materials were kept hidden.

Maria, which made landfall as a Category 5 storm, killed almost 3,000 people and left hundreds of thousands thousands of families without power for months.

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