The Diva has been observing emergency management matters for almost 40 years, but does not recall a time when so many ad hominem attacks on the part of the high level political officials involved in a disaster were noted publicly.  See this article:

FEMA Administrator Says San Juan Mayor’s Remarks Are ‘Political Noise’

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long on Sunday said San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz’s remarks critical of the U.S. relief effort on Puerto Rico are just “political noise.”

“We filtered out the mayor a long time ago. We don’t have time for the political noise,” Long said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “The bottom line is, we are making progress every day in conjunction with the governor.”

Cruz on Tuesday said President Donald Trump’s remarks on a visit to the island were “insulting.”

“He really has a communication issue,” she said. “You know he’s sort of like the miscommunicator-in-chief, really.”

She thinks it is unlikely that that the name calling by public officials will facilitate the monumental problems with response and in recovery in Puerto Rico. Be sure to see the  readers’ comments. 

From the Pew Charitable Trust: Federal Disaster Goes Beyond FEMA. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent by diverse agencies.

Update: A related matter is this comment from Larry Larson of the Assoc. of State Floodplain managers.

We need to change the terminology used to explain where federal monetary assistance came from.  I have quit using the terms “federal government” and FEMA or HUD funding.  Instead I use “federal taxpayer” money through FEMA or HUD or whoever.  *** Craig Fugate recently explained that precise difference.  This is important because everyone thinks the federal government or some agency is not them, but if we use the term federal taxpayer, they all realize that is them—they are paying and will pay more attention to the issue

Larry

For the past few days, I have been posting articles about various facets of the economic and financial conditions in Puerto Rico before H. Maria hit the island.  Added to what I shared so far is this article from Bloomberg News about the complex financial and legal circumstances of the massive debt that Puerto Rico had before the hurricane hit. The Diva can barely understand the complexities of their situation. See: Trump Could Push the Justice Department Into Puerto Rico’s Debt Fight.

The bottom line: the recovery in PR is likely to be fractious, lengthy, and perhaps the most complicated ever experienced in the U.S.