Statement from the Press Secretary on Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery
(The White House): President Donald J. Trump has named U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown of Florida as his Special Representative for Puerto Rico’s Disaster Recovery. In this capacity, Admiral Brown will coordinate United States Government efforts to build the infrastructure and resiliency of Puerto Rico. The island of Puerto Rico was devastated by Category 4 Hurricane Maria in September 2017, suffering significant loss of life and catastrophic damage to infrastructure. In January 2020, Puerto Rico was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake and hundreds of additional aftershocks and tremors, damaging hundreds of homes and infrastructure. Multiple Federal agencies continue to respond to the needs of the people of Puerto Rico, and billions of dollars in Federal funding have been allocated responsibly to response and recovery work. Admiral Brown will be the White House coordinator for those ongoing efforts at the national level, i...