The general widely considered to have turned around the government’s flailing response to Hurricane Katrina, has blasted the Trump’s administration handling of the crisis confronting Puerto Rico.
Russel Honore, who in 2005 was asked by President George W Bush to tackle the aftermath of the storm that tore into New Orleans and killed more than 1,800 people, said more people and emergency equipment should have been sent to the island in advance of Hurricane Maria.
With the island of 3.5m people having suffered so much damage, the government should also have made greater use of the military he said.
“It’s kind of like Katrina: We got it. We got it. Oh, s**t, send in the cavalry,” Mr Honore told Bloomberg News. “This is a hit on White House decision making.”
The comments of the former general, who stood down in 2008, are the latest criticism directed at Donald Trump and what has appeared to be his slow response to the crisis, that has left virtually all the island without power and with shortages of fuel, food and clean drinking water.
He said only the military had the ability to move supplies quickly onto the island as many ports remained closed. As a result, the situation required so-called “expeditionary logistics” that involved specialised ships, aircraft and other equipment.
“The model you want is what was done in Florida [before Hurricane Irma] where every town had National Guard in it” opening shelters and helping direct traffic.
Mr Honore, who now runs a consulting firm, said he would send 50,000 troops to Puerto Rico, where he said the devastation was worse than what New Orleans dealt with after Katrina.
“They need to scale up. In Katrina, I had 20,000 federal troops. Not federal workers, federal troops,” he said.
“I had 20 ships and over 240 helicopters. And Puerto Rico is bigger than Katrina.”
His comments came as the Pentagon announced Brig Gen Jeffrey Buchanan would oversee the military response in Puerto Rico.
Mr Honore, who retired in 2008, said Mr Buchanan was the right man for the job, but thought the appointment came too late.
“His headquarters exists 365 days a year, just for this mission,” said Mr Honore. “It took us eight days to mobilise him to tell him to come do it.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it had 600 workers in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. It said given out more than 4m meals and 1.7m gallons of water.
Earlier this week, a Senate hearing called to discuss “worldwide threats” - including Isis and domestic terrorism, was dominated by Republican and Democratic legislators questioning Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke about the adequacy of the response.
“There is food and water on the island, there is gasoline on the island,” she said. “The challenge for us is getting it distributed.”
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has praised the federal response but also said it could do better. “I am very pleased with the consideration the president has given to Puerto Rico,” Mr Rossello told the New York Times. “However, we still need more, and the president understands that.”
