Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra has declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico owing to the extreme flooding caused by Hurricane Fiona, which made landfall earlier this week.
As per Newsroom Odisha, The HHS has dispatched 15-person health and medical task force from its National Disaster Medical System and a 10-person incident management team to Puerto Rico in response to the Wednesday proclamation.
“The declaration follows President Biden’s disaster designation and provides greater flexibility to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) beneficiaries and their health care providers and suppliers in fulfilling emergency health demands,” the Department stated in a statement.
Becerra tweeted on Wednesday, “We will do all possible to assist officials in reacting to the effects of Hurricane Fiona and are prepared to provide additional public health and medical support.”
We are ready to give additional public health and medical support and are collaborating closely with territory health authorities and federal partners. Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday as a Category 1 storm, delivering severe rainfall, devastating destruction, and a blackout throughout the entire island.
Localized flash flooding and urban flooding due to surges continue to devastate the nearly 3 million-person island. According to poweroutage.us, more than one million consumers in Puerto Rico were still without power as of Wednesday evening.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, Fiona, which has grown into a Category 4 hurricane, is approaching Bermuda.
