Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Hospital San Francisco, where a generator had failed and authorities worked to transfer patients. Credit:The New York Times Trump on Twitter also again defended the federal response, saying that the military and first responders were doing an "amazing job", and blasted the news media, whom he said were disparaging relief workers. A few hours later, San Juan's mayor, Carmen Yulin Cruz, responded by saying there's "no time for politics" in Puerto Rico's recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria. "I have only one goal, and it is saving lives," Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of Puerto Rico's largest city, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "I will say whatever needs to be said or done to be able to do that. There should be no distractions. There's no time for anything else."

US President Donald Trump lashed out at the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Credit:Bloomberg Cruz said she wasn't alone in concluding that federal action to help the US commonwealth recover from Hurricane Maria, which hit on September 20, had been inadequate so far. "General Buchanan has said he doesn't have what he needs in Puerto Rico to get the situation under control," she said of Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan, who's been appointed to lead all military hurricane efforts in Puerto Rico. "Don't take my word for it, take a three-star general's word for it." Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of the city of San Juan in Puerto Rico, made a desperate plea for help on Friday. Credit:CNN The president is scheduled to speak to the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, by telephone on Saturday.

Trump's outburst came after a day after Cruz, delivered a sharp retort to comments from a top Trump administration official, who said the federal relief effort was a good-news story. Marta Sostre Vazquez wade into the San Lorenzo Morovis River with her family after their home was destroyed. Credit:AP "Damn it, this is not a good-news story," Cruz told CNN. "This is a people-are-dying story. This is a life-or-death story." Cruz was referring to a remark by acting US Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, head of the parent department for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who said on Thursday she was satisfied with the disaster response so far. "I know it is really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane," Duke said.

The president offered a similar assessment speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday. "It's a tough situation," Trump said. "The loss of life, it's always tragic but it's been incredible, the results we've had with respect to loss of life. People can't believe how successful that's been, relatively speaking. Democrat Congressman Luis Gutierrez one of four members of Congress born in Puerto Rico, said the Trump administration has done a "disgraceful job" of helping the 3.4 million Americans on the island devastated by Hurricane Maria.

"I think it isn't a good job; it's a disgraceful job. The United States of America is the most powerful, wealthiest country in the world, and this is not a response that's demonstrative of our power and our wealth," Gutierrez said, his voice breaking during an emotional interview Friday night with CNN's Jim Scuitto. Maria, the most powerful storm to strike Puerto Rico in nearly 90 years, has killed at least 16 people on the island, according to the official death toll. More than 30 deaths have been attributed to the storm across the Caribbean. Cruz on Friday also bristled at suggestions that the relief effort had been well-coordinated. "There is a disconnect between what the FEMA people are saying is happening and what the mayors and the people in the towns know that is happening," Cruz, who has been living in a shelter since her own home was flooded, said on CNN. Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words: "Help us. We are dying," Cruz said she was hopeful the situation would improve, but added, "People can't fathom what it is to have children drinking from creeks, to have people in nursing homes without oxygen."

The mayor of San Germán, a town of about 35,000 in the southwestern corner of the island, echoed Cruz's harsh words. "The governor is giving a message that everything is resolved, and it is not true," Mayor Isidro Negron Irizarry said in Spanish on Twitter. "There is no functional operations structure. We are alone." Ground transportation, hampered by fuel shortages and streets blocked with fallen vegetation and utility wires, remained a major challenge. More troops, medical supplies and vehicles were on the way to the island, but it will be some time before the U.S. territory is back on its feet, the senior U.S. general appointed to lead military relief operations said on Friday.

Loading Meanwhile, the insurance industry was tallying the mounting costs of Maria, with one modeling firm estimating that claims could total as much as $85 billion. Reuters