A photographer claimed to have found a stockpile of bottled water sitting on a tarmac in Puerto Rico.

A year later, the photographer stated the water was nonetheless there.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency reportedly advised CBS News correspondent David Begnaud that it supplied the water to the central authorities in response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, however it’s unclear what saved the water from being distributed.

Many of the deaths in the aftermath of Maria had been attributed to energy outages, and restricted entry to heath care and clear ingesting water.

A photographer working for a Puerto Rican police company reportedly caught a glimpse of a stockpile of bottled water on a runaway in the town of Ceiba. The water was believed to be half of aid efforts after Hurricane Maria wrought devastation on the US territory in September 2017.

A year later, the photographer, Abdiel Santana, stated the stockpile of what could possibly be hundreds of thousands of water bottles had been nonetheless standing on the tarmac.

The bottles had been reportedly supplied by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and turned over to the central authorities final year, in accordance with CBS News correspondent David Begnaud, who first reported on the revelation.

“The water was kept in an area that was pretty hard hit during the storm, and could have used all the water they could have gotten,” Begnaud stated in a video report.

Santana stated he shared his pictures on-line, realizing that it might spark outrage – the identical feelings he felt after discovering the bottles remained untouched, in accordance with Begnaud.

Nearly three,000 individuals are believed to have died in the aftermath of Maria, making it the second-deadliest storm in the US. Many of the deaths had been attributed to energy outages and a lack of entry to well being care and clear water, in accordance with a research from the George Washington University.

The Puerto Rican authorities initially cited 64 deaths from Maria, a quantity that skeptics have disputed. The authorities additionally withheld information for its figures, forcing information organizations like CNN to take authorized motion.

The obvious bureaucratic breakdown comes as one other looming pure catastrophe bears down on the US East Coast. Hurricane Florence, a Category four storm, is predicted to hit North Carolina with the potential for 130 mph winds, a massive storm surge and heavy rains late Thursday evening or early Friday morning.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump boasted about his administration’s response to Maria: “Puerto Rico was incredibly successful,” Trump stated, pointing to some of the issues the area had previous to the hurricane. “It was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about.”

Trump earned some heavy criticism for these remarks, together with from the outspoken mayor of San Juan, Carmen Cruz, on Tuesday evening.