KANSAS CITY, Mo. — "I barely made any contact with my family until today," Kyle Geary said. He lives in Kansas City but has multiple relatives in Puerto Rico dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Geary wants people to, "Imagine the entire state of Kansas, everyone, with no power, no food, no gas, damaged houses, 90-degree heat for 10 days. That's a terrible situation. Then add another half million people on top of that." That's how he describes the situation in Puerto Rico now, nearly two weeks after the storm. "It's a real disaster and it's a humanitarian crisis."
Tuesday, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump spent hours touring the devastation first hand, handing out relief supplies and meeting with local officials. The President said during his visit, "I hate to tell you Puerto Rico but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack."
Critics complain of the slow response, but the president said, "We've saved a lot of lives."
The death toll in Puerto Rico is now at 34 people. Access to clean water and consistent power is extremely limited. Geary believes that if 3.4 million Americans in the contiguous United States were in such crisis, the focus would be different.
"Would we even be questioning if we would help them? No, we would do that," he said.
If you'd like to help, there's a benefit at Uptown Theater on Saturday, October 7th. For more information, click this link.
