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Is Puerto Rico Getting Its Due?

Puerto Rico's governor in Washington, D.C., to plead his case.

A month into the disaster, Puerto Rico is still in "response mode." If you don't have electricity or clean drinking water, you cannot call it a recovery process.

See this story, Puerto Rico governor calls for "equal treatment" in relief efforts

I think the governor is smart to not come into Washington, D.C., guns blazing about the level of federal response that Puerto Rico is receiving. We'll soon see if his approach works with the president and federal legislators, or if only promises are made with no significant uptick in effort or resolution to the budget crisis that Puerto Rico is in.

Anecdotal evidence is that those residents with the means to leave the island commonwealth are doing so, making the long-term prognosis for a robust recovery from the disaster that much more unlikely. 

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.