A video showing a Puerto Rican warehouse full of unused supplies—allegedly given to aid survivors in the aftermath of Hurricane María—has set off a political firestorm on the island, currently reeling from a series of earthquakes.

The footage, streamed on Saturday by Lorenzo Delgado Torres, instantly went viral, showing a warehouse in the southern coastal city of Ponce full of unused emergency supplies: bottled water (now expired), propane gas tanks, portable stoves, diapers, and baby formula. The supplies are believed to have been sitting at the 43,000 square-foot warehouse since September 2017.

 
 

As the New York Times reports, word of the unused emergency supplies spread quickly through Ponce, where thousands remain in shelters following the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that hit the island two weeks ago. Angry residents showed up at the warehouse to “demand an explanation, jeer at government officials and take some of the supplies,” writes the Times.

Gov. Wanda Vázquez attempted to move quickly to quell the crisis. In an official statement given after the enraging discovery, she called the unused resources “unforgivable.” By Sunday, she had fired three cabinet officials: Carlos Acevedo, director of Puerto Rico’s Office of Emergency Management, was the first to go, followed by Housing Secretary Fernando Gil and Department of Family Secretary Glorimar Andújar.

Source: Fallout Continues in Puerto Rico After Warehouse Full of Unused Relief Supplies Is Discovered

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