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Warehouse filled with water, other unused disaster supplies from Hurricane Maria angers Puerto Rico

Posted at 7:47 PM, Jan 19, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-19 19:47:18-05

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - People in a southern Puerto Rico city discovered a warehouse filled with water, cots and other unused emergency supplies, then set off a social media uproar when they broke in to retrieve goods as the area struggles to recover from a strong earthquake.

Anger spread in the U.S. territory Saturday after video of the event in Ponce appeared on Facebook, and Gov. Wanda Vázquez quickly fired the director of the island's emergency management agency.

The governor said she had ordered an investigation after learning the emergency supplies had been piled in the warehouse since Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in September 2017.