Puerto Rico: Water bottles for victims of Hurricane Maria stored on a tarmac could total millions

the Federal Government Response to Hurricane Maria is studying on photos showing what appears to be millions of water bottles for victims still sitting on a track in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, more than a year after the storm.

The Puerto Rican government has blamed much of the mismanagement of resources on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A senior FEMA official told CBS News "David Begnaud" that if [FEMA] put this water on the track, there will be hell to pay … If we did that, we will realize it. "

Images of huge stacks of bottled water began circulating on social networks Tuesday, the same day, President Trump called the government's response to Maria an "unsung success" at a meeting on hurricane preparedness at the Oval Office. Nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico because of the storm.

The photos were taken by Abdiel Santana, who works for the Puerto Rican Police's Rapid Action Force Agency. Santana said that he had broken the photos because he was angry to see them still sitting there, nearly a year after spotting them for the first time. Santana told CBS News that she took pictures of the bottles last fall, but has not yet provided these photos.

Marty Bahamonde, director of disaster operations at FEMA, confirmed that the agency had delivered bottled water to the island, but said the agency was not tracking specific shipments. We do not know what became of the bottles after delivery. FEMA is investigating whether the agency has placed the water bottles on the track or not.

Carlos Mercader, executive director of Puerto Rico's federal affairs administration, said in a statement that he considered FEMA's mistakes in the management of water bottles. Mercader said that FEMA should have distributed water to the victims on the island, since they were in possession of the agency. He said that the Ceiba runway is federally managed land, and that FEMA should have held that the water bottles had been "oversupplied" several months ago.

The General Services Branch in Puerto Rico (GSA) claims to have requested the FEMA surplus water inventory as part of a federal program on April 17 and obtained authorization. to use the supplies on April 26th. In total, the GSA has claimed about 20,000 pallets of water.

GSA's administrator for Puerto Rico, Ottmar Chávez, said FEMA reported having bottled water before taking control. Chávez said that he only became aware of the bottled water on Tuesday and did not know why he was there, how he was there or how long he had been there. He now says that he would like FEMA to take responsibility for the water because his agency has received two complaints about the taste and smell of water.

Barceloneta is one of the municipalities that have complained about the taste and smell of water. Mayor Wanda Soler Rosario's office said his office was "surprised by the reports" and denied ever filing a complaint. "I want to point out that no verbal or written information was presented at any time, representing a complaint about the water we received," Rosario said in a statement to CBS News.

Chavez, the administrator of the GSA, said he was in contact with FEMA and the Ministry of Health to test the water.

The governor of Puerto Rico last month brought the official toll of US territory following Hurricane Maria, from 64 to 2,975 people. The storm, which devastated the territory last September, also caused $ 100 billion in damages.

Below is the full statement of Mercader, the executive director of the Administration of Federal Affairs of Puerto Rico: