Charleston Mayor Says He Hopes for Faster U.S. Response to Next Disaster
Mayor Joseph Riley Jr. said Friday he hopes federal disaster officials react to the next national disaster faster than they did in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo.
Riley said he met with top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and found them sincere, but called the disaster relief law “grossly inadequate” and the response to the emergency too slow.
“I hope next time a national disaster hits this country, the government will have a better response,” Riley said. “I would be shirking my responsibility and be less honest if I didn’t say what I felt.”
Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers on Friday restored the link between mainland Charleston and the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. The hurricane had knocked the bridge over the intracoastal waterway into the water, cutting off about 20,000 residents.
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