Bi-Partisan Group Of Senators Calls For Increased Federal Aid After Trip To Hurricane-Ravaged Puerto Rico

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A bi-partisan group of US Senators, including Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Dick Blumenthal (D-CT) recently returned from a visit to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

Under normal circumstances, when a natural disaster hits you can usually move people to an unaffected area. But that's not the case in Puerto Rico, where every part of the island was impacted by Hurricane Maria.

A majority of the island remains without power and without it, Gillibrand says the economy will not return.

"They have to be able to create businesses, sustain tourism, somehow get agriculture back online," she told WCBS 880's Kelly Waldron.

Bankrupt before the storm hit and set to run out of cash by year's end, Gillibrand and a group of colleagues says the island needs help rebuilding the entire electrical grid and establishing a long term financial plan to sustain it in the future.