Since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, millions of dollars in damage has been done, and a majority of the island’s residents remain without power and clean water.

President Trump, whose response to the hurricane and allocation of federal funds has been criticized by Democrats and members of the Puerto Rican community alike, assures that response workers’ efforts have been “nothing short of a miracle.”

Regardless, organizations in the Iowa City community are increasing their efforts to help those in need.

Reinaldo Franqui Machin, a PhD candidate in molecular medicine at the University of Iowa, said he is “concerned how President Trump has reacted to Puerto Rico.”

Franqui Machin is the co-president of the Latina/o Graduate Student Association and Association of Multicultural Scientists.

Franqui Machin, along with locals and members of the Puerto Rican community, raised money for victims Friday night at Caliente Night Club located at 171 Highway 1 in Iowa City with “Unidos Por Puerto Rico” (United for Puerto Rico).

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Caliente Night Club charged a $10 cover, with all of the proceeds going to hurricane relief. The event, Franqui Machin said, raised $2,460.

Franqui Machin said aid is desperately needed in Puerto Rico – despite the death toll estimate ranging around 34, Franqui Machin said there are unconfirmed estimates in the hundreds due to poor medical care.

“They had to close down a hospital because it smelled like a morgue,” Franqui Machin said.

Despite these reports, Franqui Machin said he has been pleased with Iowa City’s reaction so far.

“I think we’ve gotten a great response from everyone,” Franqui Machin said. “I’ve been trying to work hard, because Latinos are a minority in Iowa, so it’s hard to get going sometimes.”

Franqui Machin said there is much work to be done still, however.

“I would not be surprised if people are still without power in two to three months,” he said.

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Shakoora Sabree, a medical student training program (MSTP) trainee at the UI, said the Global Medicine Society in the Carver College of Medicine put together a new group, called the Humanitarian and Emergency Response Team.

The group’s first task – allocate resources to Puerto Rico.

The group will host an event on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Kelch Conference Room entitled “Puerto Rico: How Climate Change Has Impacted Our Fellow Americans,” which will feature guest speakers who have connections to Puerto Rico and a screening of Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

The event, Sabree said, will “entail speakers who have connections to Puerto Rico, and discuss the changes we’ve seen in climate change over the past few years.”

Although this is the first disaster the Humanitarian and Emergency Response Team is responding to, Sabree said it won’t be the last.