If nothing else the federal government is there and they're between two states (and also a lot of the media is there) so it's a bit harder to imagine almost the entire city being without electricity for over a week.

That's probably true, though only because you've chosen that specific problem (and even then - I wouldn't claim that any level of incompetence is out of Pepco's reach).

How about the fact that DC still has a lead contamination problem that was, at its peak, 20-30x worse than the one in Flint, MI? Is that a problem that makes you think the 680,000 residents of the city, who pay all federal taxes and overwhelmingly want to be recognized as a state, deserve the same representation as the people of Wyoming or Texas or New Hampshire? DC's lack of representation is shameful - the textbook example of cynical, undemocratic partisan politics.

Puerto Rico absolutely deserves better representation and all the aid necessary to help them rebuild, but DC's situation is ridiculous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_contamination_in_Washingt...

I am totally in favor of DC statehood; I just find it hard to imagine we'd see these levels of apathy if it looked like Puerto Rico still does now.