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At 9PM ET September 20, ABC News reported
The island of Puerto Rico has been "destroyed" after Hurricane Maria made landfall there as a Category 4 storm Wednesday morning, according to emergency officials.
Puerto Rico's office of emergency management confirmed that 100 percent of the U.S. territory had lost power, noting that anyone with electricity was using a generator.
Multiple transmission lines sustained damage from the storm, said Ricardo Ramos, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. Ramos said he hopes to begin launching helicopters by this weekends to begin inspecting the transmission lines.
Telecommunications throughout the island have "collapsed", Abner Gomez Cortes, executive director of Puerto Rico's office of emergency management and disaster administration agency, told ABC News.
[...] Cortes described Maria as an unprecedented storm, adding that the island had not seen a storm of that strength since 1928.
[...] Puerto Rico was still experiencing tropical-storm force winds Wednesday afternoon, forcing emergency services and search and rescue teams to wait before heading out to assess the damage, Cortes said.
More than 12,000 people are currently in shelters, and hospitals are now running on generators, Cortes said. Two hospitals--one in Caguas and one in Bayamon--have been damaged.
No deaths have been reported so far, but catastrophic flooding is currently taking place on the island. Multiple rain gauges have reported between 18 and 24 inches of rain, with some approaching the 30-inch mark over the last 24 hours.
Flooding is the danger "that will take lives", Cortes said, advising residents not to venture out of their homes until Thursday because "it is not safe to go out and observe".
[...] As of 8 p.m. ET, Maria had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained wind of 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
[...] Some strengthening is possible now that the storm is back over the ocean, so Maria has potential to become a Category 3 hurricane again.
National Hurricane Center graphics for Maria.
Map of Caribbean Islands.
At 15:20 UTC, Mashable reported
Clips shot in the [cities] of Farjado, San Juan, and Guyama show buildings experiencing extreme structural damage. Doors are being ripped right off their hinges, and windows, walls, and roofs of homes, restaurants, and hotels are being stripped away by the storm's incredible power.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by requerdanos on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:18PM (39 children)
I feel for the residents of Puerto Rico and they are in my thoughts and prayers. First one major storm, then another, then some official who proclaims hyperbolic-ally that the entire island has been destroyed.
This would probably fail--indeed not even be conceived--had the target island been destroyed. I hope and pray that they meant "suffered heavy, widespread damage" or some other such not-totally-destroyed fate.
Thus not only not unprecedented, but the precedent (that was stronger, even) was less than 100 years ago. What is with these people? Isn't the actual storm and associated damage bad enough?
Assuming it's still there--I heard it had been destroyed.
Not destroyed?
Not outright destruction?
I have close friends with family in PR and I anxiously await hearing word from them. I hope they aren't listening to their officials just lately.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:31PM (8 children)
Line-by-line quotation and rebuttal is irritating to read and is sure sign that the author has an immature grasp of argumentation, particularly because such micro-quotation is guaranteed to cut out valuable context.
Anyway, you should consider placing your thoughts and prayers into a bottle and then casting that bottle into the ocean; maybe they'll make it to the people in need.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by requerdanos on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:36PM
Although in this particular case, I don't believe that valuable context has been lost, I nonetheless apologize for irritating you. Peace.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:42PM (1 child)
Your nitpick was wrong the first time and it is wrong now.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:48PM
It's not a nitpick. Try again.
Oh, I assure you that it is not wrong. You're wrong.
This is the first time.
I'm glad you agree that you're wrong.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @05:41PM (4 children)
It is the favorite method of jmo and some others, how about you go pick on them as well?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:39PM
Yes, much better to just write huge paragraphs without explaining what you're even replying to. How you choose to organize your text can turn a good argument into a bad one.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday September 21 2017, @10:04PM (2 children)
I would say that many people do pick on jmo and others... but is it really picking on them when it is deserved?
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 22 2017, @12:33AM (1 child)
Imo it should be avoided because it lowers the quality of discussion. It creates tribalism. Tribalism is something humans should strive to evolve beyond.
I admit, sometimes I need to put a surprising amount of effort in keeping with that when it's jmo.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday September 22 2017, @03:58AM
IMO J-Mo can go fuck himself sideways with a rusty chainsaw. He's outright advocated for fascism, time and time again, with the unshakeable and undeserved confidence that can only come from a case of chronic, stage 4 Dunning-Krugeritis. This makes him either too dumb to bother with, or too evil not to do the text equivalent of Nazi-punching to.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by VLM on Thursday September 21 2017, @05:04PM (8 children)
With no electricity, the locals aren't listening and the officials are merely trolling for donation money, which makes it sound very TV commercial-style over the top.
PR can join the US military, where I met some at a military training class. For them, its a near perfect analogy to us joining the French Foreign Legion. There was enough of a language barrier that we didn't get to know any of them, although at a very superficial level they implied they were the cream of the crop from their country (which given the expense of training them here, was probably true) and they did seem like nice enough people. The statehood question came up and none of them wanted PR to become a state, I donno the group or individual politics of that. It seems very strange to have the national guard of a foreign country report formally and directly to the USA president, but that's how it is.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday September 21 2017, @05:15PM
> With no electricity, the locals aren't listening and the officials are merely trolling for donation money, which makes it sound very TV commercial-style over the top.
Do I get twice as many destroyed islands if I order in the next five minutes? I'm really worried about S&H fees from a destroyed island, but ten easy payments of $10B sounds like one hell of a deal!
Maybe Apple should just buy the island altogether.
(Score: 5, Informative) by NotSanguine on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:47PM (6 children)
Puerto Rico [wikipedia.org] is most certainly *not* a foreign country. It is an unincorporated territory of the United States. Puerto Ricans are natural-born American citizens and have (as does the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam) a representative (non-voting) in the House of Representatives.
Puerto Ricana are as American as any other citizen. Just as anyone born in the fifty states is an American citizen, so is anyone born in Puerto Rico.
And just to scare you, as Americans, they have U.S. passports and can travel anywhere in the U.S., the same as any other American.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 1) by DECbot on Thursday September 21 2017, @08:58PM
Additionally, they can serve in the US military. In fact, one of my company commanders was Puerto Rician. The only time I understood precisely what she was saying was when she was on the far side of the parade field yelling at us.
"You! You in the blue! YOU! Hey ~crazy~ one! Yes YOU! What are you doing looking around!?! Get DOWN! Push ups, BEGIN!"
Coincidentally we were all wearing blue.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 22 2017, @04:20AM (4 children)
I would contend that "being American" means you can vote in federal elections when old enough.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday September 22 2017, @04:39AM (2 children)
Fortunately, you're not running things.
There are Puerto Ricans who are just as big an asshole as you are. There are Puerto Ricans that are kind, decent people.
They're business owners and system admins and recruiters and hookers and bus drivers and teachers. They're Psychologists and bank robbers and dentists and professional athletes and child rapists and stay at home moms.
They're politicians and butchers and engineers and CEOs. They're just like everyone else.
What they also are is Americans. Deal with it, you worthless piece of shit.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 23 2017, @02:49AM (1 child)
It must feel good to bitch out other people like that. I don't actually think being American is so great. Who wants to associate with a bunch of aholes? Yes, Puerto Ricans have US citizenship. But they don't have an important right (to vote). You might remember that America was founded because people wanted to be able to vote.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday September 23 2017, @03:52AM
Just pointing out to a bigoted asshole what a bigoted asshole he/she is. I don't get any great pleasure out of it, I just don't like people who disrespect their fellow humans. I find such behavior despicable.
If you don't like being an American, more power to you. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, friend.
That's only true WRT elections for *Federal* offices, and the same is true for the folks on Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
They most certainly *can* vote in local and territorial elections.
Also, citizens (from all those places) that live in a U.S. state most certainly can vote in Federal elections.
If it bothers anyone in Puerto Rico, they are free to move to any U.S. state, just like every other citizen. And if you move to Puerto Rico, you wouldn't be allowed to vote in Federal elections either.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday September 22 2017, @04:40AM
Oh, and some of them are worthless pieces of shit. Just like you.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 21 2017, @05:27PM (19 children)
Multiple transmission lines sustained damage from the storm....
This would probably fail--indeed not even be conceived--had the target island been destroyed. I hope and pray that they meant "suffered heavy, widespread damage" or some other such not-totally-destroyed fate.
in this case they mean that 100% of the island is without power. Funny how you left that bit out...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 21 2017, @05:38PM (18 children)
Well now they certainly are done for. I think we had a story about that a couple days ago, with a coronal mass ejection wiping out the grid and ending all life on Earth. We need smartphones to breathe and digest our food, after all.
What I suspect is actually the case is that people who live in the Caribbean take hurricanes in stride, the way that people took blizzards in stride in the high mountains where I grew up. Losing power due to an act of nature is something that happens. People know how to take shelter, keep bottled water around, canned goods, and batteries. I suspect they, like we, keep around hand-crank radios and lanterns. I suspect they, like we, check on their neighbors and help each other rebuild.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 21 2017, @06:02PM (11 children)
Sure, I don't disagree with that.
I was just pointing out that taking out 100% of the electrical grid counts as "destruction" in most people's book.
(Score: 1, Troll) by requerdanos on Thursday September 21 2017, @06:25PM (10 children)
Well, sure, destruction of something on the island.
Not of the Island.
Sort of like destruction of your theory here does not equate to you, yourself being destroyed.
It's not a difficult separation to make; different things are different even if one is a superset of the other on a massive scale.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by http on Thursday September 21 2017, @06:50PM (9 children)
Aristotle said it well:
-- Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1 (~350BC)
I browse at -1 when I have mod points. It's unsettling.
(Score: 3, Touché) by requerdanos on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:06PM (2 children)
Still, I would submit that genuinely confusing "some poles and wires" with "an island of 13,000 square kilometers (~5,000 sq mi) with a population of over three million" reflects a serious problem of perception and understanding that goes far beyond a simple "lack of precision."
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Thursday September 21 2017, @09:06PM (1 child)
Additionally, does "destroyed" mean that there are lines down and a few towers and poles with damage and need repair, or does it mean the majority of poles and high voltage towers are so utterly damaged and missing that the entire grid requires outright replacement? "Destroyed" makes me think of the latter, but the statement from the Mr. Ramos sounds more like the former. Either way, I'd like a descriptor better than "damaged."
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Friday September 22 2017, @01:48AM
It means absolutely obliterated. Their electrical grid is totally destroyed and so many other things. It’s in very, very, very perilous shape. It’s very sad what happened to Puerto Rico (what is going to happen to North Korea). I wouldn't bail them out. You have to cut the debt way down and get back to business. 🇺🇸
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday September 21 2017, @10:53PM (5 children)
Good. Now, for the sake of precision, post the quote in Greek (the original language), please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday September 22 2017, @01:46AM (4 children)
For the sake of precision we need to dig up Aristotle and bring him back to life and ask for the exact quotation....
....could prove to be difficult, though.
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday September 22 2017, @02:01AM (3 children)
I'll tell you another thing that may prove difficult: posting anything in Greek characters.
As of now, if try using the Greek characters plane of UNICODE, you'll be very likely asked "to figure out something else." by the lame lameness filter.
Come one, give it a try, go to Know thyself [wikipedia.org] and copy/paste those Greek Unicode characters, see what goes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday September 22 2017, @09:04AM (2 children)
Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, Chapter 1, as follows:
Yep, you need to remove every unaccented iota, replaced here with a barbaric Latin "i".
Source: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0053%3Abekker%20page%3D1094b [tufts.edu]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 22 2017, @10:02AM
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday September 22 2017, @10:08AM
Wrong section, Book 1, Chapter 3!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 21 2017, @09:24PM (5 children)
In the late 1800s it may have been the case that people living in the Caribbean knew how to take tropical weather in stride, today with jet travel, easy immigration, and 89 years of no major storms hitting Puerto Rico, they're ripe for a fall - 89 years of sub-code construction and people who have lived in houses "all their lives without a problem" suddenly sunbathing whether they want to or not.
The post-Irma effects around here have been: day 1 standing water, falling trees and no electricity. Day 3, the standing water is gone, but the ants have multiplied by a factor of 10 from their pre-storm populations, apparently they like wet food. Day 5, electricity restored - just as we were getting into a power-free groove that actually worked pretty well. Day 7, the mosquitoes are here - worse than after Matthew which was itself 10x worse than a normal wet season mosquito bloom. It's all pretty easy to take since we still have a roof, windows with screens, working plumbing, etc. Take away the intact house and the whole thing becomes a lot less enjoyable.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 21 2017, @10:19PM (4 children)
They routinely get hit by tropical storms and hurricanes every year. And just with a little googling, I see that hurricane Hugo was cat 3 when it hit Puerto Rico in 1989.
[...]
Ants can't breathe water either. So of course, they're going to be on the surface where there is air, say in that nice dry house, rather than the usual places they go. The mosquitoes are a genuine surge in population. Apparently those eggs can last a while.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 21 2017, @11:17PM (2 children)
Congrats on your research. Around here, our evac plans hinge on whether or not a Cat4 or higher has a reasonable chance of a direct hit. Cat3 and lower wind levels are generally NOT devastating to reasonably good construction even when you get the eyewall. Around 140mph sustained winds the shit hits the fan, especially when you do an eyewall traversal that hits you from one direction and then the other. Almost the whole island of Puerto Rico just got that, and it shows. Do some more research on what the after-effects of Hugo was on Puerto Rico and write a brief comparison/contrast paper on that.
The ants didn't show up in-force until after the sandy soil drained out, it's probably a combined effect - you'd be surprised at how quickly they can multiply. And, they're not in the house, they're all over the yard in much higher density than normal.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by khallow on Thursday September 21 2017, @11:32PM (1 child)
And how much are you paying me to do that?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday September 22 2017, @01:41AM
Just as much as I paid you to look up when the last "biggest" hurricane hit Puerto Rico - one internet point. I might even give you a mod+ informative if you get some interesting facts in there.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday September 23 2017, @09:15PM
>Ants can't breathe water either. So of course, they're going to be on the surface where there is air...
Got bored, found this: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2387844?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents [jstor.org]
Irma basically replicated those results in my yard. Areas of dry sand+litter became wet, ants moved in to the newly wet litter and multiplied - remarkably quickly.
At least the mosquito bloom is tapering down, for the moment. Still have 2-3 truckloads of brush to move out, waiting for the insect dominance of the yard to subside a bit more before doing the last of the cleanup.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 22 2017, @12:29PM
Or they could use a couple of their other go-to verbs: "devastated" or "decimated." "Decimated" means "reduced by a tenth," which might be closer to the actual extent of the damage than "destroyed."
I find it ironic that another mis-used verb, "impact" would actually be nearly appropriate in this context, in the sense that the hurricane did physically impact the island and did leave a physical mark. And yet, they won't use it in the one case where it's called for.
Washington DC delenda est.