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: 3, Disagree) by frojack on Thursday September 21 2017, @06:15PM (12 children)
I mention Texas because Texas has been proven to have its Shit Together, they took care of Katrina victims and pretty much handled Harvey by themselves.
Still dumping PR on their door step would be a nasty thing to do to Texas.
If any one organization could fix PR it would be Texas.
The only other thing I see working is upgrade PR's "Commonwealth" status to full fledged Territory status. (The actual status of PR is still in some dispute. Its not universally recognized as a territory, yet in other respects the local government has almost as much control as a state government.)
In Latin America and the islands there is on universal truth: The only good government came from British or Dutch territorial heritage.
Anything descending from Spanish administration has resembled a landfill with with periodic dumpster fires.
I think the best that can be accomplished it to build Several LARGE Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy bases on the island to funnel money there.
(We need the bases in that area anyway and we aren't likely to hold Guantanamo forever.) That would bring in money and expertise and jobs.
PR should, by all indications, be a tourist hotspot. It has beaches, climate, back country, cities, and decent air service. But the local government has never been keen on this, and there are only a few places you'd actually want to stay. And white english speaking faces are not welcome everywhere.
They should be able to grow most of their own food. Good farm land, but still they import more than they produce.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:00PM
The problem [reuters.com] is high labor and energy costs.
and
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NewNic on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:11PM (10 children)
Really? The effects of Harvey were much worse than they should have been because of uncontrolled development in and around Houston and the active reduction of flood defence. I don't consider that having its shit together.
Texas is looking for a massive handout from more responsible states. No Texas doesn't have its shit together.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday September 21 2017, @09:15PM (1 child)
Texas is looking for a massive handout from more responsible states. No Texas doesn't have its shit together.
After voting against that same relief for Sandy victims!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @09:29PM
They're big on thoughts and prayers tho, got to give 'em that.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @09:31PM (7 children)
A lot of Harvey is being handled by the locals, so much so that FEMA has shifted from a model of trying to do everything by itself to acting as an organizer for the many volunteers helping out. Heck, I'll be down there on Saturday lending a hand together with about 10,000 others; and that's just one weekend for one aid group. I'm biased, being local, but it sure seems like the recovery effort in Texas is self-sufficient to a much larger degree than has happened in other states.
It's easy to play armchair quarterback and criticize Houston's lack of zoning laws; around here we see it as a positive thing that there's less government interference. Living through tragedies like this is part of the price of the freedom such laissez faire policies afford, and the locals are willing to pay that price. Not everyone is going to choose to move back into the flooded neighborhoods, and those that do will probably be forced to buy expensive flood insurance now; that's the free market at work. It sucks during and right after the flood, but we lend a hand to our neighbors when they're in need to help them get through. Sure, well take some FEMA money in the process, just like New York did after Sandy. A big portion of what the Feds would have spent is being defrayed by local (i.e. in-state) charity and volunteer efforts, though, so we're perhaps more together than you're giving credit for.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NewNic on Thursday September 21 2017, @09:57PM (4 children)
So pay it yourself and don't ask for any Federal handouts.
What I see is doublethink going on by Texans. Otherwise known as cognitive dissonance. "Texas is looking after itself", "Texas accepts the risks of inadequate zoning and construction rules" and "give me those Federal dollars to help rebuild". It's not "paying the price" if the Federal government has to kick in 10s of billions of dollars. Stop pretending that it is.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21 2017, @10:58PM (3 children)
Fabulous.
Fantabulous.
Fantabulostical.
I like how you're thinking, my friend, I really like the cut of your jib. Let's cut that federal budget down with an axe. Stop all state transfers - then we can do things like stop using highway money to bully states into what the feds think is a good idea on any given week.
By the money, Texas will do better than most, and smile while doing so.
Funnily enough, I think some pro-federal power people concentrated on the coasts might whine about not being able to swing that big federal budget around to promote their ideologies, but you wanna make an omelette, those eggs're gonna break, amiritebro?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NewNic on Thursday September 21 2017, @11:45PM (2 children)
The level of cognitive dissonance is high in some people: you for example.
Lots of Republicans want to reduce Federal spending (except for the military), yet, when one state requires Federal money because it went cheap on construction, those same Republicans support spending more money. Actions have consequences. Decisions to save money by Texas should not result in other states having to pay money to Texas.
Let's not forget also that it was Texas' representatives in Congress who opposed relief for Hurricane Sandy.
I just ask for consistency. Republicans just want to screw over the blue states. It's hypocritical.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday September 22 2017, @12:48AM
One word: Earmarks [wikipedia.org]
Please. Texas gets plenty of Federal government pork.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 22 2017, @12:58AM
It would be nice if the blue states and red states would agree to mutual secession. We could have a decent, 1st world country again... in the blue states anyway.
The Republican party lost my vote forever last summer.
(Score: 3, Informative) by stretch611 on Thursday September 21 2017, @10:47PM (1 child)
Armchair quaterback???
Houston has been criticized for being unprepared for a long time and did nothing about it.
Here is a huge story about the whole disaster waiting to happen... and the article is dated 18months ago with sources long before that...
https://www.propublica.org/article/hell-and-high-water-text [propublica.org]
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 22 2017, @12:03PM
From the story:
Storm surge is flooding by salt water pushed ashore by winds. The much bigger problem with Hurricane Harvey was flooding due to heavy rain.