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posted by takyon on Thursday September 21 2017, @04:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the good-time-to-implement-strict-building-codes dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by NotSanguine on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:47PM (6 children)

    by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Thursday September 21 2017, @07:47PM (#571361) Homepage Journal

    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.

    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
    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 1) by DECbot on Thursday September 21 2017, @08:58PM

    by DECbot (832) on Thursday September 21 2017, @08:58PM (#571399) Journal

    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)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 22 2017, @04:20AM (#571560)

    Puerto Ricana are as American as any other citizen.

    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)

      by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Friday September 22 2017, @04:39AM (#571565) Homepage Journal

      Puerto Ricana are as American as any other citizen.

      I would contend that "being American" means you can vote in federal elections when old enough.

      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)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 23 2017, @02:49AM (#571959)

        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

          by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Saturday September 23 2017, @03:52AM (#571991) Homepage Journal

          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.

          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

      by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Friday September 22 2017, @04:40AM (#571566) Homepage Journal

      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