Puerto Rico is 100% without power after Hurricane Maria — here's why that's a huge problem

originally posted by: Aazadan
If Puerto Rico were a state, no one in the US would be content to be letting them go through this. 6 months to a year without electricity? How exactly is their economy supposed to function?

they will cope, because there is no other choice. the big hotels and such businesses will of course be better off and rebuild rather quickly in comparison due to having money to do so. they will also be among the first reconnected to power when available, specifically so they can start to function (to bring in needed money) as quickly as possible. in the meantime they will bring in generators and fuel to supply the power they need until that time. again because they will have the funds to do so. while on the other side it will be the needs of things like hospitals and other emergency services, as well as airports, ports and the like that get the help first, for obvious reasons. the average person and their homes and businesses by necessity fall at the very end of that line.

you seem to think that it will take 6 months (i suspect longer) for power is due to callousness or something. it is not. it is the fact that they have to pretty much rebuild the electrical grid, almost as if none existed before. that takes a great deal of time and money. as someone has already said even before this hurricane hit, power poles (of which almost all on the island need to be replaced) were already on backorder for places like Florida that also need them to rebuild from the hurricane that hit them. that in and of it's self creates a major time consuming backlog on power restoration. since without those poles, you can not string the wires to supply electricity. i suspect that like poles you are going to find similar supply issues for wire and power generation parts and equipment as well. but before they can even consider rebuilding the electrical system there is a lot of cleanup that needs to be done first. you need to get heavy equipment in, and be able to be safely used to do things like install power poles and pylons. and what of that equipment do they have, that has survived the storm? or will they also have to wait to get ahold of that equipment as well? adding even more time and expense to the rebuilding effort. and it's not like they can just drive in such equipment and supplies from another state like New York. everything needs to be shipped in by aircraft and ship. which means you need a working port to get that heavy equipment and needed supplies in, since most of what they will need is not easily aircraft transportable. not to mention aircraft will be of more use to bring in the real important and needed supplies such as food, water and people to help in the effort.

now this is only the power issue. there is even a far worse situation that has not been mentioned. 6 months, or even over a year for electricity is nothing. not when you realize that electricity is useless without a place to use it. a much bigger issue and one likely to take years to deal with is lost housing. except for those who have the money to rebuild their homes (and even those who can afford to rebuild themselves), we are easily talking about waiting years for a house to be built for them. Yolanda 4 years later, and people are still waiting for homes. on Bohol they were hit with not just one of the strongest typhoons, but had suffered a major destructive earthquake 2 weeks before. pretty much what the earthquake did not destroy, the typhoon did. i know people there who JUST RECENTLY had their house built to replace the one they had lost 4 years ago. a couple years back i was there helping build a house and i could see that most people were still living in tents and makeshift lean toos as they waited. motel/hotels were hard to find room in due to the fact that those who could afford it were living in those places while they waited (even those who could pay for the work themselves, due to a shortage of people to do the work) for their house to be rebuilt. how is the rebuilding in places like New Orleans going from their hurricane years ago, are they done rebuilding yet? the answer is NO, even 12 years later they are still rebuilding homes from the damage of Katrina in 2005.

Puerto Rico needs help. Now. They're American, we should be doing much, much more to help them.

every single place that gets hit by disaster "needs help now". yet there is only so much help (and we are not just talking about money, but actual people to do the work) available to spread around. the truth is we can only do so much. Puerto Rico needs help now, Florida needs help now, Houston needs help now, Mexico needs help now, as do many others from recent disasters. plus all the places still recovering from disasters in the world. is not New Orleans " American, we should be doing much, much more to help them."? and yet here we are 12 years later and they still need help.

a reply to: Chromium51


They did back in the 70s, after that is has been several referendums with the go on statehood.


Is no PR the one that dictate if the Island becomes a state or not, but is congress, congress alone have to pass the bill for that, so far it have been in the table for decades but never even been considered.

a reply to: generik

I don't think it's due to people being malicious. I think it's due to materials and workers, both of which ultimately mean money.

Puerto Rico doesn't have much money, and the US has never really wanted to spend huge amounts on them. It's something we should be reconsidering temporarily. If they were a state this would never be a discussion because the rest of the country wouldn't stand for it.

originally posted by: 3daysgone
If it comes down to charity and aid all I can say is that Puerto Rico had better hope the Clinton's have nothing to do with it.

Just ask Haiti.

Yeah.....Hati.....what mess that still seems,to be ...but haven't heard anything in years on its condition

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: MotherMayEye

originally posted by: 3daysgone

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
So much widespread destabilization.

Will our enemies capitalize on that? I think so.

Good question.

Another question. Who is our enemies?

NK, for sure.

Define destabilization of the US due to recent natural disasters.
And explain NK as an "enemy" . Other that the Korean War days. Is the NK an enemy or a concern not only for the US but the US , and China , Japan and others

Hmmm....i worked in a small semi-conductor Corp a few years back and directly involved with shipping items across the world.....

International shipping laws and the lists of foreign countries the USA can ship to is quite extensive...even for the list of banned countries which are labeled in red "do not ship!"

One of which is NK..

I think that our concept of rebuilding makes it look like it is impossible to accomplish in a short amount of time because we have forgotten about the power of community.

Maybe it is time that we dumped the me paradigm and start a new day with the ideology of we.

The biggest obstacle right now is the clean-up, once that is out of the way, maybe a good way to proceed is to set up communal establishments with Yurts as individual living and sleeping spaces. A common living area for eating, meetings and worship may be easier to build and maintain, until the possibility for something different develops.

I know. I know. I am removed from reality. But maybe it is time for a new reality.

originally posted by: FredT
We just got back from Puerto Rico (summer vacay). The US government has a moral/legal/ethical obligation to help them out. PERIOD.

We spent alot of time there and once you get out of the tourist areas there is alot of poverty. Also because of their financial issues, the infrastructure was lets just say 'rough". I doubt the whole island (aka San Juan) will be dark for six months. That being said the rural areas could be longer

Also they really should be a state

Feel comfortable in providing some details, maybe?

Anyone without electrifical power more than a week are pretty much stuck in the 1870's 😦😔 or 1920's

Solar power definitely needs a breakthrough!

If they need to completely rebuild the power grid system through out the island I propose they bury all the lines. They are now doing this in the States. The neighborhood looks nicer and it's good for areas prone to tornadoes and hurricanes. They can bury the 1000 VAC lines but the 100,000 VAC lines will need to stay on top. Those will be few and far between but they won't take as long to repair.

originally posted by: stonerwilliam

originally posted by: The Great Day
I hope in the rebuild process they put power lines under ground....

It cracks me up watching foreign television to see the amount of cables that are visible overhead , most of the services should be carried in a compartmentalised pipe /gas / water/telephone/television , like we have in the uk

This! I was actually listening to a talk radio program the other day. ( here in the U.S.) and they were discussing how we have more above ground power lines than most if not all of industrialized western countries. I would love to see more underground runs of power lines.

a reply to: Komodo

Ten or twenty years from now converting the family house to solar tiles might be practical.
These days most inexpensive solar options can't withstand hurricane winds any better than the power lines.
Much easier to run a gasoline or propane powered generator although that doubles the cost of electricity and contributes to pollution.

originally posted by: lostinspace
If they need to completely rebuild the power grid system through out the island I propose they bury all the lines. They are now doing this in the States. The neighborhood looks nicer and it's good for areas prone to tornadoes and hurricanes. They can bury the 1000 VAC lines but the 100,000 VAC lines will need to stay on top. Those will be few and far between but they won't take as long to repair.

...and that brings up the benefits, less likely to be damaged by severe weather, and definitely more aesthetically pleasing.

originally posted by: Sagacity
This! I was actually listening to a talk radio program the other day. ( here in the U.S.) and they were discussing how we have more above ground power lines than most if not all of industrialized western countries. I would love to see more underground runs of power lines.

That's because US infrastructure is older. Europe was destroyed by WW2 as was Japan. Everything they have is from about 1945 or newer, in the US we're still using poles and lines that were put up in 1905.

a reply to: Aazadan

I never considered that aspect. thanks

originally posted by: Cauliflower
a reply to: Komodo

Ten or twenty years from now converting the family house to solar tiles might be practical.
These days most inexpensive solar options can't withstand hurricane winds any better than the power lines.
Much easier to run a gasoline or propane powered generator although that doubles the cost of electricity and contributes to pollution.

Yeah. Forgot about the wind thing, but was more thinking about after math to get power up quickly even in rual areas...

originally posted by: lostinspace
If they need to completely rebuild the power grid system through out the island I propose they bury all the lines. They are now doing this in the States. The neighborhood looks nicer and it's good for areas prone to tornadoes and hurricanes. They can bury the 1000 VAC lines but the 100,000 VAC lines will need to stay on top. Those will be few and far between but they won't take as long to repair.

Yes, totally agree with this, the member that said that the flooding might interrupt service, I would disagree due to the fact that if the cables are invaded in a water tight & earthquake resistant casing/cradle/conduit and test thoroughly to a depth of 100ft over a period of time of a month...

That might do the trick......

a reply to: Komodo

To be honest it would be more likely that a country like Venezuela would come in with some cheap generator fuel to help with the short term Puerto Rican recovery.

The new solar tiles Elon Musk is developing are wind resistant but you still need an expensive on site storage device to run high current demand devices like air conditioning at night.

The new underground super conducting power lines to connect substations would be a logical replacement for those 100,000 volt lines, but thats expensive future tech.

originally posted by: Komodo

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: MotherMayEye

originally posted by: 3daysgone

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
So much widespread destabilization.

Will our enemies capitalize on that? I think so.

Good question.

Another question. Who is our enemies?

NK, for sure.

Define destabilization of the US due to recent natural disasters.
And explain NK as an "enemy" . Other that the Korean War days. Is the NK an enemy or a concern not only for the US but the US , and China , Japan and others

Hmmm....i worked in a small semi-conductor Corp a few years back and directly involved with shipping items across the world.....

International shipping laws and the lists of foreign countries the USA can ship to is quite extensive...even for the list of banned countries which are labeled in red "do not ship!"

One of which is NK..

Yes , there are tech restrictions on a few countries. Another of which is Egypt . When is the last time Egypt threatened the US ?

Moot point.

originally posted by: amazing
Still not sure why we don't let it become a state. It basically is a state, but territory status give the federal government all of the benefits and them none of the benefits.

They didnt want to pay federal income taxes so they voted against it. Cant have it both ways.

>>> Okay let's call it like it is. Puerto Rico was a basket case before Maria and they'll continue to be a basket case no matter how much money we throw at them. Its just part of the islands. They get smashed by storms and never had the economy develop that allowed the people to educate themselves and get good paying jobs in industry and other fields. I know that's harsh but if we start letting them default on loans and start spending money on them, then we'll have to do it other places as well like in the appalachians and in run down urban areas. So they can move like many are doing and in a generation or two they'll be able to support those in their families who opt to stay on the island. MOVE. Come here and get educated and take advantage of the opportunities HERE. Or stay poor and backwards but don't complain. That goes for those in the sticks and those here in urban cities like Detroit or New Orleans.