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Page added on December 8, 2017
What Life Is Like For A Million People In Puerto Rico Who Still Don’t Have Power
If you ever wondered what it would look like if the grid collapsed here on the mainland, the island of Puerto Rico is a tragic, real-life case study.
These stories show us what life is like for more than a million people who STILL don’t have power and running water nearly 3 months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated their communities.
According to a website showing the status of utilities on the island, four months after two hurricanes wrought havoc, 32% of Puerto Ricans are still without power and nearly 10% are still without running water. However, even those who have running water must boil it.
But statistics don’t tell the real story.
At first, it was a war zone.
In the first days after the grid went down, chaos ruled. I vetted as many of the stories as I could and concluded:
…there is very little food, no fresh water, 97% are still without power, limited cell signals have stymied communications, and hospitals are struggling to keep people alive. There is no 911. Help is not on the way. If you have no cash, you can’t buy anything. As people get more desperate, violence increases. (source)
A friend wrote this post about her family on Puerto Rico:
“My family has lost everything. My uncle with stage 4 cancer is in so much pain and stuck in the hospital. However, conditions in the island are far worse than we imagined and my greatest fear has been made reality. The chaos has begun. The mosquitos have multiplied like the plague. Dead livestock are all over the island including in whatever fresh water supplies they have.
My family has been robbed and have lost whatever little they had left. The gang members are robbing people at gunpoint and the island is in desperation. People are shooting each other at gas stations to get fuel.
They’re telling us to rescue them and get them out of the island because they are scared for their lives. We’re talking about 3.5 million people on an island, with no food, no drinking water, no electricity, homes are gone. Family if you have the means to get your people out, do it. This is just the first week. Imagine the days and weeks to come. These are bad people doing bad things to our most vulnerable.
Imagine a few weeks with no resources and the most vulnerable become desperate. What are you capable of doing if your children are sick and hungry? We have to help.” (source)
Other outlets told the same stories. Jeffrey Holsman wrote a guest post for USA Today, sharing what he was witnessing.
The sounds of automatic weapons firing were audible Tuesday evening in San Juan. We were told the National Guard had arrived, but I hadn’t personally seen a Jeep or uniform in the streets yet.
Total darkness has swallowed Puerto Rico, as it has every night since the 12-hour monster Hurricane Maria roared across the island with more than 20 inches of rain and 155 mph winds. I’ve never experienced anything like it: wind and rain from every direction, pounding continuously.
Now, a war zone best describes what’s left of what was once an emerald green gem in the Caribbean…
…after Maria, we face hours upon hours of waiting in lines for gas that might not be there; hours waiting in bank and ATM lines for money that might not be there; hours waiting in grocery store lines for food that might not be there. (source)
It only took a few days before people began to become ill from the tainted water. There were many injuries related to the storm, as well as the aftermath, and these crises were compounded by the lack of medical assistance.
Only 11 of 69 hospitals on Puerto Rico have power or are running on generators, FEMA reports. That means there’s limited access to X-ray machines and other diagnostic and life-saving equipment. Few operating rooms are open, which is scary, considering an influx of patients with storm-related injuries. (source)
People were unable to acquire essential medications and treatments like dialysis.
And this was only the beginning.
One month after the disaster…
A month after Hurricane Maria, the situation was still very grim. Three million residents were still without electricity and one million were without running water. (source) Officials reported 54 deaths attributed to the hurricane but many said that the number was far higher. The mayor of San Juan said that the number of cremations had doubled and put the actual casualties at closer to 500 people.
She said: “It appears, for whatever reason, that the death toll is much higher than what has been reported. What we do know for sure is that people are being catalogued as dying…natural deaths”.
She explained that some of the deaths relating to the hurricane were being reported as “natural causes” because the storm was the secondary factor in their death.
For example, some people reportedly suffocated after their respirators stopped due to the power cut…
…The bodies were cremated before the medical examiner could determine whether they should have been included in the official death toll.
Accurate information about the figure is particularly important in the US because if a person dies in a natural disaster, their family has the right to claim federal aid. (source)
Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez, a librarian at the University of Puerto Rico wrote a first-person account of the aftermath during the first month post-Maria. She reported that the books, computers, and furniture at the library were mostly ruined and that mold had invaded the building. Here’s an excerpt from her story:
What outsiders are unable to see, perhaps, is that an entire culture has arisen around the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Maria – one with typically catastrophic traits: material scarcity, emotional trauma, economic catastrophe, environmental devastation.
Puerto Ricans are now facing a dramatically different way of life, which means our relatives and friends in the diaspora are, too.
Nothing about life resembles anything close to normal. An estimated 100,000 homes and buildings were demolished in the storm, and 90 percent of the island’s infrastructure is damaged or destroyed. Not only are there shortages of water and electricity but also of food, highways, bridges, security forces and medical facilities.
It’s dangerous to venture outside at night. An island-wide curfew was lifted last week, but without streetlights, stoplights or police, driving and walking are dangerous after dark.
The official tally of missing people varies, with police tallies ranging from 60 to 80 right now. Considering Puerto Rico’s hazardous conditions and limited health care services, that number is sure to rise. We are well aware that epidemic diseases, including leptospirosis and cholera, could come next. Health concerns are further stoked by the delays and disarray of the various federal agencies tasked with handling this emergency. (source)
Leyla Santiago, a CNN journalist who had been born in Puerto Rico and still has family there, echoed the librarian’s story in her own report.
Puerto Rico has also changed forever.
The struggles are everywhere. And where there is help or supplies, there are lines, always lines.
Some days, it would be people lining up for gas. And then for food at the supermarket. The longest lines were now to use the ATM.
I became numb to the lines quickly.
When we passed another long one at the port, I didn’t think anything of it. Until it hit me.
Thousands were lining up to leave Puerto Rico. I watched as an old man dragged an oxygen tank, while pleading with organizers to let him on that massive cruise ship now acting as a refugee transport. Another man lifted his shirt to show the scars from an operation, hoping it would convince the right people that he needed to get off the island. (source)
Although unthinkable, it’s even worse in more remote areas of Puerto Rico. Despite their preparations, Rosana Aviles Marin’s elderly parents’ lives were devastated in their central mountain village.
The winds of up to 155 miles per hour that roared across the island buckled the house’s walls and tore holes in the ceiling, letting in water that destroyed furniture, framed photos of Marin and her siblings, and brightly colored ceramic statues of Jesus.
That wasn’t all it destroyed. The storm also downed power lines throughout the area, and Marin and her parents have been entirely without electricity for weeks. Much of their food went bad, they have no cellphone service, and local markets and restaurants remain closed. Her parents use a small diesel generator to power lights and, for a few hours per day, a small refrigerator. The rest of the time, she tells me during a recent trip to the area, “my parents live in darkness.” (source)
The island’s major source of revenue has been tourism, and that has all but stopped since the hurricane. Considering how badly they were struggling economically before, that is just another blow to a place driven to its knees.
The narrow blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan are deserted. Cigar shops are boarded up. Boutiques in bright colonial buildings are closed…
…About a third of the hotels in Puerto Rico remain shuttered. Restaurants and shops are still without power. Beaches are closed for swimming because of possible water contamination.
The high season begins in December, and tourism officials are hoping to lure some visitors, but that depends on when power is fully restored and how quickly hotels and attractions can repair the catastrophic damage. (source)
It’s a Catch-22. Until the tourists return, many won’t be able to afford to restore their businesses. But until they restore their businesses, the tourists won’t return.
Two months after…
Two months to the date after Maria struck with a vengeance, only half of the residents of the island had power. The return of infrastructure began in the cities and wealthier areas. Those in poor or remote areas are still waiting.
Here’s a video of what it looks like in Puerto Rico right now as people struggle to restore electricity.
Billions of dollars were allocated by the government and millions has come in from private donors.
Politicians have been in and out of the island and that has led to a spending law that provides $5 billion for Puerto Rico’s recovery and billions for government agencies providing disaster assistance. Projections are that a lot more will be needed.
On top of that, millions has been raised and contributed by private groups and foundations and individuals.
Cruz (the mayor of San Juan) said people from around the United States have been sending small donations, money orders, $50 or $10 attached to cards or pieces of paper. Some gave as much as $300 to $500.
“We’re going to use it to rebuild homes, to make sure people have good drinking water, because even if it comes out of a faucet it has to be drinkable, to schools for children. Some of the schools have been in really bad shape. Twenty-five percent of what comes into the foundation goes to other towns outside of San Juan,” she said. (source)
At two and a half months post-hurricane, PBS reported the following statistics:
- 66 percent of power on the island has been restored
- 93 percent of the island has access to water, but it remains on a boil advisory
- 73 percent of cell sites are up and running
- 982 survivors remain in 41 shelters across the island
The island still looks like a war zone.
Trash and debris from the storm remain a rampant problem. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported it has removed more than 639,000 cubic yards of debris. But it is still tasked with removing at least 2.7 million remaining cubic yards. (source)
Residents of the island are without resources and are at the mercy of FEMA…and government funding.
Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren unveiled a bill that would provide $114 billion in aid to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands…
[But] the package is unlikely to get a vote, analysts say
Meanwhile, more than 200,000 people from Puerto Rico have arrived in Florida since Maria hit, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
FEMA is now moving from response to recovery mode. FEMA is still providing daily food, fuel, and water to survivors of Maria, the longest such sustained distribution after a disaster in FEMA history. (source)
You can get more details about the proposal here.
And now, the return of electricity has been further delayed.
Previously, Puerto Rican officials estimated that the island would have electricity again by December? It turns out they were wrong. Now it looks like everyone in Puerto Rico won’t have power until February… at the earliest.
PREPA acting Director Justo Gonzalez cited “natural” and hurricane damage to the power grid that was initially unidentified as the reason for the delay of power generation.
Others have said full power and other utilities will not be completely restored until March. (source)
Between Puerto Rico’s economic problems and an aging grid, this isn’t a speedy process.
Before the storm hit, I wrote an article predicting at least a 6-month wait before power was restored, and this was for a variety of reasons. I cited Philipe Schoene Roura, the editor of a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based newspaper, Caribbean Business, who wrote of the many reasons that it would take so long:
“The lifespan of most of Prepa’s equipment has expired. There is a risk that in light of this dismal infrastructure situation, a large atmospheric event hitting Puerto Rico could wreak havoc because we are talking about a very vulnerable and fragile system at the moment,” Ramos added…
…Francisco Guerrero (a fictitious name to protect his identity), a Prepa field worker for 23 years, said it would take months for Prepa to bring up Puerto Rico’s power system should a hurricane like Harvey strike the island.
The lack of linemen and other technical personnel, as well as a lack of equipment—including replacement utility poles for powerlines and replacement parts—are the issues of greatest concern among public corporation employees, who say they risk their lives working with equipment in poor condition that provides them with little safety.
Guerrero said that today only 580 linemen remain out of the 1,300 who were part of the workforce in previous years—and that’s not counting the upcoming retirement of another 90 linemen. Likewise, he said there are only 300 electrical line testers to serve the entire island.
The source also said that much of Prepa’s equipment dates back to the 1950s—and the more “modern” equipment that is still functional dates from the 1990s; in other words, it’s from the past century.
“If a hurricane like this one [Harvey] hits us, the system is not going to come online, I’d say, in over six months. Right now, the warehouses don’t even have materials. I’m talking about utility poles and other stuff,” Guerrero explained. (source)
It turns out that Rora was not exaggerating. But money and a dilapidated system aren’t the only problems. There is an issue of geography as well.
Puerto Rico’s biggest power generators are on the south of the island, but most of its inhabitants live on the north side, primarily in San Juan. There are four high-capacity transmission lines that carry power from the south to the north, and they pass through the center part of the island, the region Marin calls home. The problem is that central Puerto Rico is mountainous, full of huge swaths of thick forest, and mainly reachable only by driving on terrifyingly narrow dirt roads.
That makes it hard to reach those four vital lines even in the best of circumstances. In post-Maria Puerto Rico it’s even harder, because the center of the island was the region hardest hit by the hurricane. Since the government is trying to get power to San Juan first, that means those in the regions devastated most by the hurricane will be waiting the longest for power to be restored. Sánchez, the engineer, says workers would need to be flown in by helicopter to clear debris before repairs could even begin. (source)
Would you be prepared for something like this?
If you think something like this couldn’t happen to us on the mainland, you’re deluding yourself.
Our grid isn’t in fantastic shape either. For years, people in the know have been warning that our electrical infrastructure is aging and unstable. It would cost us a mindboggling 5 trillion dollars to replace the decrepit system, and age isn’t the only threat. The possibility of an EMP strike could take it down permanently (and that threat seems more real every day as tensions with North Korea rise.) If our grid was taken down by such an attack, it could kill 90% of Americans within the first year.
We would lose
- Power.
- Refrigeration.
- Heating and cooling.
- Our economy.
- Fresh, running water.
- Medical care.
The list could go on and on.
Few people would be ready for an event that took out the entire infrastructure for an extended period of time. I personally lean toward a more low-tech plan for long-term scenarios like this. (For one reason, look how difficult fuel is to come by in Puerto Rico right now.)
Learning from the real-life experience of others give us just a glimpse of what we could expect.
36 Comments on "What Life Is Like For A Million People In Puerto Rico Who Still Don’t Have Power"
Apneaman on Fri, 8th Dec 2017 10:17 pm
Fires, Floods, Extreme Heat: California’s Year Of Epic Disasters
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/12/07/california-2017-disasters-flooding-wildfires-extreme-heat/
Apneaman on Fri, 8th Dec 2017 10:23 pm
How about life in Alabama?
UN poverty official touring Alabama’s Black Belt: ‘I haven’t seen this’ in the First World
“A United Nations official who tours the globe investigating extreme poverty said Thursday that areas of Alabama’s Black Belt are suffering the most dire sewage disposal crisis of any place he has visited in a developed country.
“I think it’s very uncommon in the First World. This is not a sight that one normally sees. I’d have to say that I haven’t seen this,”
“‘Everyone gets sick’
On Thursday, Alston visited communities in the Black Belt’s Butler and Lowndes counties, where residents often fall ill with ailments like E. Coli and hookworm – a disease of extreme poverty long eradicated in most parts of the U.S. – in part because they do not have consistently reliable access to clean drinking water that has not been tainted by raw sewage and other contaminants.”
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/12/un_poverty_official_touring_al.html
Apneaman on Fri, 8th Dec 2017 11:54 pm
Not enough FEMA to go around and endtime disaster days have just begun.
FEMA denies New York’s request for flooding assistance
“Our federal representatives show up, promise the world to our residents and can’t even deliver the simplest of assistance to an area that got devastated?”
“Do we have to fend for ourselves?”
http://www.uticaod.com/news/20171206/fema-denies-new-yorks-request-for-flooding-assistance
FEMA denies aid for Illinois flood victims
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided against helping victims of last summer’s record flooding in the Chicago area.”
http://wgntv.com/2017/11/14/fema-denies-aid-for-illinois-flood-victims/
National Flood Insurance Program, the “NFIP” Is Underwater
“Friday, December 8th, is the current deadline for Congress to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, the “NFIP”, a program that is roughly $24 billion “underwater” or bankrupt. ”
http://www.johnenglander.net/sea-level-rise-blog/nfip-us-flood-insurance-underwater/
America is highly litigious, so I suggest going after deniers for disaster relief in a series of mass class action lawsuits. Start off targeting rockman, he has bragged about all his blood money forever.
Apneaman on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 12:07 am
“A historic U.S. and California fire season in 2017
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 2017 ranked in fifth place as of November 30 for the most U.S. acreage burned by wildfires in a year (since 1960), at 9.2 million acres. This week’s fires in California have added another 157,000 acres as of Friday morning to that total, putting 2017 into third place on the all-time list. Currently, the top five fire years for U.S. acreage burned since 1960 are:
1. 2015 10.1 million acres
2. 2006 9.9 million acres
3. 2017 9.4 million acres
4. 2007 9.3 million acres
5. 2012 9.3 million acres
According to Cal Fire, the 132,000 acres burned as of Friday morning in the Thomas Fire make it California’s largest fire of the year, and tied for 18th largest of any year since records began in 1932. The 439 structures destroyed by the fire are the 19th most of any California fire in recorded history, and the 5th highest of 2017. Five of the twenty most destructive California fires on record have occurred in 2017. The 612,000 acres burned in Cal Fire’s jurisdiction so far in 2017 make it their biggest fire year since 1944, when 649,000 acres burned.”
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/snowy-south-fiery-west-whats-happened-our-moisture
https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html
Humans have been defined as pattern seeking mammals. Some are. Others? Not so much.
It’s not the smoke that is blinding them.
onlooker on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 12:12 am
Puerto Rico, will never be the same. The permanent crisis of civilization is accelerating. So, pass popcorn is not an appropriate response to what I just read. My heart goes out to all those on the Island
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 4:17 am
All those on the island have the option to move to the US. It’s not just the natural disasters, the corruption and mismanagement have placed PR in the impossible position of repaying $80 BILLION of debt. It was fun while it lasted- six hour days, four day work weeks, and eight weeks of paid vacation.
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 5:40 am
I am a doomer and prepper. I can tell you that I have the time and the resources and I still often ask myself WTF. The biggest issues are food really and energy that is the longer term predicament of prep. I have enough food and energy for months but it is after that the problems start. Long term food and energy issues are about community. Security may be an issue in the beginning depending on the type of collapse. I have contingencies for that but longer term I am naked like everyone else. I have guns, ammo, and dogs. I have basic security systems. I am not into high tech ones with cameras. Mine are simple systems with motion detectors, gates, and a routine of being vigilant. My prep status is robust and deep.
It is this way because I have been working on it for years as a hobby and a kind of profession. I am doing this as a way to teach others. I am doing this to determine what we can and can’t do post status quo of affluence. I am also like a weather man of collapse watching and learning about what may happen. The key to prepping is first being prepared with necessities. The mental preparations are just as important. Being ready mentally to endure pain, suffering, and deprivation is critical. No, you never are prepared for it but you can be prepared to realize it is coming. That is a big step because many will have no clue and are going to be dumb with fear and surprise. You can also be mentally prepared knowing that even prepped you are not going to last much longer. You will realize you have months and that is if you are not mad maxed. We can be mad maxed even now in the status quo. Nothing is certain even now.
The key to all of this and your prep is degree and duration. If we have a Hurricane Maria event (so to speak) it is going to be ugly immediately. If we have a California drought (so to speak) people have time to adapt but the same end will come eventually. The degree is important too. How bad is it going to get with the depth of difficulty? This is both short and longer term. There is only so much adaptation one can do if bad slowly gets worse but does not level off. Ideally it is a matter of a slow decline with manageable degree that levels off at a reasonable survival level.
Keep in mind we are 7BIL with many areas in gross overshoot especially any global city and region with high population densities. Those that are in harsh climates factor in even worse. Those who have food issues, harsh climates, and high populations well they are really screwed. These places are screwed even if degree and duration is not severe. Any kind of significant down turn is going to kill people in today’s status quo of extended affluence. Yes, even the poor third world is affluent because many poor places have such large populations of poverty because of a degree of affluence that allows this overshoot. We can expect even with a great depression type down turn lots of deaths from all kinds direct and indirect and over time. A significant loss of life in the short term, long term, and both is inevitable IMO. The great depression was mild really and we are still going to see lots of deaths.
I believe in prepping for the mild decline. A hard decline it may not matter. I am prepped for both but realize the hard one is a lost cause. I will be OK for a few months when others are getting very nervous but I will know my days are numbered too. It is those months of safety that will be worth all that effort. Think about it. You know you may die but you get a few months. I think that is worth the effort. In another respect I realize it is possible I may never see real collapse so then you may think my effort and sacrifices are in vain. In this case I am leaving my kids something. Yet, I am doing this Prep because it is very rewarding and educational. I am becoming a jack of many trades. I am living differently closer to reality IMO. I am sober and conservative. I practice conservation, resilience and sustainability. I am trying to be greener. I am trying to drive less and remain local. I am embracing intermittency and seasonality. I am living in the status quo trying to leave it. I am building up knowledge and great equipment for a new and different world. I have a large library, lots of tools, and lots of supplies to barter later. It is like making preparations to go to another planet.
I would tell those here who care. Prepping is only good for a short time with a high probability. Longer term with a bad decline it probably doesn’t matter but you still have a chance. The unprepared only have luck. True prep is really a lifelong commitment and something you enjoy. Think of the sacrifices those who worship go through. True prepping is spiritual. You can do the basics and it can’t hurt. It is mental and it is a physical conditioning. You will have to work at being healthy and strong now. I don’t blame anyone living a cavalier life now. Those who have thought about prepping and said screw it. If you can enjoy yourself and are OK with being naked when the shit storm comes then go for it. Don’t whine latter because that will just make it worse.
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 6:37 am
“HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN NIGERIA AND THE LAKE CHAD BASIN”
https://tinyurl.com/yc2ovtar
“ABOUT THE CRISIS IN NIGERIA AND THE LAKE CHAD BASIN
The violent conflict that began in Nigeria in 2009 has resulted in a severe crisis in the northeast of the country, creating vast need for lifesaving support. 8.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, 5.2 million in need of life-saving food assistance (745,000 are acutely malnourished), and 1.9 million people have been forced from their homes. Violence, including suicide bombings in IDP camps, are spreading across the country. The Lake Chad Basin crisis is affecting more than 17 million people across north eastern Nigeria, Cameroon’s Far North, western Chad and south eastern Niger. Caused by the ravages of violent conflict, extreme poverty, underdevelopment and climate change, more than 10.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Most of the 2.4 million displaced by the crisis – more than half of them children – are sheltering in communities who are among the poorest in the world. Across the region, over 7 million people – one in three families – is food insecure, and malnutrition rates have reached critical levels, particularly in the north east of Nigeria.”
Diane Villafane on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 6:57 am
In response to DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 4:17 am concerning this comment:
“All those on the island have the option to move to the US. It’s not just the natural disasters, the corruption and mismanagement have placed PR in the impossible position of repaying $80 BILLION of debt. It was fun while it lasted- six hour days, four day work weeks, and eight weeks of paid vacation.”
I was born in NYC and my family moved to Puerto Rico when I was 5 years old. I lived there all my life until 2016. There never were six hour days, four day work weeks or eight weeks paid vacation for anybody. I don’t know where you got this information, but it is incorrect.
twocats on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 7:52 am
derhund is an idiot – ignore him. the jones act alone has cost puerto rico nearly the entire $80 billion. and the rest was mostly tax giveaways to encourage companies to set up manufacturing there.
Humira has almost exclusively been manufactured in PR since 2007 and in the wake of the hurricane I was unable to purchase certain items from Medtronic (based in Minneapolis) due to production collapse.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-puertorico-economy/
Lucille on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 7:57 am
People need to look inward. Turn to God. “…he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth:…”
onlooker on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:04 am
How nice to be “part” of the US and not get to vote and not have your Debt forgiven even after a crippling natural disaster
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/354087-white-house-rules-out-forgiving-puerto-rican-debt
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:11 am
You’re too stupid twocats to recognize sarcasm. You’re also an apologist always looking to blame others for the island’s problems So who approved the tax giveaways? That’s right, the island’s elected officials.The PR Electric Power Authority is a prime example. Through gross mismanagement and corruption it’s more than $8 billion in debt and has nothing to show for it. Add another $8.5 billion to the $80 billion and it’s quickly over $100 billion. Imagine $100 billion of debt for 3 million people. Incredible incompetance.
Your attitude is a perfect representation why PR will never recover without a massive bailout by the American taxpayers- not loan but gift. Instead you are too busy pointing fingers and finding scapegoats. This is the definition of a banana republic.
onlooker on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:19 am
Derhund the Governments and Corporations have let down and are letting so many people around the world . Accountability if it ever existed is long gone. Greed has spread like a virulent infection among our species. Modernity should have been a blessing to humans. It is turning out to be a curse
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:25 am
The story of PREPA is the story of Puerto Rico.
As Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority and other governmental agencies borrowed billions of dollars from international creditors (and from each other, a practice some have compared to a Ponzi scheme), the utility started skimping on maintenance. In 2014 an austerity law prompted hundreds of experienced employees to retire and claim their pensions before cuts took effect. They were never replaced. “According to Synapse’s report, the result was generator failures, blackout rates four times higher than other American utilities, rising consumer costs, environmental violations and an increasing numbers of worker injuries and fatalities. A three-day blackout in 2016 caused by a fire at the Aguirre plant foreshadowed the darkness and economic standstill Hurricane Maria would bring. “We took the risk and we are paying the price,” says Mr Torres, peering at his poster. A few residents became very wealthy at the expense of the people. Government officials were paid to look the other way. We borrowed and borrowed and borrowed and what do we have to show for it other than $100 billion of debt?”
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:28 am
“People need to look inward. Turn to God. “…he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth:…”
Maybe we should start with nature and work up to that God you hold dear. Seems to me there is no shortage of people praying for affluence and safety but plenty of shortage of people treating nature responsibly.
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:29 am
Very true Onlooker. What irritates me is twocat blaming the US for PR’s problems.
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:35 am
“Derhund the Governments and Corporations have let down and are letting so many people around the world . Accountability if it ever existed is long gone. Greed has spread like a virulent infection among our species. Modernity should have been a blessing to humans. It is turning out to be a curse”
Blame is going around in many directions. It is the human species itself that has allowed itself to be suckered into the belief in the promises and dreams of market based capitalism and liberal democracy are legitimate for very long on a finite planet. When you have 7BIL people you look past governments and corporations as the problem. You look to humans themselves as an evolutionary dead end. Anyone here whining and complaining about this or that needs to look within and realize this is a human problem. This is a species problem. This is most of all a civilization dysfunction. Modernism and the satisfaction of human wants are the problems. We have no future in an evolutionary sense.
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:38 am
der hund, you realize PR is heavily democratic. Maybe you should not be pointing those fingers so strongly at them.
onlooker on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:38 am
In the end, I agree that its a generic problem with our species. That is the root problem. Fixes?
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:01 am
Davy-
You need a refresher course in US civics. PR does not cast ballots in elections.
Nice try.
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:03 am
Woops, I understated PR’s financial position. Total indebtedness (pre-hurricane) is $80 billion in bonds and nearly $50 billion in employee pensions for a total now well in excess of $130 billion.
In respect to treatment by the US, PR’s residents have enjoyed automatic U.S. citizenship since 1917, and since 1952 the island has been a constitutional commonwealth. And Congress has seen to it that the island is investor- and resident-friendly. Puerto Rican residents living on the island do not pay any federal personal income tax. Interest on Puerto Rican bonds from 1917 onward has been tax-free. And Section 936 of the IRS Tax Code granted U.S.-based corporations a tax exemption on income earned in Puerto Rico.
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:05 am
And, Davy, Democratic is spelled with a capital “D”.
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:17 am
To prevent stupid snarky replies:
PR does not cast ballots in US presidential elections (PR does not elect senators or members of congress).
Political parties are always capitalized (ex.Republican/Democrat) while forms of government use the lowercase (ex. democracy, Colombia is a republic/Republic of Colombia).
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:18 am
Der hund, how many are in Florida and NYC? Get back to me. They don’t all live in the PR. Nice try
Estamos Jodidos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:20 am
Independent here, can live without electricity, natural gas, or oil. Plenty of animals on the place, cows, goats, sheep. Large dogs for protection, enough bullets for taking game, deer primarily, and lots of deer around. 250 miles from nearest population center, and 70 miles from an interstate highway. All that said, and i believe community is the most important element for survival if it all goes to hell. Even with community, a year, two, three, and we would be cold in the winters, and hungry all of the time. We could still make it, much as indigenous peoples made it, until the survivors, and there would be some, from the cities showed up and then, I think we would all be overwhelmed and that would be the end. Drought and severe rain events could lead to a precipitous ending for the few of us who live in the area I call home. 4 years ago we had 9 inches of rain overnight and that damn near washed us out of the little valley called home. This is a desert with 7 inches average annual precipitation.
Davy on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 9:20 am
Der hund, usually when one has been snarked they shift the conversation like you did above.
Apneaman on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 11:17 am
Satellite imagery shows just how bad the loss of Arctic sea ice has been off Alaska and eastern Siberia
“Where sea ice should already be present, there are just vast swaths of open water.”
“With winter descending on the Arctic, sea ice should be expanding rapidly in the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska and eastern Siberia. But instead of sea ice, satellite sensors see thousands of square miles of open water stretching between the Alaska and Russia.
“It’s the lowest ice extent on record for this time of year for the combined basins,”
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2017/12/02/satellite-imagery-reveals-loss-of-arctic-sea-ice-off-alaska-and-siberia/
Apneaman on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 11:19 am
Worst Ever Wildfire California Extreme Footage Compilation [5:35]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=bBkNejztEpU
Apneaman on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:07 pm
You read this and think, what the hell have we done? It’s sooooo fucking mental you will either laugh or cry. We just a big fucking experiment.
Chapter 1
Plastic Invasion
https://orbmedia.org/stories/Invisibles_plastics
onlooker on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 8:22 pm
Helen Benson: I need to know what is happening.
Klaatu: This planet is dying. The human race is killing it.
Helen Benson: So you have come here to help us.
Klaatu: No, I didn’t.
Helen Benson: You said you came to save us.
Klaatu: I said I came to save the Earth.
Helen Benson: You came to save the Earth from us.
Klaatu: We can’t risk the survival of this planet for the sake of one species.
Helen Benson: What are you saying?
Klaatu: If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives. There are only a handful of planets in the cosmos that are capable of supporting complex life.
Helen Benson: You can’t do this.
Klaatu: This one can’t be allowed to perish.
DerHundistlos on Sat, 9th Dec 2017 11:00 pm
Sad, Davy. You’re incapable of admitting your errors with grace. Most of your comments are glib and downright cruel. Speaks volumes of your character.
Davy on Sun, 10th Dec 2017 5:21 am
“Sad, Davy. You’re incapable of admitting your errors with grace. Most of your comments are glib and downright cruel. Speaks volumes of your character.”
No errors above der hund just you turning them on me as if they are errors. You like some others here are good at twisting what was said and putting words in others mouths when you have been cornered. I caught you in a bad. You are an extreme Democrat pointing fingers at a hot bed of the PR people heavily democratic. Where did I say they were voting? I didn’t because most educated people know the status of Puerto Rico. Usually when people here harp about grammar or spelling it is because they lost the argument. I try to give comments on topic and balanced but there are so many extremist here to moderate and neuter. You are often one of them popping onto a thread with some pet peeve or other. Most people here anymore are glib and cruel including you hypocrite.
DerHundistlos on Sun, 10th Dec 2017 6:37 am
“der hund, you realize PR is heavily democratic. Maybe you should not be pointing those fingers so strongly at them.”
“Where did I say they were voting?”
Then what was the point of your comment or do you enjoy bumping your gums about absolutely NOTHING? You were caught in a patently obvious lie, yet you continue to deny your own words. You tried a snotty comment without knowing the facts. Though you are now trying your best to back-peddle and re-explain your words, it’s quite obvious your meaning. How ridiculous can you be.
Davy on Sun, 10th Dec 2017 7:03 am
The point of my comment is you are very Democratic talking bad about your fellow Democrats??? It was not a big deal but of course anything political you get high blood pressure over. I could give a shit about the parties. They are both equally corrupt and you are blind to that fact. I care about the people. What has happened in PR is what has happened in multiple places in the country and the world for that matter. Big finance is allowing places to become unwisely indebted because of easy money and fake claims of return on investment. Then a few cream off the proceeds and in the end the people at the bottom get screwed. This also happened in Jefferson County, AL as another example. This is part of my point Der hund. Do you call that bumping gums?
Der Hund “patently obvious lie” please reference that accusation with the actual words please so we can debate it otherwise you are patently obviously lying which you do regularly when you are caught with your pants down and your junk hanging out.
pennzoilbill on Sun, 10th Dec 2017 6:26 pm
Davy, just say Puerto Rico is very progressive and many of the problems there to day are a result of progressive politics and social engineering.