Post-Irma Season: Jose, Maria, and Beyond (and politics thereof)

Okay, we'll move it all here.

https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/909935920106823680
"Update: NHC has upgraded Hurricane Maria to Category 5. It was Cat 1 this morning, one of the fastest intensifying hurricanes in history."

https://twitter.com/ericfisher/status/909926897735356416
"36 minutes ago
JUST IN - #Maria now a Category 5 hurricane with 160mph winds. Pressure has fallen to 929mb (38mb drop in 12 hours!) #RapidIntensification"

https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/status/909934942326366208
"#Maria is about to make landfall in Dominica as Cat. 5 - first Cat. 5 to make landfall (or track within ~100 miles) of Dominica on record."
A compact little powerhouse.

http://www.meteofrance.gp/cyclone/activite-cyclonique-en-cours
Martinique and Guadeloupe radars both have good view.

Poor Dominica. They're gonna have to sell a whole hell of a lot of passports to recover from this one...
http://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/general/battered-by-climate-cha...

This was their situation just in 2015: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/04/dominica-asks-for-aid-tropical-sto...

And things aren't looking very good for Puerto Rico, either.

>4 Marissa_Doyle: No, indeed...

8PM cones:





In the longer term, it's looking like the remnants of Jose stand to deflect Maria out to sea (although there's no guarantee on that). But Maria's gonna do a lot of damage in the islands first.

https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/909960187435536385
"'My roof is gone. I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane.l Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica, tonight.
My God"

https://twitter.com/JimCantore/status/909961961806348288
"Wow!"

A week after Irma, Puerto Rico faces far worse from Maria
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article174011416.html

A few interesting links for futzing around:

https://coastalhazardspr.wordpress.com/
UPR work on disaster modeling.

https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-050411-121701/unrestricte...
Some relevant undergrad fieldwork from Worcester Polytechnic sponsored by the Puerto Rican DRNA

And of course, the Puerto Rico Climate Change Council.
http://pr-ccc.org/overview-our-climate/

Talk about rapid intensification!
https://twitter.com/LindseySlaterTV/status/909958620602920960 (via https://twitter.com/RyanMaue)

Telegraph has started liveblogging for Dominica.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/19/hurricane-maria-becomes-extremely-dan...
Apparently they got the Prime Minister out of his roofless house.

Guardian as well:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-landfall-domi...

The interactive track is useful. Guadeloupe will probably miss the worst, but likely to get some hurricane-force winds. St. Kitts and Nevis look set for a sideswipe (but unclear how close). St. Croix, Vieques, and Puerto Rico are likely to get hammered. If that track were to hold precisely, it looks like San Juan could get the NE eyewall if Maria were to expand. Even if the 8-mi. pinhold eye maintains, that quadrant might hit some western suburbs. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at5+shtml/000930.shtml?gm_track#content...

New Wunderground blog post:
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/category-5-hurricane-maria-hits-dominica

The last eye dropsonde showed a rise to 946mb. https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/recon/
Maybe they missed the lowest pressures, or it may show genuine disruption from the mountains on Dominica.

ETA: https://twitter.com/MichaelRLowry/status/909993170481696769

St. Maarten press: https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69505-trump-adviser-says-us-still-leaving-...

=========================================================================
Dominica update:
https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/910026443672956928
https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/910029809807429632

Maria already back down to 933mb. https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/recon/

5AM cone:

This has it barely back down to a Cat 4, but re-intensifying quickly.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT5+shtml/190906.shtml?
... and 10 minutes later they returned it to Cat 5 with a 930mb reading. That was an hour ago.

Track is further east. If it were to hold, San Juan would get NE eyewall. (FWIW, it would be on the "clean" side. Good for surge, bad for winds. )

First pictures from Dominica:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-landfall-domi...

And see this:
https://twitter.com/altNOAA/status/909970810231803909
=======================================

NHC has live update:
https://twitter.com/NWSNHC/status/910116305499439105

Shortly, I suspect these two agencies will accept donations for Maria-devastated Dominica and maybe other sovereign island states(?):
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, and
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies / Dominica Red Cross.

I was struck by how little Barbuda Red Cross was asking after Irma, and the little, but welcomed, stash that Dominica Red Cross was collecting for Irma-devastated St Marten. (Now, Maria has relieved the Dominica Red Cross of its roof.) Sounds like a little goes a long way. Also, how struck by how difficult it is to find Barbuda Red Cross and Dominica Red Cross websites online--they must rely on parent federation?

________________________________________________________

‘We have lost all what money can buy’: Hurricane Maria devastates Dominica
Amy B Wang and Anthony Faiola | September 19, 2017

...As Hurricane Maria bore down on Dominica on Monday evening, some of the most revealing updates about the storm’s havoc came in the succinct, prayerful Facebook posts of Roosevelt Skerrit, the prime minister of the tiny Caribbean island nation.

...Authorities were still trying to reach Dominica on Tuesday morning but had been unable to establish communications there since the storm hit, said Mandela Christian, program officer for preparedness and response for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (http://www.cdema.org/). They had teams on standby, he said, to conduct aerial surveys of damage “so we can see how we need to focus our interventions there.”

Lorenzo Violante, who had been coordinating Irma-related operations for the Red Cross, said his aid organization had also lost contact with Dominica after Maria hit. (http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/press-release/hurricane-maria-threatens-compound-irma-suffering/)

“Since 8 p.m. we haven't had much information with the Dominica Red Cross,” Violante said. “We made contact at midnight, and since then communications haven't been reactivated.”

Just last week, Dominica Red Cross Society in Roseau, the island's capital, was collecting emergency supplies to deliver to St. Martin, which had been battered by Hurricane Irma. Now, Violante said, they were the ones who needed aid.

“What we know is that there's a very important level of destruction, but that was basically at the beginning of the hurricane so we're anticipating massive destruction across the island,” he said. “In fact, the people we talked to from the (Dominica Red Cross in Roseau, http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/where-we-work/americas/dominican-red-cross/), they had incurred damage themselves. They lost their roofs and had to go to shelters.”

Violante added the Red Cross is preparing an emergency operation to Dominica.

“It's very probable that there were many landslides and that we'll need to deploy search and rescue teams,” he said. (margd: apparently Maria follows flooding end of 2016...)

Many of Dominica’s residents had just finished rebuilding after Tropical Storm Erika devastated the island in 2015, making Hurricane Maria’s timing that much more punishing. On Monday, Maria rapidly strengthened as it approached Dominica, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall on the island in recorded history...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/19/we-have-lost-all-wh...

Assuming 2nd Mexican earthquake is a natural disaster "beyond", and Trump being decent toward that country is political. Nice if we could also spare a sniffer dog or search & rescue, if needed and available in wake of Maria (landslides in Dominica...):

God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.
@realDonaldTrump 42 minutes ago

_________________________________________________

Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, damaging buildings and causing panic
Joshua Partlow September 19, 2017

MEXICO CITY — On the anniversary of its deadly 1985 earthquake, Mexico City again shook with terrifying force on Tuesday, as a 7.1-magnitude temblor damaged buildings, knocked out power and caused alarm throughout the capital. At least four people were reported killed.

Just a couple of hours after a siren signaled an annual earthquake drill, the ground began to shake, walls buckled and residents fled into the streets. There were reports of fires and gas leaks and people possibly trapped in rubble in the Mexican capital.

Local radio in the city of Cuernavaca, about 35 miles south of Mexico City, also reported that people were pinned beneath collapsed buildings there, according to Reuters.

The scope of the damage and number of casualties were not immediately clear. At least two people were killed in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital, according to local media reports quoting its governor, Alfredo del Mazo. Two others died in the central state of Puebla after a school collapsed, said Fernando Clemente, a civil protection official in the state, Reuters reported...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/strong-earthquake-shakes-mexic...

ETA_________________________________________________________

more than 200 people dead...

ETA_________________________________________________________


If Trump had even an ounce of class, he'd authorize federal funds to send LAFD's Urban SAR team to Mexico City. Neighbors help neighbors.

LA Fire's US&R team is one of the best in the world at this sort of thing. And the experience they get can only help Americans in the future

Alternative NOAA‏ @altNOAA 7h7 hours ago

ETA__________________________________________________________

At least Trump quickly tweeted condolences after yesterday's earthquake--it took him almost a week to call his Mexican counterpart last time:

Was it just the cell signal? Mexicans wonder why Trump took so long to offer his earthquake condolences.
Joshua Partlow | September 14, 2017

MEXICO CITY — From the moment that the 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico on the night of Sept. 7 to the moment that President Trump called Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to offer his condolences, six days and 13 hours transpired.

For nearly a week, long after it became clear that southern Mexico had suffered a vicious blow, with dozens dead and thousands of homes destroyed, Trump went silent on Mexico, even though Mexico had offered help for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. (The offer was rescinded after the earthquake and a hurricane hit Mexico, since resources were needed there.) Many Mexicans were upset that Trump, who has proposed many policies that would directly affect Mexico, from revising NAFTA to building a wall, would not take the time to contact Mexico.

When Trump got around to it, he offered an unusual explanation for the delay: cellphone reception...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/14/was-it-just-the-cel...

there's a very important level of destruction

residents fled into the streets

Trump being decent

very probable

>19 barney67: : Good parrot. Have a cracker.

Lots to catch up on here. The Erics Holthaus, Fisher, and Blake have great updates on their Twitters.
https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus
https://twitter.com/ericfisher
https://twitter.com/EricBlake12

There's now a double-eyewall, and while the center will miss it, St. Croix will be getting the outer one right about now.
Maria down to 909-10mb, which would put it around 9th place for deepest ever in Atlantic basin. Winds 175mph. Looking like an absolute nightmare for Puerto Rico.

DOMINICA:
Hurricane Maria Does ‘Mind Boggling’ Damage to Dominica, Leader Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/world/americas/hurricane-maria-caribbean.html...
(or http://web.archive.org/web/20170919112307/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/wor... )
====================
The current Guardian live blog:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-ca...
====================
Weather Channel is airing pre-recorded schlock again until 5AM, because fuck anybody outside the lower 48 I suppose.
====================

Here's the cone:



And here's the projected maximum wind gust map:
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/910324986086252544
"3 hours ago
Anything close to this National Weather Service forecast for maximum winds gusts would be a complete disaster for Puerto Rico. #Maria"



https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/910350939151912962
"2 hours ago
Final hurricane advisory from @NWSSanJuan before Maria comes ashore warns that "locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months.""

And of course Mexico has to get another earthquake round simultaneously.
https://twitter.com/jorge_guajardo/status/910222491246788608
https://www.facebook.com/martin.avalosvazquez/videos/737023689834640/

BBC has live coverage.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-latin-america-41328094?ns_mchannel=social&a...

This one much worse than the last.

Here's Levi Cowan's analysis as of last night.
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/blog/2017/09/19/tuesday-evening-extraordinarily-...

And the most recent blog, which was yesterday, but still has some relevant info.
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/maria-headed-catastrophic-hit-puerto-rico-st-c...

San Juan radar:
https://www.wunderground.com/weather-radar/united-states-regional/pr/san-juan/an...
Clearly trying to clear out the new outer eye, with the EWRC causing a slight drop in windspeeds to 160mph. With luck it doesn't get a chance to complete the eyewall replacement before landfall.

Saint Croix is gonna be waking up with a major headache, but with the small consolation that it could have been worse.

New cone:


Just barely down to a Cat 4 ahead of landfall. EWRC just finishing, but too late to re-strengthen. But the core is set to cross just west of San Juan. So it's as feared in that respect.

Meanwhile, here are the ensembles showing where Maria might go next.
http://www.weathernerds.org/tc_guidance/storm.html?tcid=AL15

They favor an out-to-sea scenario, but that's still by no means certain.

Guardian has live updates on Mexico earthquake now:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/20/mexico-city-earthquake-dozens...

As well as Maria:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-ca...

>29 davidgn: Geez...

The US Geological Survey predicted up to 1,000 fatalities will come from the earthquake, and an economic impact of between US$1bn and $10bn.

Latest from Dominica: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-ca...
NOT good. And at least 7 dead.
==========================================
San Juan radar is offline. Everyone's back to using satellite. Here's a link.

http://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu/?sat=goes-16&sec=mesoscale_01&x=9...

And as of 6:35, we have landfall on Puerto Rico.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT5+shtml/201034.shtml?

>30 margd: Yep. And on the exact anniversary of 1985, no less.
What date is it that the Rapture nuts have been yammering on about? The 23rd? They must be beside themselves...

ETA: Yeah, here we are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_12_Sign

Found a working bootleg livestream of The Weather Channel for anyone interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6peb4_lSp8
And a spare just in case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feDa84O1utk

Look at these flood gauges!
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=SJU

cf.:
https://twitter.com/AlexJLamers/status/910433905047728128
https://twitter.com/wxjerdman/status/910458082362347520 -- up 20 feet since midnight in Rio de la Plata Basin.
https://twitter.com/ericfisher/status/910463065002577920 -- Rio Gurabo about to exceed records.

And a couple videos from San Juan around the time of landfall on the opposite coast.
https://twitter.com/mikeseidel/status/910451230085926912
https://twitter.com/danicacoto/status/910453879795539968

Live feed from San Juan, while it lasts. https://www.pscp.tv/UniNoticias/1mrxmmEjEzvxy
ETA: That didn't last long.

Damage on St. Croix: https://twitter.com/BillKarins/status/910480473562009607
Again, could have been worse.

==========================
Puerto Rico, on the other hand, taking the whole disc.
https://twitter.com/ericfisher/status/910484467231358976

Some footage of flooding in Puerto Rico (Rio Grande de Loiza)
https://twitter.com/WeatherFlowCHAS/status/910484329163378688

Which is only slightly more illustrative than these:
https://twitter.com/AlexJLamers/status/910476161465114624
https://twitter.com/ericfisher/status/910477703891087360

==========================
One hell of a season for the Caribbean, in particular:
https://twitter.com/ericfisher/status/910476216309710850

Maybe been posted before indirectly, but this is an aerial view of what's left of Dominica:
https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/910439397992124416

5-7 inches per hour in PR.
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/910492931970256896

Flooding, Rio (Guamani?), Guayama, PR:
https://twitter.com/radioislatv/status/910491178851880960
That... might be a problem.

Probably worth mentioning the firestorms out west as well, at least once.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2017/09/20/t...

New Wunderground blog post.
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/maria-slams-st-croix-now-ripping-across-puerto...

Quoted on TWC, the San Juan mayor:
"What we are seeing is the annihilation of an entire country."
"Half of San Juan is flooded."
Also says San Juan some parts of the country might see "4-6 months without electricity."

At this point, I suppose we're reduced to hoping the mayor of San Juan is full of it. Appears an increasingly vain hope.

====================================================
To recap:
"In the last 30 days: Historic Texas Flooding, 2 Cat 5 Hurricanes, 2 Major Earthquakes, 2 X-Class Solar Flares, and Western US Wildfires."
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/910508758668857344
"Make it stop." Indeed.

11AM Update on Maria:
https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/910517463586152448


And here's the cone a little bigger:


If that strikes you as too close for comfort, you're correct.

"We may never know what #Maria wind gusts were in Puerto Rico. Only 5 out of 22 stations were reporting at landfall; only 1 is now (1/2)"
https://twitter.com/Accu_Jesse/status/910517013281492992

You'd think someone would have invented hurricane-proof anemometers by now...

Had to do some stuff, then I slept. So, let's see...

https://twitter.com/NWSSanJuan/status/910723524381339648
The entire island of Puerto Rico is under flash flood warning

https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/910554229370126336
https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/status/910594867847241728
And the entire island is also without power.

Brilliant.

============================================
Here's the latest Wunderground blog:
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/maria-back-over-water-after-devastating-hit-pu...

And Levi Cowan's latest:
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/blog/2017/09/20/wednesday-evening-maria-leaves-p...

Some photos from St. Croix:
https://twitter.com/usvirginislands/status/910556012335304704

And St. Thomas (which mostly got rain on top of the Irma damage and flooding):
https://twitter.com/usvirginislands/status/910548774124163073

Meanwhile, from the BVI:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/20/british-virgin-islands-hurricane-m...
-------------------------------------------------
Dominica:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/21/dominica-daze-hurricane-maria-isla...

The Puerto Rico flood gauges break down into three categories:
1) Ones that are probably accurate
2) Ones that are clearly broken/not reporting
3) Ones that you REALLY, REALLY HOPE are broken/miscalibrated.

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=SJU

It begins.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-ca...

The White House just released a statement on its response to the hurricanes.

The President continues to direct all necessary Federal resources to protect the people of the United States territories affected by Hurricane Maria and to support response and recovery efforts with respect to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. He and the First Lady send their thoughts and prayers to all those in harm’s way.

Earlier today, Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, asked Trump to declare the region a disaster zone. The White House gave the country an emergency declaration, which is a designation below “disaster”.

Not a disaster zone. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/19/hurricane-maria-category-5-ca...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-power.html?mcu...

============================
(Not a state, either.)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/06/puerto-rico-statehood-vote/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Puerto_Rico
https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/puerto-rico-statehood-congressional-deleg...
https://pasquines.us/2017/09/06/puerto-ricos-marches-towards-statehood-amidst-do...
============================
(And certainly not in any shape to handle this.)
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/09/climatedesk-now-hammered-by-hurri...
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article174233931.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/08/puerto-ricos-debt-crisis-g...
https://www.thenation.com/article/bankers-behind-puerto-ricos-debt-crisis/
============================
(But ripe for the picking...)
https://theintercept.com/2017/09/12/in-wake-of-hurricane-irma-vultures-eye-puert...
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/09/14/puer-s14.html
============================
============================
(And here's one more example of the Trotskyites being useful.)
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/09/21/puer-s21.html
============================
(But because Google thinks you shouldn't read them...)
https://petitions.wsws.org/fightcensorship/

>46 davidgn: Over 80 feet?!! Words fail me. Where did they site that gauge?

Rio de la Plata at Comerio. Again... really hope the gauge is broken.

Here's a USGS gauge nearby, which would seem to suggest the NOAA data is bad. But the numbers from this one are bad enough. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=50043800
(They also spike impossibly for water level readings; the discharge measurements are continuous, at least, providing a sanity check)

(Or is that the same gauge being reported differently? *scratches head*)
Apparently it's the USGS that runs the gauges for NOAA, but for some reason I can't find the gauge # on the data as reported by NOAA to confirm they're identical.

Ah-hah. Here we are.
Gauge # not reported, but there is a link from the bottom of the NOAA page to the USGS page, and that does match #50043800.
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sju&gage=comp4
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/pr/nwis/uv/?site_no=50043800

Between them, the two pages also have some details on siting.

Two separate crazy graphs, then. But whatever really happened, it can't be good.

ETA: Actually... those discharge numbers are totally nuts, too. I'm thinking either the gauge got smashed, or whatever happened there couldn't be meaningfully measured with the equipment as situated and calibrated.

Rio Grande de Anasco near San Sebastian (#50144000) is a similar story.
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sju&gage=sebp4
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/pr/nwis/uv/?site_no=50144000

Most of the instruments just seem to have broken with this storm.

I was thinking about siting rather more precisely - what if there is landslip, and the gauge is repositioned? Depending on how it transmits data, it could continue broadcasting.

I'm assuming that readings are calibrated against some baseline data; relocation could mess with this.

Where Island tourism stands after Irma and Maria--sure hope no more hits this fall!

After Maria and Irma: Caribbean Tourism, Island by Island
Stephanie Rosenbloom | SEPT. 22, 2017

...Puerto Rico
...Gov. Ricardo Rosselló/..is predicting a long period of recovery.

Antigua and Barbuda
...Antigua was spared the worst of Irma...Barbuda, Antigua’s little sister 28 miles to the north, on the other hand, is in ruins.

USVI
... St. John and St. Thomas took a beating from Irma, while St. Croix was largely untouched...But then came Maria, and St. Croix was pummeled, especially the western and southwestern portions of the island...Maria also worsened conditions on St. John and St. Thomas...(In addition to tourism, additional sources of income include rum exports, trade and services...“It’s going to be a long road to recovery,” Gov. Mapp said. “We have to prepare ourselves mentally, manage our expectations realistically and we will get through it.”

British Virgin Islands
...(BVI) benefit from visitors from the nearby United States Virgin Islands. That’s unlikely to happen with St. Thomas and St. John in shambles. And the British Virgin Islands were themselves walloped by the storms.

Anguilla
... 90 percent of the electricity infrastructure was damaged, along with the main water supply, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization... The chief minister, the Honorable Victor Banks, said the island plans to open for business before the all-important Christmas season.

St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Kitts is open for tourism...essentially unharmed...In Nevis, the Vance W. Amory International Airport is...open. Hotels...are in good shape.

St. Barthélemy
St. Barthélemy took a beating...Eden Rock was closed for annual maintenance when Irma hit, but the damage was such that its early October has been postponed until further notice. The scramble is on to rebuild for the winter high season.

St. Martin / Sint Maarten
Most visitors arrive through the Princess Juliana International Airport in tourism-dependent Sint Maarten (on the Dutch side), which suffered severe damage. Sonesta Hotels...reservations from now through the end of the year have been canceled. Many hotels...reported significant damage.

Turks and Caicos Islands
First, Irma flooded roads, ripped off roofs, and took down trees and power lines. Then came Maria, packing 125 mile-per-hour winds. After Irma, many hotels reported being without power and water on this British overseas territory, which, besides tourism, also relies on offshore financial services and fishing...Sept. 30 Oct. 8 Nov. 1. Further damage from Maria is still being assessed.

Cuba
...“The storm hit some of our principal tourist destinations but the damage will be repaired before the high season,” President Raúl Castro wrote in a public message, according to The Associated Press.

Florida Keys
...temporarily closed to visitors...first cruise ship port call is expected on Sept. 24 or Sept. 26. ...overnight visitors asked to postpone immediate vacation plans...curfews in place. Some residents are still without power...the Key West International Airport and Florida Keys Marathon International Airport are being used as staging areas for relief supplies and personnel...Sept. 18, tourism officials said that Key West expects to be open by Fantasy Fest, the annual costume festival, slated to begin Oct. 20.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/travel/maria-irma-caribbean-tourism-island-by...

The Guajataca hydroelectric dam is set to burst. Emergency evacuations of 75,000 people in process.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guajataca_Lake

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/22/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-dam

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/22/us/puerto-rico-guajataca-river-dam-evacuations/ind...

===================
ETA: Not a hydroelectric dam, though controlled for some reason by the (bankrupt) Electric Power Authority. Just a dam. But a very dangerous dam.

"#PuertoRico officials using aircraft with loudspeakers to warn people downstream from dam to get clear - no other means of warning possible."

--@altNOAA 8h8 hours ago

Antigua-Barbuda and Dominica pleas for help after Irma and Maria reference climate change. Never mind Trump, the Paris Agreement itself states only that a new target for international climate aid, with a floor of a hundred billion dollars per year, must be defined by 2025. (https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-the-paris-climate-agreement-means-for-vulnerable-nations)

Dominica PM cries for his country
Loop News | 21 September 2017 (00:36 video)

...Speaking live on ABS TV in Antigua, PM Skerrit had to pause for a few minutes to compose himself as he reflected on the destruction he has seen so far and what it will take to bring relief to the Dominican people.

His voice broke and he wiped tears from his eyes as he described a country in which no household – regardless of income level – was left untouched by the punishing winds and deluge of water brought to the island as the eye of Maria passed directly over Dominica on Monday night.

“Every part of Dominica has received a serious beating – if not by wind, then by water,” he said...

..."We are very vulnerable. We are exposed to ravages of climate change...need access to resources to build more resilient societies...the extent of resources to put in mitigation systems is beyond us..."

http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/content/dominica-pm-cries-his-country

_________________________________________________________________

For first time in 300 years, no one is living on Barbuda
Joe Sterling and Cassandra Santiago | September 15, 2017

...The government believes that while some Barbudans might choose to stay in Antigua even after their island is rebuilt, many will want to go home.

It's a small island, 62 square miles, and its residents have a strong sense of belonging. That's where their ancestors are buried, (Ronald Sanders, the Antigua and Barbuda ambassador to the United States) said.

"Generations of people have lived on that island. They know nothing else. The commitment to that island is extremely strong. They have a strong sense of who they are," he told CNN.

The government intends to rebuild the island, which will take time. International humanitarian help is needed in what is a gargantuan job, Sanders said, adding that the small island community can't rebuild without such assistance.

Antigua and Barbuda is in a different situation from other hard-hit Caribbean islands that are territories of larger and richer nations that can step in to help rebuild: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, for example.

"Antigua is a tiny place, and we have no godfather," Sanders told CNN.

Officials are envisioning assembling a donors conference, he said, where international agencies and nations would plan a rebuilding initiative.

He said it makes sense for larger industrial nations to help out his small and pristine country because of climate change.

"We are the victims of greenhouse gases. We contribute little to pollution," he told CNN. "We are hoping our neighboring countries can respond."...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/15/americas/irma-barbuda-population-trnd/index.html

Latest Wunderground blog (yesterday afternoon): https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/more-havoc-category-3-maria-plows-northward
And latest from Levi Cowan (last night): https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/blog/2017/09/22/friday-evening-hurricane-maria-c...

The latest GFS and ECMWF models show the outer bands of Maria clipping the Outer Banks 5 days out. Let's hope that's the worst of it.
cf. https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/?model=gfs&region=us&pkg... (GFS)
and https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/?model=ecmwf&region=us&p... (ECMWF)

The ensembles are also starting to converge on a parallel-to-shore close-shave scenario:
http://www.weathernerds.org/tc_guidance/storm.html?tcid=AL15

And here's the official cone:

Holthaus.
http://grist.org/article/maria-has-plunged-puerto-rico-into-a-humanitarian-emerg...

Devastation in Puerto Rico: How You Can Help
Sun, Sep 24

In the aftermath of hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico will face months of rebuilding. Chuck shares the information of four charities working to help.
(eache rated 4-stars by Charity Navigator)

americares.org
convoyofhope.org
crs.org (Catholic Relief Services)
secure.directrelief.org

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/devastation-in-puerto-rico-how-you-...

________________________________________

Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands

To help those affected by the hurricane, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI) has established the Fund for the Virgin Islands.

100% of your donation will benefit those in crisis.

CFVI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that has been operating in the USVI for more than 25 years. It has supported past relief efforts in the region and is working closely with government and community providers to identify priorities and direct resources for immediate needs as well as long-term recovery efforts.

Click here to donate or for more information, visit cfvi.net or contact katrinb@cfvi.net or 340-201-0299 with questions. Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent provided by law.

https://www.usvirecovery.org/

Having largely avoided Katrina-like mis-steps in TX and FL, Trump is attracting criticisms for hurricane response in Puerto Rico:

Clinton calls out Trump administration's response to Puerto Rico devastation
Sophie Tatum | September 24, 2017

..."President Trump, Sec. Mattis, and DOD should send the Navy, including the USNS Comfort, to Puerto Rico now. These are American citizens," Clinton said in a Sunday morning tweet, referring to the Department of Defense, Secretary James Mattis and a US Navy ship that serves as a medical facility.

...Army Corps of Engineers' 249th Engineer Battalion...working to restore power

Four thousand US Army Reserve members have been deployed to the island...More than 1,600 service members from the US National Guard have also responded...

US Northern Command, which provides military support for civil authorities, is working with FEMA and government officials in the relief efforts...

...Florida Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat, sent a letter to the President on Wednesday specifically requesting assistance for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. ...

...President Donald Trump is planning to visit Puerto Rico, but because of infrastructure concerns, the date has not been set...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/24/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-puerto-rico/...

______________________________________________________________

Alternative NOAA‏ @altNOAA 3h3 hours ago
FEMA has so far disbursed $2.1M for #PuertoRico relief. If that sounds like a lot, consider @POTUS trips to Florida cost $3M each.

_______________________________________________________________

Jennifer Lopez Donates $1 Million to Hurricane Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico
By Matthew Dessem

...Lopez is also collaborating with singer (and her ex-husband) Marc Antony, baseball player and current signifcant other Alex Rodriguez, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and Dallas Mavericks player J.J. Barea to coordinate further aid. Lopez told the audience that she and Rodriguez were using their connections in entertainment and sports to solicit donations and had secured “significant contributions” from Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/09/24/jennifer_lopez_donates_1_million_...

______________________________________________________________

New York Expands Relief Efforts for Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria
ASHLEY SOUTHALL | SEPT. 24, 2017

...Mr. Cuomo said he created the Empire State Relief and Recovery Effort for Puerto Rico to provide necessary goods, services and money to relief organizations serving its 3.5 million residents.

The state effort includes a relief fund coordinated with the Partnership for New York City, a business group, to solicit donations greater than $10,000 from businesses. School supplies, medical supplies and more will be collected across the state...

The governor traveled to Puerto Rico on Friday...on a plane donated by JetBlue. The airline, based in Long Island City, has committed $1 million to transport donations such as drinking water, meals and generators.

...In his speech, the governor alluded to President Trump’s fight with athletes protesting police brutality and House Republicans’ efforts to repeal Obamacare as less pressing than the needs of millions of Americans dealing with the storm’s aftermath.

“To our colleagues in federal government, I humbly suggest that at this time, instead of arguing with football players, instead of obsessing how to take health care from the poor in this country, why don’t we put the politics aside and focus on helping Americans?” he said.

...Representative Velazquez reiterated her plans to request federal waivers that would allow aid to flow more quickly to the island. Federal laws require 25 percent of relief assistance to come from the affected state, and outside cargo aid must travel on American shipping vessels.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last Thursday that the city was sending more than three dozen additional emergency workers to the island, where nine Police Department and Fire Department workers were dispatched following Hurricane Irma. A team of eight to 10 emergency managers were sent to work with officials in San Juan, the capital.

In addition, the city is collecting contributions on its website and asked residents to donate critically needed items, such as diapers, baby food, batteries and first aid supplies...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/nyregion/new-york-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria...

Some nasty weather in store for the Carolinas from Maria, but shouldn't be too bad in terms of damage.

Both from yesterday:

Levi Cowan's last:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chx3b6FZWnQ

Wunderground blog:
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/cat-2-maria-headed-north-will-come-close-nc-ou...

And today's 11AM cone:

Disconnected by Disaster— (35) Photos From a Battered Puerto Rico
Alan Taylor | Sep 25, 2017

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/09/disconnected-by-disasterphotos-from-a-...

If hurricane-help is insufficient in debt-crushed Puerto Rico, 3.4 American citizens will surely move from to the mainland (where they can vote). Good luck to Wall St and banks in recovering debts.

Trump Tweets About Puerto Rico's Debt as the Island Struggles With Hurricane Recovery
Joseph Hincks | 9/26/2017

...After commending the recovery of Texas and Florida — which were lashed by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, respectively — Trump tweeted Monday: "Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble."

Trump continued, "It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with."

"Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well," Trump added.

...According to the Associated Press, 3.4 million U.S. citizens in the territory are without adequate food, water and fuel. Communications are still lacking and electrical power may not be fully restored for a month.

Trump's response, which appeared to put the issue of the island's bank loans before emergency supplies, provoked consternation among some diplomats. "Is the President of the United States saying that the mammoth hurricane damage is Puerto Rico's fault?" posed Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N...

http://time.com/4956760/trump-tweets-puerto-rico-hurricane/

ETA_______________________________________________________

Is battered Puerto Rico in Trump’s blind spot?
AARON BLAKE | September 25, 2017

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article175372561.html

ETA_______________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Trump moves on to more important topic than looming humanitarian crisis on American soil:

Trump lauds ‘great anger’ after some booed Dallas Cowboys for taking a knee (before anthem)
John Wagner | September 26, 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/26/trump-lauds-grea...

The Cuban government has made rapid response brigades of doctors and energy workers available to #PuertoRico to assist. #Cuba

@altNOAA 15h15 hours ago | https://twitter.com/altNOAA/status/912810000216723456

Profits before people (and environment, but that's another story):

US won't waive (Jones Act) shipping restrictions for Puerto Rico relief
John Bowden - 09/26/17

...The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined the request to waive the Jones Act, which limits shipping between coasts to U.S.-flagged vessels, according to Reuters. DHS waived the act following hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hit the mainland U.S....

...In a letter to the department on Tuesday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) urged DHS to rethink the decision, citing the agency's willingness to waive the Jones Act for relief efforts in the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

“The Department of Homeland Security has been given the ability to waive the Jones Act to accommodate national security concerns, and has done so twice in the last month,” McCain wrote. “These emergency waivers have been valuable to speed up recovery efforts in the impacted regions. However, I am very concerned by the Department’s decision not to waive the Jones Act for current relief efforts in Puerto Rico, which is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis following Hurricane Maria."

McCain called the department's decision "unacceptable" and warned that Puerto Rico faces a humanitarian crisis as the island's 3.4 million people struggle to survive without power or clean water.

Officials estimate the island could be without power for up to six months.

"It is unacceptable to force the people of Puerto Rico to pay at least twice as much for food, clean drinking water, supplies and infrastructure due to Jones Act requirements as they work to recover from this disaster," McCain wrote.

"Now, more than ever, it is time to realize the devastating effect of this policy and implement a full repeal of this archaic and burdensome Act,” he wrote.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/352597-us-wont-waive-shipping-restric...

>65 margd: Unbelievable.

>65 margd: DHS blames "port availability". Haven't these putzes ever heard of transport helicopters? I've seen plenty of videos of helis grabbing stuff off ships to take somewhere. And, even better, those helis could take the aid closer to where it'll actually be used vs ground transport thru all the damaged areas.

Wonder if Trump will fill Air Force One with tired, sticky Puerto Ricans for his return flight to the mainland?
Maybe send his personal plane also, for good measure?

Is a $786 one-way flight out of Puerto Rico price gouging? Airlines say no
Chabeli Herrera | September 27, 2017

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article175537221.html

>65 margd: horrific, too believable

Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico one transmission at a time
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-maria-ham-radio-operators-trnd/inde...

Ham Radio Hobbyists Are Connecting the Caribbean After Hurricane Maria
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/bjv7d8/ham-radio-hobbyists-are-connec...

=============================================================================================

I think the time has finally come, for me at least, to get that license.

There are two good (US- and ARRL-oriented) video series of which I am aware.

The Ham Whisperer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jomk_c9LLa4&list=PL7564E84F0A8082FD

David Casler's course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEWmiMotimY&list=PL07A7D1C9D7BF7F48

Both series cover all license levels from Technician through Extra.

And here's just one example of why the solar weather timing versus these hurricanes couldn't have been worse:

Solar Flares Interfered With Radio Network’s Ability to Warn People About Hurricane Irma
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/5997ea/solar-flares-interfered-with-r...

63 contd.

Trump played "significant, but limited" role in $33 million of Puerto Rico's debt, but made $600K.
http://www.snopes.com/trump-puerto-rico-golf-course/

65 contd.

Everything going to #PuertoRico on a Jones Act ship (at premium) is covered by FEMA at 100%. That means YOU are paying for the premium!

@altNOAA 8h8 hours ago | https://twitter.com/altNOAA/status/913238333844803584

(Comments under this tweet raised question of debris-dumping--either in ocean or in mainland dumps returned at premium on Jones Act US ships. Surely, materials can be recycled or disposed of on the island?)

ETA__________________________________

Apparently US Virgin Islands has permanent Jones Act waiver(?), never mind the hurricane-related waivers TX and FL enjoy. Must be one powerful lobbyist blocking waiver for Puerto Rico?

68 contd. Apparently, if Trump DID offer sticky, tired Puerto Ricans a lift to the mainland on Air Force One, Dept of Defense practice is to require promissory notes ensuring they fully repay transportation costs!

Trump administration requiring Puerto Rico evacuees to pay transportation costs
John Bowden | 09/28/17

...The (promissory) notes fall under a longstanding but discretionary policy meant to ensure that evacuees pay transportation costs, which are based on “the price of the last commercial one-way, full-fare (not discounted) economy ticket prior to the crisis.” ...

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/352824-trump-administration-forcing-p...

>73 margd: Yeah, I saw that elsewhere and had no luck confirming it earlier. Absurd and awful!

Ah!

http://www.snopes.com/is-the-trump-administration-puerto-rico-evacuees/

>73 margd: >75 2wonderY:
Yes, that one did strike me as odd for a domestic evacuation. I'm aware that State does that abroad for those who need to be evacuated (either hauled back to a U.S. hospital in a handbasket or for other reasons), but Puerto Rico is not foreign soil. Allegedly.

Let's hope!

ETA______________________________

Royal Caribbean evacuates thousands from San Juan and the Caribbean
Danielle Wiener-Bronner | September 28, 2017

...Passengers were not charged for the trip...

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/28/news/royal-caribbean-san-juan-evacuations/index....

Now bumped towards the top of my list: War Against All Puerto Ricans. What little I know of Boricua history is unpleasant enough, but experience tells me that until I'm willing to accede to a visit from some psychical schlumgazim, I'll know nothing. This might do the trick.

From Amazon.com:

The U.S. bombed two towns in Puerto Rico on November 1, 1950.

It was the only time in history that the U.S. intentionally bombed its own citizens. They also arrested 3,000 Puerto Ricans, tortured hundreds of them, and maintained secret FBI files on over 100,000 more.

Why did the U.S. do this? Why have we never heard of it? Who was responsible?

With photos, eyewitness accounts, personal interviews, congressional testimony, and recently de-classified FBI files, War Against All Puerto Ricans explains it all.

A review: http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/04/08/war-against-all-puerto-ricans-earns-insta...

Author lecture at CSU-LB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tcyUgcRfio

Trump just issued a 10-day Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico. Sounds like there are economic arguments for permanent waiver of this protectionist WW1 legislation (as in USVI) for Hawaii, Guam, Alaska, Puerto Rico, if not all US ports.

For example, I don't think US fleet is being upgraded in Great Lakes as is Canada's, which has bought a number of new ships in China in recent years. Also, perhaps negotiation with Canada for coordinated repeal of its cabotage rules with US's Jones Act might allow US lakers greater access to fast-developing short-sea shipping business between Great Lakes and Nova Scotia/Montreal. Certainly could be less wasted fuel and unnecessary transport of ballast water in cargo holds that could carry goods. (Bet Canadian lakers would fight that!) From my small glimpses of shipping business, they all fight hard for small advantages that unfortunately cost us all, but in this case, especially Hawaii, Guam, Alaska, and Puerto Rico.

The Jones Act, the obscure 1920 shipping regulation strangling Puerto Rico, explained
Protectionism and exploitation at its worst.
Matthew Yglesias | Sep 28, 2017

...the Jones Act, an obscure 1920 regulation that requires that goods shipped from one American port to another be transported on a ship that is American-built, American-owned, and crewed by US citizens or permanent residents.

...An absence of domestic port-to-port shipping is an occasional distortion for the US mainland, but it’s a systemic economic impediment for places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, in particular, is so close to the United States that the most cost-effective way to transport many goods there would be for ships to stop off en route to a mainland port. But under the Jones Act, foreign-originating goods must be dropped off in Jacksonville and then shipped to Puerto Rico via an exorbitantly expensive Jones-compliant vessel. Likewise, it costs far more to ship US-produced goods to Puerto Rico than it does to Jamaica.

This raises the cost of living on Puerto Rico, makes Puerto Rico an unattractive place to produce goods bound for the US mainland, and has the bizarre effect of putting Puerto Rico at a competitive disadvantage to other Caribbean islands as a destination for American tourists.

In the US Virgin Islands, which are exempt from the law, US-made goods are about half as expensive, while the cost of living in Puerto Rico is 13 percent higher than on the American mainland. Food on Puerto Rico costs twice as much as it does in Florida, and that’s before the devastation of the island’s agriculture by Hurricane Maria.

...simply repeal...the Jones Act, as Sen. John McCain has proposed several times, most recently in July.

If that’s too much for the shipbuilding industry to swallow, a narrow law exempting Puerto Rico from its reach could be a helpful idea. Alternatively, a midsize law that would narrow the Jones Act to the contiguous 48 states might pick up the congressional delegations of Alaska and Hawaii as champions while lifting Puerto Rico incidentally.

But the risk for the island is that while the immediate devastation of Hurricane Maria is leading to a brief surge in attention, the subject of maritime regulation will likely soon slip back into its customary obscurity — dragging down Puerto Rico’s economy more out of indifference than malice.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/27/16373484/jones-act-puerto-rico

_________________________________________________________

Jones Act from a largely Hawaii perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpwzoDGDGAQ

Nelson Denis's lecture includes a portion on the Jones Act as well. The most succinct bottom-line appraisal I've heard, specifically of the impact on Puerto Rico. I wasn't aware that Jacksonville, FL was such a massive and direct beneficiary...
https://youtu.be/_tcyUgcRfio?t=1h38s

>79 margd: But under the Jones Act, foreign-originating goods must be dropped off in Jacksonville and then shipped to Puerto Rico via an exorbitantly expensive Jones-compliant vessel.

I knew some of the basics about the Jones Act, but I had never heard about it being that restrictive.

>80 davidgn: Geez. Bet it would be interesting to pair your book with one on Cuba...

I always thought US lakers paid a big price to protect, say, business between Toledo and Duluth, but Puerto Rico is much, much worse off! Ditto power of lobbyists that we see here on Great Lakes--we must be pikers by comparison!

>82 margd: If you thought that was rough, try the rest of the lecture. (So, that's how we treated Don Pedro Albizu Campos. Not exactly surprising to anyone with a smattering of the history of U.S. behavior in Latin America, but it's the little details that twist the knife in your guts. The guy helped De Valera write the Irish constitution. Someone needs to page the Fenian rebel songwriters...)

David,
I think one instructive way of looking at Puerto Rico is as what the US wanted Cuba to be, particularly agriculturally (that is, forgetting about the more dramatic and transient story of casinos...)

"Even as President Donald Trump and acting FEMA Director Elaine Duke congratulated themselves on their handling of the response to Hurricane Maria, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city San Juan, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz issued an incendiary statement on live TV.
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi cut away from a press gaggle around Trump and caught the last part of Cruz’s statement, in which she said, “The world will see how we are treated — not as second-class citizens, but as animals that can be disposed of.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/san-juan-mayors-searing-message-to-trump-we-are...

The Atlantic is covering this as well.

After criticism, acting homeland security chief admits humanitarian situation in Puerto Rico 'is not satisfactory'

>82 margd: >84 RickHarsch: Yes, Cuba would be a very interesting comparison.

https://newrepublic.com/article/145075/searching-blame-puerto-ricoand-coming-sho...
Typical New Republic. "Shit happens, Trump is not-nice and made his characteristic faux pas but there's no larger systemic issue here, and by the way we just wanted to remind you that we believe in climate change, because virtue-signaling." Mere anodyne dross.

I've tried doing a search on this, but couldn't find a news story on it, so I don't know if it's true or not.

In a discussion elsewhere on Puerto Rico post Maria, one of the posters said they heard an interview with a trucker in Puerto Rico who said his truck was ready to go to get aid out, but Border Patrol was requiring every truck be inspected before it left the port. If true, it's something that the government needs to be called out on.

>87 rastaphrog: Border Patrol specifically, or Customs and Border Protection? I gather it's the latter, because the former would make no sense.

Unless...

Unless there was some sort of specific intelligence (or some GS-14 with a paranoid hunch) about people being smuggled into Puerto Rico on foreign-flagged vessels with the idea of posing as Puerto Ricans and getting "evacuated" to the mainland, or something like that. That would be potentially clever, but it also seems logistically improbable (not to mention one hell of an operation for human traffickers to organize on short notice), and in any case it's a lousy excuse for tying up relief aid.

My guess is that in the scenario, someone had that paranoid hunch (or the CYA impulse), and the sudden waiving of the Jones Act led to a bottleneck where the manpower was not in place to inspect the cargoes on the foreign-flagged vessels for human cargo. That could almost make sense... in a batshit-crazy bureaucratic snafu sort of way. I'll ask my dad what he thinks.

=======================
ETA: On the other hand, if it was CBP rather than Border Patrol, the same situation regarding a manpower bottleneck for Customs and Immigration inspections of foreign-flagged vessels would apply as a matter of course without the need for paranoid hunches. That would be my preferred theory, unless and until Border Patrol involvement is specifically confirmed. It would, of course, speak to poor planning and operational inflexibility.

ETA: The story also seems to conflict with what's being reported elsewhere, which blame the bottleneck on shortage of drivers and... well, roads:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-aid-problem/index.html
http://nypost.com/2017/09/28/aid-sent-to-puerto-rico-not-reaching-desperate-resi...
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2017/09/puerto_rico_storm_aid_ports.html

ETA: Though some reporting is more ambiguous on that attribution:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/28/554297787/puerto-rico-relief-g...

Richard Heinberg:
http://www.postcarbon.org/puerto-rico-is-our-future/

See also:
https://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/346710/white-house-describes-puerto-rico-relief...

Meanwhile, Vox actually has a decent situation report.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-p...
(Which also references an op-ed I missed from Nelson Denis:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/hurricane-puerto-rico-jones-act.html )

And finally: a decent piece from, of all places, GQ.
https://www.gq.com/story/america-never-deserved-puerto-rico

>88 davidgn: I have no idea if it might actually be CBP or not. I passed it along as that person posted it, with no link to an actual story, which is why I was unsure of its veracity. I made a couple more attempts at searching for something on this, but all I can find are articles that mention CBP talking about the logistics of getting the aid out.

Given the hour, and it being a Saturday, I don't know when that person may actually post again and possibly offer a link.

Hurrah for Doctorow. https://boingboing.net/2017/09/27/a-gangster-for-capitalism.html

Meanwhile, good coverage here:
http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/09/27/rep-gutierrez-no-mr-president-puerto-rico...
http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/09/28/marias-death-toll-in-puerto-rico-is-being...
http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/09/29/government-officials-in-puerto-rico-unpre...
http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/09/29/house-of-cards-in-puerto-rico/
http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/09/29/jim-crow-fema-how-trumps-disastrous-hurri...

Un-bloody-believable!

Trump doesn’t get it on Puerto Rico. He just proved it by lashing out at San Juan’s mayor*.
Aaron Blake | September 30, 2017

...@RealDonaldTrump The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. 7:19 AM - Sep 30, 2017

...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....
7:26 AM - Sep 30, 2017

.....want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.
7:29 AM - Sep 30, 2017

...He has repeatedly misstated the size of the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico. He has repeatedly talked about what a tough state the island was in to begin with — as if to shift blame. He has talked repeatedly about how Puerto Rico is an island “in the middle of the ocean” — as if to temper expectations. He has even talked about how Puerto Rico might be made to repay the cost of its recovery. And he's decided to take a weekend at his golf club in New Jersey right now, even as the scope of the problems in Puerto Rico is growing.

...Puerto Rico is a legacy issue for Trump — something that, like Hurricane Katrina, could color views of him for years or decades to come...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/09/30/trump-doesnt-get-it-on...

____________________________________________________________

*San Juan mayor slams Trump administration comments on Puerto Rico hurricane response
Arelis R. Hernández, Mark Berman and John Wagner | September 29, 2017

...Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, gave voice to this tension on Friday when she criticized acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke's assertion that the federal response is "a good-news story in terms of our ability to reach people" and the relatively low death toll. In televised interviews, she said the situation on the island is anything but good news, with people scraping for food, and for their lives.

Cruz delivered what she described as a "mayday" call to Washington in a news conference Friday, decrying federal and local government logistical failures in delivering basic goods to communities across Puerto Rico. She said the federal response has "collapsed," emotionally describing how provincial mayors have tried unsuccessfully to retrieve critical goods from the government command center in San Juan.

"People are dying in this country," Cruz said. "I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us, to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy."...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/09/29/san-juan-mayor-sla...

>92 margd: It's hard to believe that I could be any more disgusted by Trump's behavior, but yet he keeps taking things to new lows. And his brainwashed cult willingly follow him there.

As far as Don Pedro Campos: for anyone who didn't take the time to go back through the lecture to find out what I meant, here's a good write-up.
http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/03/10/king-of-the-towels-the-torture-and-murder...

The Cruelest Storm: A Statement for Puerto Rico
http://www.latinorebels.com/2017/09/30/the-cruelest-storm-a-statement-for-puerto...

EDITOR’S NOTE: A collective of Puerto Rican intellectuals and their fellow supporters, mostly academics teaching in the U.S. and spearheaded by Aurea María Sotomayor (University of Pittsburgh), have put together a statement that they would like friends and associates in the U.S. media to publish, discuss, and disseminate. It is a declaration that, on the one hand, denounces the different legal, political, financial, and logistical predatory forces behind the current “second-class-citizenship” impasse that is increasing the risk and expendability of Puerto Rican lives after Maria’s catastrophic wake. On the other, it is an urgent call to politicians and policy makers to exempt Puerto Rico permanently from the Jones Act and repeal the PROMESA law and other measures and policies that are hampering recovery.

Statement for Puerto Rico

The destruction brought by Hurricane Maria has exposed the profound colonial condition of Puerto Rico, as millions of human beings are faced with a life or death situation. The financial crisis manufactured by American bankers, colonial laws such as PROMESA and the Jones Act that controls maritime space, are legal mechanisms that prevent Puerto Rico’s recovery, and even call into question the validity of American citizenship on that island. Given the severity of the situation, political action is necessary.

The State of Facts

Puerto Rico is experiencing a humanitarian crisis as a result of Hurricane Maria, which struck the island on Wednesday, September 20, as a Category Four hurricane. Immediately thereafter, Governor Rosselló declared a curfew from dawn to dusk for security reasons. Ten days after the event, hundreds of communities are still flooded, isolated without any food or drinking water, as highways and roads are blocked or destroyed, making communication between towns, neighborhoods and cities impossible. Telephone, internet, drinking water and electricity services have not been re-established in most communities. The weather radar was destroyed as well as the surveillance towers at the San Juan International Airport.

There is a public health crisis due to the precarious conditions in hospitals and the threat of epidemics stemming from contaminated water. Cities, towns and neighborhoods outside the metropolitan area have been abandoned, and efforts are concentrated in the San Juan metro area. The western part of the island, for example, lacks minimum services. The images shared with the world by visibly shaken journalists, television anchors, and meteorologists speak of the human drama caused by the disaster. What is missing from many of those reports is concrete information of plans and immediate, achievable initiatives to move the country ahead, as well as an ongoing plan. Explanations are necessary for why so many efforts to reach, house, feed and clothe many Puerto Ricans are unsuccessful. The people and the local government need the freedom to make and act on decisions quickly.

There is no sensible political analysis of the situation due to such dire absence of communication. The state of precariousness in which the entire population of the island finds itself forces individuals to concentrate all of their strength on survival. Many have already opted to leave the country as the re-opening of the Luis Muñoz Marín airport demonstrated in its first day of service after the hurricane. It is a cruel way of emptying Puerto Rico of its most valuable resource, its people; the potential silencing of any dissident voices in the process is unacceptable. This state of emergency could be used to promote new measures of austerity that will not benefit Puerto Rico, a country already devastated by the financial disaster of an unpayable debt.

The Caribbean has been pummeled by two major hurricanes in the month of September: Irma and Maria. The Virgin Islands, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Dominica, Barbuda, Antigua, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts, and Puerto Rico are geopolitically precarious: physically as islands and politically for their colonial history and status. They were traditionally called “Overseas Provinces” because of their political and economic dependence on a metropolitan mainland. The world has found out in the past few days what our history has always stubbornly made visible to us.

Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States. Its political status stems from the U.S. invasion of 1898 and a series of laws that served only to consolidate U.S. control, hindering the possibility of Puerto Rican sovereignty and political emancipation. One such law is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, or Jones Act, which determines that Puerto Rico’s maritime waters and ports are controlled by U.S. agencies. The limits on shipping imposed by the Jones Act double the cost of consumer goods arriving at our shores, since they curtail the ability of non-U.S. ships and crews to engage in commercial trade with Puerto Rico. The recent legislation, PROMESA (or “promise,” a cynical and injurious acronym for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act), which imposes millions of dollars of accrued debt and stringent austerity measures on Puerto Rico and its inhabitants, is yet to be audited.

PROMESA has established a supra governmental body with complete control over finances and the laws and regulations adopted by the PR government. PROMESA represents Congress’ most significant overt act to restate its colonial authority over Puerto Rico in total disregard of democracy, republicanism, and popular sovereignty. Here is where the need to repeal PROMESA and the Jones Act intersect, as both are exercises of colonial power to further the economic and political interest of the metropolis. At this time of humanitarian crisis and dire times for Puerto Rico Washington will not act in the best interest of the people of Puerto Rico by repealing both PROMESA and the Jones Act.

The U.S. citizenship of Puerto Ricans, in this circumstance, is not a privilege, but the branding of a slave. It is a restrictive citizenship subject to the limits imposed by the US Congress without any interpellation of the subject to whom it is imposed. As an American colony, citizenship in this case actually denies Puerto Ricans any of the rights obtained by other regions impacted by the same events in the North American mainland. Citizenship makes us hostages, dispensable entities and victims of calculated charity. It is necessary to repeal the Jones Act, which imposes restrictions on the entry of other vessels to the island, even if their intention is only to offer humanitarian aid. It is necessary to abolish the PROMESA Law, since Puerto Rico cannot be rebuilt on the basis of an unpayable and fraudulent debt. Both laws condemn the country to an unsustainable economic future that will intensify the exodus of Puerto Ricans from their island.

The manner in which aid delivered to Puerto Rico has been confiscated and controlled by FEMA, along with the refusal to assist Puerto Rico in a manner similar to that offered to mainland localities affected by Hurricane Irma, for example, shapes our interpretation of this event. It subjects the inhabitants of a territory in crisis to the limits of what a federal agency is willing to do, and denies aid that may come from other countries at this critical time. Beyond the paternalism that this implies, it turns Puerto Ricans into hostages of their colonial condition.

While exploiting the physical deprivation Puerto Ricans are experiencing, FEMA’s presence also promotes psychological servility. As military uniforms increase and become more visible due to this emergency, a very troubling image is emerging of the Puerto Rican people, under increasingly fragile and precarious conditions. Efforts are delayed for a population that the federal government considers expendable. Rampant indifference is affirmed with lack of solidarity with neighboring towns by preventing other kinds of aid from flowing into and through the island.

This situation brings Puerto Ricans down to their knees, at the mercy of the equivocal aid provided by the U.S., while other humanitarian aid is blocked. Puerto Ricans are placed under peril, endangering the lives of thousands that still have not been reached. The ultimate goal of this federal aid is unknown. Its growing militarization at a time when Puerto Ricans are deprived of the basic means of survival and communication is alarming. It turns this state of emergency into an opportunity for some to thrive financially while hundreds of people die from lack of water, food and medical treatment. No political or economic reason justifies the death of diabetes patients who do not have the means to keep their insulin cool nor dialysis patients who have seen their treatments interrupted due to lack of electricity. The consequences of this blockade on solidarity could be greater than the victims produced by the hurricane itself. The recent statements by President Trump are unworthy of any president. In the midst of a humanitarian crisis, he demands payment of the credit debt. Immediate actions must be taken. The PROMESA law and the Jones Act must be repealed. This is not the time to invoke the false rights inherent in second-degree citizenship, but to claim the right of every human being to life.

Faced with these facts, we demand:

The recognition of a state of humanitarian crisis.
The immediate repeal of the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) for Puerto Rico and the repeal of the PROMESA Law.
That the aid provided by the federal agencies not be subjected by any conditions that can delay or limit its reach.
The opening of the ports to all those who wish to show solidarity with the Puerto Rican people.
The reestablishment of all means of communication across the island.
Dedicated funds and assistance for the thousands of people without home, water, food, and electricity.

>95 davidgn: I have contacted both my senators about this.

Please share the best organizations you know of to donate to who will directly help the Puerto Rico disaster victims.

>96 sturlington: These look like the best roundups:

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-09-27/how-help-puerto-rico-after-maria
https://www.consumerreports.org/charitable-donations/how-you-can-help-hurricane-...

Also, Boston is putting together an effort, though it's equally aimed at resettlement efforts in MA.
http://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-leaders-charities-create-fund-to-help-puerto-...

============================================
A big problem is that Harvey and Irma have already depleted donor wallets.

http://www.wbur.org/npr/554291950/what-the-pileup-of-u-s-disasters-means-for-the...

>97 davidgn: Thanks.

See Jason Kander's photo:
The Mayor of San Juan is wading through sewage, searching for people with a bullhorn...

Also, Andrew James Gregor's photo:
...Here are some lazy #PuertoRico men gathering fresh water from a water chute they built.

https://www.bustle.com/p/trumps-attack-on-puerto-rico-is-dead-wrong-this-one-pho...

________________________________________________________

Apparently, after tweeting about the victims, Twump tweeted on, criticizing the media for its coverage of the disaster in Puerto Rico:

...Trump spent the next eight(!) hours tweeting a series of attacks against the so-called "fake news" media for allegedly misrepresenting the actions of his administration in Puerto Rico.

"Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to 'get Trump,'" he tweeted in one. "Not fair to FR or effort!"

"The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R's. Shame!," went another...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/01/politics/trump-tweets-puerto-rico/index.html

ETA: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/353264-trump-tells-puerto-rico-reside...
_________________________________________________________

>95 davidgn:, >96 sturlington: Good idea to contact senators. (Done!) A fresh look at Puerto Rico's possibilities and future is surely in order, now that we're in a new century...

Puerto Rico’s Complicated History with the United States
Becky Little | September 22, 2017

...With the westward expansion of the 19th century, the U.S. established “incorporated territories” that could and did become formal American states—like the Colorado Territory. But in 1901, a series of legal opinions known as the Insular Cases argued that Puerto Rico and other territories ceded by the Spanish were full of “alien races” who couldn’t understand “Anglo-Saxon principles.” Therefore, the Constitution did not apply to them, and Puerto Rico became an “unincorporated territory” with no path forward to statehood.

...Is there any hope for Puerto Rico becoming a state in the future? After all, the reason they’re not is because more than a century ago, a judge said that Puerto Ricans were too racially inferior to be a part of the U.S. legal system. Today, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, sits on the highest court of law in the United States—the Supreme Court.

Just a few months before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans actually voted in favor of a referendum for statehood. But unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how many Puerto Ricans vote for it. The only people who can incorporate the islands into a state are the voting members of Congress.

“It’s very unlikely that statehood will ever happen, at least not in our lifetimes, unless something in the political culture of the U.S. Congress shifts radically to suddenly embrace Latin Americans, Latinos, and Puerto Ricans,” (Lillian Guerra, a history professor at the University of Florida) says. “And I don’t think we’re going that direction.”

http://www.history.com/news/puerto-ricos-complicated-history-with-the-united-sta...

>101 davidgn: Never mind the hurricanes which devastated her town and island, like the PM of Dominica, the San Juan mayor's own house was destroyed. No wonder she was as forthright as she was!

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/10/02/trumps-hurt-feelings-over-puerto-rico/

...
Dennis Bernstein: Assemblyman Jose Rivera represents the Bronx in the New York state legislature. I know this isn’t the first report like this you have heard. What have you been able to find out in terms of what is going on and how that might change?

Jose Rivera: Back on September 22 of 1989, when Hugo hit the island of Puerto Rico, we were able to get two airplanes to land there. It doesn’t surprise me that FEMA has not acted yet because they didn’t act in 1989. It took weeks before they acted. But the state of New York under Governor Cuomo took charge on our request and sent a National Guard aircraft there. But only two planes landed in Puerto Rico. FEMA did not react until a couple weeks later.

Their behavior now is criminal. It is an attempt to force people to leave the island in order to eliminate us as a people on our own island. They are trying to do what they did to Hawaii, when they reduced the native population to one percent so that they could do what they wanted with the islands.

We met with Governor Andrew Cuomo and within a couple days he mobilized the National Guard and we sent two aircraft to Puerto Rico. We were the first responders. But the aid we took there has not been distributed. The mayor of San Juan has taken issue with the governor, who is a puppet and goes along with everything Trump is saying.
...

Watching out for potential formation of a Nate in GoM: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basin=atlc&fdays=5

(And see also this Harvey holdover: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/10/02/galveston-biolabs-amid-global-warming/ )

Woops, shooting in Vegas. Sorry Puerto Rico.

Don't worry.. Media attention will return in a week, ... Ah, no. Sorry Puerto Rico.

>105 RickHarsch: Wonder if the orange one will be able to keep straight on his whirlwind trip to both sites:
Las Vegas: my base--solemn sympathy?
Puerto Rico: them--scornful hectoring ?
each time, of course, profusely praising responders, regardless of outcomes.

>104 davidgn: Biolab story is scary. Hopefully, security is better nowadays, but oversight is always a good in universities and research labs--and the first part of that is choosing an appropriate site.

(As undergraduate eons ago I had access to a slide set with live anthrax. (I remember assuming the bacteria must be dead 'coz they wouldn't allow unwashed undergrads to handle it, surely!) In another lab, we--a significant number of whom went home to farms on weekends--infected chickens with very infectious Newcastle Disease (reduces chicken innards to bloody mess, one of the reasons parrots are carefully scrutinized at border).)

Margd, I think bnielson is Dutch, so maybe you should be careful with your use of the orangeyutan. How about Il Duce Biondi?

No, he will flail in both places. He has already given his WARM sympathy to the bloody fucking dead and their pistol-packing families.

David, interesting educational career.

>108 RickHarsch:. Nope I'm not from Orange country :-) So no need to be careful about agent orange around here.

Denmark?

>108 RickHarsch: That would be @margd .

>109 bnielsen: I, on the other hand, am from Orange County, the one in California, not Florida.

>110 RickHarsch: Bingo!

Na, Margd is from Canada but has spent significant time in the US, one hopes not all of it suffering fools.

>114 RickHarsch: Born and raised in Canada, moved to US in my mid-20s, so spent most of my life here, albeit at a job that reported to both US and Canada. Summering in Canada these days, but only a one-mile swim from US! I vote in the US, plus I have a vote in the Ontario township where we summer. It's been an interesting perch (sitting on the fence) that I hope has helped me to see the pluses and minuses of both countries--and want the best for both...

(And I LIKE the colo(u)r orange--this very minute sitting on a chair of that colo(u)r surrounded by nasturtiums, all but chair soon to succumb to the frost... ;-)

Can you imagine Hisself addressing Texas or Florida thusly:

President Trump on Tuesday told Puerto Rico officials they should feel “very proud” they haven’t lost thousands of lives like in “a real catastrophe like Katrina,” while adding that the devastated island territory has thrown the nation’s budget “a little out of whack.” ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-praises-himself-for-administration...

?????

ETA___________________________________________

Completely tone-deaf...

Trump hails ‘incredible’ response in ‘lovely’ trip to storm-torn Puerto Rico
Jenna Johnson and Ashley Parker | October 3, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-praises-himself-for-administration...

>116 margd: Will a day go by when this president doesn't inspire me to want to vomit?

New Wunderground blog:
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/calm-next-atlantic-storm

And new Levi Cowan video:
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/blog/2017/10/03/tuesday-watching-for-tropical-de...

68 contd. Didn't hear of Air Force One giving anyone a lift from Puerto Rico to mainland, but...

Mark Cuban and Pitbull lend private planes to help with relief efforts in Puerto Rico
Courtney Connley | 28 Sept 2017

... Cuban loaned the Dallas Mavericks' private plane to point guard J.J. Barea to bring essential supplies to his native island, according to ESPN. The trip meant Barea had to miss the first day of Mavericks training camp.

"They loaded up a bunch of stuff, supplies, etc., to take over to Puerto Rico, and they're going to turn around and come back," ESPN reports Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle saying. "Barea's going to take his mom and grandmother back with him, and my understanding is his dad is going to stay over there and slug it out with all of the recovery efforts."

...Also pitching in his private plane to speed relief efforts is rapper Pitbull...he's using the aircraft to bring Puerto Rican cancer patients to the mainland U.S. for chemotherapy.

As of Tuesday, just 11 of the island's 69 hospitals had power...

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/28/mark-cuban-and-pitbull-lend-private-planes-to-pu...

Day-by-day description of Maria in Puerto Rico--from early predictions to Trump's visit. Puerto Rico received same amount of rain in one day as Houston did in three. It took thirteen days to deploy same number military personnel as were sent to Haiti in two after its earthquake.

What's Happening With the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?
A timeline of the unprecedented catastrophe of Hurricane Maria
Robinson Meyer | Oct 4, 2017

...Maria has many elements of a “catastrophic event,” and not just a disaster, says Tricia Wachtendorf, a professor of sociology at the University of Delaware who studies disaster relief.

...There are few obvious gaps in the federal response in the timeline. But...the speed and scale of the initial Maria relief effort pales next to other recent campaigns...

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico...

Hey Margd, Puerto Rico is off the front page...

I wish everyone (Trump included) would remember the U.S. Virgin Islands, much smaller and hit by two hurricanes in a rapid succession; Irma and Maria.
Oh, sorry. Population mostly black. Lower peg than Hispanic so even less attention?
My 87-year old father is there. He's fine. House is fine. Thanks for asking. He rebuilt it after Hugo (Category 4) and made sure it would withstand another hurricane. He had to wait until now to see if it would. His four dogs are fine and he has two friends staying with him since their boats (habitats) are up on the beach. He expects to be out of power for 6 months.
After Hugo they coined a name for the color of the tarps everyone was using for roofs - FEMA Blue. New Crayon color?

>122 mamzel: I'm glad to hear that your father is fine and that his house survived the storm. It is distressing that unless the particular disaster that hits you is "high-profile" enough, you're pretty much forgotten, whether you're a victim of a hurricane or gun violence. Here in North Carolina, the local radio station is doing a series on Hurricane Matthew one year later. It affected mostly lower income people, mostly black and Native American. Of course, Congress denied their requests for aid and even a year later, flooded schools have not been reopened, towns have been abandoned by sustaining businesses.

>122 mamzel: Seriously glad to hear that your father, his house, his displaced friends, and his canine companions are doing well. We live in an extremely rural area, and after severe winter storms, we've been without power for a couple of weeks at a time. Have to say, that even for that short of a period, it really sucks. But FEMA Blue as a suggested crayon color? Nearly lost my adult beverage on that one. Thanks for the chuckle this evening, I needed it!

Bolongo Bay, a family-owned beach resort on St Thomas lost power and palm trees but luckily largely intact. Not so their mostly black employees, many of whom the resort is feeding and housing. Also housing emergency workers. Means it won't be open to tourists until next summer. Lost business must be substantial. I like that resort sponsored crowdfunding drive that lets guests help people who took care of us. Also gives us a glimpse of what's going on--certainly not much in media unless one really searches...

Help and relief still needed in U.S. Virgin Islands
Rhodesia Muhammad | Last updated: Oct 5, 2017

...There are currently 48,000 people in the U.S. Virgin Islands still without power leaving many relying on generators. According to FEMA, there are seven shelters with 621 occupants across the island. Thousands of federal staff, including more than 600 FEMA personnel are on the ground engaged in response and recovery operations. But, with collapsed infrastructure and knocked out electricity and communication lines, many are in dire situations. So far, estimates to repair the damage and rebuild the islands’ electrical grid are $200 million.

... widespread distribution remains a problem

...Gov. Mapp...reported that St. Thomas’ Cyril E. King Airport opened to commercial flights in late September, with both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines operating services to the mainland United States.

The restoration of power, he added, was “inching its way forward,” while FEMA is, working with local counterparts and was progressing with its provision of water to homes.

The (Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association) listed several of the most popular hotels and resorts, many of which are still closed until the middle or end of October or closed indefinitely.

The islands are still reeling noted a CNN news report. “Many residents are without shelter, power or communication. Schools are still closed and debris still litters the street, hindering the transportation of resources and personnel.” Media outlets also note that challenges in getting necessary supplies to the people persists.

According to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) based on the restoration work completed since Hurricane Maria impacted the territory they estimate St. Thomas has experienced about 15 percent restoration while St. Croix has seen restoration totals of approximately 10 percent.

St. Croix has about four megawatts of electricity presently on the electric grid while St. Thomas has about 10 megawatts. The restoration totals are based on present generation loads versus pre-storm load totals, WAPA reported on its website.

They also issued a precautionary boil water advisory Sept. 27...

https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/World_News_3/article_103832.shtml

________________________________________________________

Students Say They Want To Leave The US Virgin Islands Because Their Schools Are Wrecked
Students on the US Virgin Islands had just barely started school when two hurricanes roared through. Worried about their education, they're looking to come to the states.
Brianna Sacks | October 5, 2017

...Thousands of people have evacuated the US territory — whose residents are US citizens — in the past month. And while many will return, parents and kids are juggling whether to remain or head to the United States for a more stable school year.

"We started the school year with 500 students and we had about 300 last week," said Ananta Pancham, communications director for Antilles, a private school. "We lost 30% of our students after Hurricane Marilyn" — in 1995 — "many did come back."

Now bolstered by millions in federal aid and a host of US personnel, the local government has been working to get its schools back open for most of the islands by October 10, while scools on St. Croix are aiming for Oct. 16. But the education department is facing an array of substantial and costly challenges after it completely lost four schools and nearly 30 others sustained damage, some significantly. Gov. Kenneth Mapp estimated it could take up to $750 million to repair the islands' schools and hospitals.

The Army Corps of Engineers is repairing 11 of the 13 schools on St. Thomas in time for next Tuesday's start date. Officials, students, and parents say this is ambitious, given many buildings still don't have power or running water; walls and ceilings are flecked with mold; and some are missing cafeterias, classrooms, roofs, gymnasiums, and bathrooms...

https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/usvi-schools-after-maria?utm_term=.aljZKJ8...

________________________________________________________

Denmark Sending Aid to U.S. Virgin Islands
October 05, 2017

The Danish Emergency Management Agency is sending an emergency team to the U.S. Virgin Islands to assist officials in recovery efforts following the widespread devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Royal Danish Consulate announced Thursday.

The U.S. Virgin Islands, which was once a Danish possession known as the Danish West Indies, was severely damaged when the two category five hurricanes battered the islands in September. Roads, harbors, airports, hospitals, electrical power and communication networks have been damaged or destroyed, according to on-the-ground reports...

http://stthomassource.com/content/2017/10/05/denmark-sending-aid-to-u-s-virgin-i...

>122 mamzel: Glad your father came through all right. Easy to forget about the littler places.

>125 margd: Thanks for those.

================
Hope the NOLA pumps will pull through.

Not only can govt not talk about climate change, it has to put a smiley face on the slow progress. Unbelievable!

FEMA buried updates on Puerto Rico. Here they are.
Philip Bump | October 6, 2017

...The reason for burying the bad news — fewer than 1 in 8 Puerto Ricans have electricity and barely over half have water — seems pretty obvious. President Trump has faced a great deal of criticism for his handling of the crisis on the island. (A poll released this week found that fewer than a third of Americans thought Trump was handling the Puerto Rico response well.) By conveying information that suggests the island is still struggling, which it very much is, FEMA would only be reinforcing that perception.

The government of Puerto Rico, however, is updating this information at the site Status.pr. There, you’ll see regular updates on a number of metrics, including electricity, water and cellphone coverage. It’s updated regularly — although it is all in Spanish.

We’ve taken that data for the past week or so and created a tool that will show you not only the status of each of the metrics tracked by Status.pr but also how those numbers have improved (or haven’t) over time. It updates every hour, showing the most recent numbers for any given day...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/10/06/fema-buried-updates-o...

ETA______________________________________________

Update: As of Friday afternoon, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is once again reporting two key statistics -- the percentage of Puerto Ricans who have access to drinking water and the percentage of the island that has power -- on its webpage tracking the federal response to Hurricane Maria.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/05/fema-removes-sta...

Been otherwise occupied. Nate was thankfully a dud.
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2017/10/hurricane_nate_sunday_update_w.h...

Trump's 10-day temporary waiver for Puerto Rico after Maria expired. Contiguous coastal states, like Washington, oppose permanent exemptions to Jones Act for Puerto Rico (Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, too, I expect)? US Virgin Islands already have permanent exemption. We all pay extra for Jones Act--particularly islands and Alaska--but I suspect Wall Street banks holding PR bonds wsupport the place being rebuilt to keep taxpayers from leaving for the mainland. (Puerto Rico probably deserves its own thread at this point?)

Lawmakers Seek Puerto Rico Exemption to Law That Slowed Aid
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | OCT. 9, 2017

...Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Monday that the expiration of the Jones Act waiver added renewed urgency to his push to permanently exempt Puerto Rico from what he called an "archaic and burdensome law."

"Until we provide Puerto Rico with long-term relief, the Jones Act will continue to hinder much-needed efforts to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria," he said.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., said the temporary waiver should be extended for at least a year while Congress debates a permanent exemption for Puerto Rico.

"Significant numbers of Puerto Ricans remain displaced and still lack food, drinking water and electricity," she wrote in a letter to Trump. "If the Jones Act is reinstated, building supplies will cost significantly more in Puerto Rico, compared to costs on the mainland. This will serve only to slow Puerto Rico's long-term recovery."

...Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the Jones Act "incredibly important to our country's economy and to the maritime industry," which she said supports nearly 500,000 jobs and is responsible for more than $92 billion in annual gross economic output.

In Washington state, the Jones Act supports more than 16,000, mostly unionized jobs, Jayapal said. "Without these jobs, our economy would suffer tremendously," she said...

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/10/09/us/politics/ap-us-congress-puerto-ri...

ETA__________________________________________________

Trump: 'A Lot Of Shippers' Don't Want Me To Waive The Jones Act To Help Puerto Rico
It appears he's considering an industry's profits over aid to 3.5 million Americans facing a humanitarian crisis.
09/27/2017

President Donald Trump...“We’re thinking about that (temporarily waiving Jones Act for PR)...“But we have a lot of shippers and … a lot of people who work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted. And we have a lot of ships out there right now.”

The 1920 law requires that all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by American-owned and operated ships, which are more expensive vessels than others in the global marketplace. That means Puerto Rico has to pay double the costs for goods from the U.S. mainland compared with neighboring islands ― and that U.S. vessels are making bank. The law costs Puerto Rico hundreds of millions of dollars every year, and now, in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, the costs to import food, fuel and other supplies will spike amid the island’s economic devastation.

Trump’s comments are a galling admission that he’s weighing an industry’s profits against the needs of 3.5 million Americans facing “apocalyptic” conditions in Puerto Rico.

...The president’s comments suggest shipping professionals are telling him they’d rather keep their financial advantage over Puerto Rico in the midst of a life-threatening situation than cede money they arguably shouldn’t be getting in the first place...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/trump-puerto-rico-jones-act-maria_us_59cc281e...

Most of Puerto Rico has been in the dark for 21 days, 24 hours and 42 minutes
Denise Lu and Chris Alcantara | Oct. 11, 2017

How the island’s troubled finances, weak electrical infrastructure and a Category 4 hurricane plunged 3.4 million people into an ongoing power blackout.

...Before the hurricanes, PREPA said it needed more than $4 billion to overhaul its outdated power plants and reduce its years-long reliance on imported oil.

This has caused Puerto Rico to have one of the most expensive electricity rates in the United States and its territories.

...Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said at a FEMA briefing Monday the storm had knocked out 400 75-foot-tall transmission towers.

The island, he said, needs 2,700 megawatts of electricity. Only 376 megawatts have been restored.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/puerto-rico-hurricane-reco...

By Todd Hitt October 10

In Houston, we have a problem. It’s a crisis that will impede the reconstruction of our nation’s fourth-largest city. The problem isn’t capital, though. It’s labor.

Here’s what federal lawmakers need to understand: If Congress gave the Gulf Coast every dollar it needs to rebuild tomorrow, the construction industry simply would not find enough workers to keep up with demand.

Even before Hurricane Harvey made landfall, 69 percent of Texas contractors had trouble filling jobs. Now, it’s estimated that 200,000 Houston homes will require work or complete reconstruction. Who will build these houses? What about the commercial infrastructure and public schools, highways and bridges that also sustained so much damage?

Regardless of his vows (and VP's) to the contrary:

Trump threatens to abandon Puerto Rico recovery effort
Philip Rucker | October 12, 2017

@realDonaldTrump:

Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....
6:49 AM

accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend....
6:58 AM

We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!
7:07 AM

...In a visit to the island last week, Vice President Pence vowed that the administration will be with Puerto Rico “every step of the way.”

...Trump himself made a similar promise, saying in a Sept. 29 speech, “We will not rest, however, until the people of Puerto Rico are safe.” He added, “These are great people. We want them to be safe and sound and secure. And we will be there every day until that happens.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/12/trump-warns-puer...

ETA_____________________________________________________

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (D-NY, originally from PR) reponds to Trump via Ben Carson:
https://news.google.com/news/video/XE42KMY0loc/dgrojhPtGp0b9PMNh7QNgaPelaa8M?hl=...

ETA_____________________________________________________

Federal disaster aid for Puerto Rico isn’t foreign aid — but Trump acts that way
Jessica Trisko Darden | October 13, 2017

...the “Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act,” or PROMESA, subjects Puerto Rico’s finances to a federal oversight board. This means that the local government has a limited say as to where and how its resources are invested. In Puerto Rico’s case, preparing the island for the next natural disaster will require significant foresight and proactive resource management by the federal government...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/10/13/federal-disaster-a...

ETA_____________________________________________________

NYT: Let them eat paper towels

Desperate Puerto Ricans are drinking water from a hazardous-waste site
John D. Sutter | October 14, 2017

...More than three weeks after Hurricane Maria ravaged this island, more than 35% of the island's residents -- American citizens -- remain without safe drinking water.

...Friday afternoon, CNN watched workers from the Puerto Rican water utility, Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, or AAA, distribute water from a well at the Dorado Groundwater Contamination Site, which was listed in 2016 as part of the federal Superfund program for hazardous waste cleanup.

Residents...filled small bottles from a hose and piled them in their vehicles. Large trucks with cylindrical tanks on their backs carried the water to people elsewhere. Some of the trucks carried the name of the municipality of Dorado. Others simply were labeled with the words "Agua Potable," Spanish for potable water.

In announcing the addition of the Dorado site to the Superfund program, the US Environmental Protection Agency says the area was polluted with industrial chemicals, including tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene, which "can have serious health impacts including damage to the liver and increasing the risk of cancer," according to the EPA...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/us/puerto-rico-superfund-water/index.html

Black lawmakers pushing for more aid, attention to Virgin Islands
Deborah Barfield Berry | Oct. 13, 2017

WASHINGTON — ...The House approved a $36.5 billion disaster aid package that includes $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund.

...Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the Virgin Islands and a (Black Caucus) member, called the aid package “inadequate for the needs of the Virgin Islands, and I believe, inadequate for the needs of Puerto Rico and so many other areas.’’

...The Virgin Islands, which about 76% black, was hard hit by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Plaskett described dire conditions, including struggling hospitals, schools closures and a shortage of power and essential supplies. She said the federal government needs to do more to help.

...Plaskett said the region will need much more than the $5 billion Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp has requested.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/13/black-lawmakers-pushing-...

___________________________________________________

Rep Plaskett was not exaggerating...

In the Virgin Islands, Hurricane Maria Drowned What Irma Didn’t Destroy
As islanders wait for doctors, medicine, fuel and manpower to rebuild, the economic toll from the storms is only starting to come to light.
JEREMY W. PETERS | SEPT. 27, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/us/hurricane-maria-virgin-islands.html

Can we talk about climate change now?

This Year’s Latest Major Hurricane, Ophelia, Is Headed for Ireland
Chas Danner | Oct 14, 2017

This year’s busy and bizarre hurricane season isn’t done stunning scientists. The latest named storm, Ophelia, is now the sixth major hurricane to form in the Atlantic this year, and the 10th consecutive named storm to reach hurricane strength this year — only the third time in recorded history and the first time in a century that has happened — tying the all-time single-year record. On top of all that, no major hurricane has ever formed as far east as Ophelia has. The storm intensified so far east, in fact, that the continent it now threatens is Europe. Ophelia reached category 3 strength 220 miles south of the Azores on Saturday morning, and is now on track to strike Ireland beginning Monday.

No, this is not even close to normal, as astounded meteorologists like Weather Underground’s Bob Henson are pointing out:

To call Ophelia unusual would be an understatement. For one thing, it became a major hurricane at longitude 26.6°W, further east than any other formation of a Category 3 in the Atlantic. The former record-holder was Frances (1980), which became a Category 3 at 12.8°N, 29.8°W. Ophelia’s achievement is even more impressive when you consider its latitude: 34.8°N. In data going back to 1851, no other major hurricane is known to have formed anywhere close to as far northeast as Ophelia. The runner-up at Ophelia’s latitude range, Michael (2012), developed some 900 miles further west. …

...Extratropical storms reach the British Isles several times a decade, and Ophelia may be among the most powerful ones to strike over the last 50 years. The only known storm to still be a tropical hurricane when it affected Ireland was Hurricane Debbie in 1961. When it brushed the island, wind gusts as high as 106 mph were recorded there. A plane crash caused by the storm killed 60 people in the Azores beforehand, and another 18 were killed in Ireland, where tens of thousands of trees were knocked down, many buildings were damaged or destroyed, and the overall damage, including to the island’s agriculture, totaled what would be more than $300 million in today’s dollars.

Ophelia is expected to affect the U.K., and could have an impact on Portugal, Spain, and France as well. One disaster modeler told Bloomberg that the storm could potentially cause even more damage than Debbie did. But Ophelia might also do some good, in the form of a big boost in megawatts generated by the U.K.’s wind-power infrastructure. According to Bloomberg, remnants of Hurricanes Irma and Maria already led to record wind-energy generation in the country, and they didn’t come close to actually striking Europe. (margd: UK wind turbines must be made of sterner stuff than ones around here??)

Whatever happens, the fast-moving storm is currently expected to dissipate around Wednesday somewhere north of Scandinavia.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/10/hurricane-ophelia-stuns-meteorologi...

(margd: UK wind turbines must be made of sterner stuff than ones around here??)

I heard an NPR story where they interviewed the manager of a wind farm on Puerto Rico that survived, but with all the power lines down it can't get it's electricity to anyone). Apparently most wind turbines can withstand incredibly strong winds.

>136 jjwilson61: And so can solar arrays, apparently.

How to Keep the Lights On After a Hurricane

When one of us (Richard Branson) emerged from his cellar after riding out Hurricane Irma’s assault on Necker Island, the house and everything surrounding it was destroyed — except for the solar power array, which laid flat on ground and remained materially intact. Solar power systems survived Irma and kept working in Florida and Haiti. While Hurricane Harvey cut some Texas power lines, no wind farms were destroyed.
...
Some traditional utilities oppose microgrids as a threat to their beleaguered monopoly. But giant electrical equipment firms like Siemens, Schneider and General Electric now offer microgrids, and nearly 2,000 projects were underway worldwide at the end of 2016.

An opinion piece, with numbers:

Puerto Rico’s Actual Death Toll

On Thursday, Puerto Rican officials announced that 472 more people died there in September 2017 than in September 2016. That figure, which epidemiologists call the excess death toll, is a more reliable measure of the disaster’s human impact than the initial figure of 16 that Mr. Trump cited, because it includes cases that medical examiners could not process in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Very cool, two-minute simulation of Aug-Oct 2017 including hurricanes Harvey to Ophelia, which moved sea salt, African dust and smoke from American wildfires across planet .

2017 Hurricanes and Aerosols Simulation
NOAA | November 13, 2017
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12772

How rare and endangered Puerto Rican Parrot, Whooping Crane, “Attwater’s” Greater Prairie-Chicken, Barbuda Warbler Survived 2017 hurricanes: Whew! (For now.)

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/how-the-puerto-rican-parrots-survived-the-devastat...

Whew--for now at least! How VULNERABLE Puerto Rican Parrot, Whooping Crane, “Attwater’s” Greater Prairie-Chicken, Barbuda Warbler survived 2017 hurricane season

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/how-the-puerto-rican-parrots-survived-the-devastat...

Five Things We Learned in the Aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
Audubon’s assessment of the effects of hurricanes will inform restoration efforts that can protect our coasts in the future.

National Audubon Society | December 21, 2017

In the weeks since hurricanes Harvey and Irma roared ashore in Texas and Florida, Audubon has been surveying habitats in the hardest-hit areas. The biggest takeaway is that natural coastal ecosystems work—they mitigate storm surges and limit the coastal flooding and erosion that occur when powerful tropical storms come ashore. Our assessment shows examples of how some of these natural systems can be restored and Audubon advocates strongly for federal, state, and local authorities to invest in these types of natural infrastructure at scale that will provide long-term coastal resilience, rather than rely on concrete walls and barriers for short-term gains.

Here are five key results from our post-hurricane coastal assessment:

1.) Island Erosion Is Really Bad

3.) Natural Breakwaters Are Crucial

4.) Coastal Islands Need to be Rebuilt Higher

5.) Freshwater Flood Control Is Critical

...natural infrastructure that will restore habitat and protect communities...not only benefit the critical coastal sites and bird populations outlined in this assessment, but, if provided at scale, could build back ecosystems and communities that will better withstand subsequent storms and hurricanes...

http://www.audubon.org/news/five-things-we-learned-aftermath-hurricanes-harvey-a...

Nearly A Year After Maria, Puerto Rico Officials Claim Power Is Totally Restored
Emily Sullivan | August 15, 20182:22 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/15/638739819/nearly-a-year-after-maria-puerto-rico-o...

ETA___________________________________________________________

Omarosa: Trump used 'derogatory' term for Puerto Ricans; Kelly fought hurricane aid
Suzanne Gamboa and Jessica Spitz / Aug.14.2018

"His total lack of empathy is bad enough, but I believe many of the problems and delays with getting aid ... were partly political," she says in "Unhinged."

...(Chief of Staff) Kelly and President Donald Trump "referred to Puerto Ricans with derogatory terms many times."

...Kelly blamed the crisis on Puerto Rico's "already screwed-up" infrastructure, she wrote in "Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House," which was released Tuesday. Kelly suggested that Puerto Rico's government, near bankruptcy, "was trying to exploit the hurricane to focus on the United States to foot the bill to rebuild their electrical grid"...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/omarosa-trump-used-derogatory-term-puerto-ri...

It's unfortunate, very unfortunate, that Trump and cabal did much worse than use a derogatory term. The US has supplied more help to foreign nations in crisis than it did Puerto Rico.

House Democrats slam Trump admin for 'illegally withholding' Puerto Rico hurricane aid
Nicole Acevedo | Dec. 5, 2019

Democratic lawmakers Thursday accused the Trump administration of "illegally withholding" funding for hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after missing a legally required deadline to kick off the process three months ago.

The chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-Texas, said at a press conference, "they knew their actions were illegal and yet they did it anyways," referring to top officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including Secretary Ben Carson.

The missed deadline would have jump-started the process to help the island get billions in federal housing funds that Congress appropriated 664 days ago after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory in 2017.

Castro joined other House Democrats including the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who accused HUD of "illegally withholding" the funding for recovery efforts including rebuilding tens of thousands of homes with damaged roofs, many of which are still covered with blue tarps.

Congress had mandated the housing agency to issue funding notices to 18 disaster-stricken states and territories no later than Sept. 4. They published all the notices except Puerto Rico’s. The publication of the notice would have allowed island officials to start drafting a plan that would create the structures needed to manage $10.2 billion in much-needed recovery funds...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/house-democrats-slam-trump-admin-illegally-w...

FEMA’s Hurricane Aid to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Has Stalled
Mark Walker and Zolan Kanno-Youngs | Nov. 27, 2019

Two years after Hurricanes Maria and Irma, records show the agency’s work on long-term recovery on the islands is crawling compared with some states on the mainland.

...disparity (in) how a federal government in Washington has treated citizens on the mainland, with voting representatives in Congress and a say in presidential contests, compared with citizens on the islands. Further complicating the recovery are issues of corruption, often amplified by President Trump and, islanders say, questions of race.

...misuse of FEMA disaster relief is as old as the agency itself (not just the islands)

...FEMA officials say much of the problem lies with the system that Washington uses to pay for recovery assistance. Local governments or charities usually front the money to at least begin construction and then are reimbursed by FEMA. But the islands have seen a sluggish economic recovery after the hurricanes.

“Because of the fiscal challenges and their situation financially, they don’t have the funding or access to loans,” said Chris Currie, the director of the Government Accountability Office team that studies disaster relief. “So they are completely reliant on FEMA.”

...So far, FEMA and other agencies have disbursed about $14 billion in aid to Puerto Rico, out of an estimated $91 billion that will be needed over the next two decades...Most of that money went toward debris removal, emergency home repairs and restoring power, which took almost a year...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/us/politics/fema-hurricane-aid-puerto-rico-vi...

Trump has not tweeted even once about the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Puerto Rico, leaving 2/3 of the island without electricity, and many residents still without water and frightened about aftershocks. Sadly, Trump just doesn’t give a damn about brown-skinned Americans.
-Jon Cooper @joncoopertweets | 7:16 PM · Jan 8, 2020

Months After Blowing Deadline, Trump Administration Lifts Hold On Puerto Rico Aid
Brakkton Booker | January 15, 2020

...more than $8 billion, is allocated through a Department of Housing and Urban Development disaster recovery fund. It was supposed to be released months ago to help the island rebuild in the wake of devastating Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

So far $1.5 billion in HUD aid has been made available, of which Puerto Rico has drawn approximately $11 million, according to a HUD spokesperson. In all, Congress has approved roughly $20 billion in long-term rebuilding aid to Puerto Rico that HUD is mandated to disburse.

The delay in releasing the funds riled politicians, particularly congressional Democrats. They sought to ramp up pressure on the administration to lift the hold on the aid following a series of recent earthquakes, including a massive 6.4 magnitude quake this month that walloped the U.S. territory.

...in August, HUD said it was placing new restrictions on the flow of billions of dollars to Puerto Rico, citing political strife and financial mismanagement on the island.

...At the time, HUD announced it was releasing $16 billion for rebuilding in states and U.S. territories hit by natural disasters. It stipulated that nine states, including Texas and Florida, would be allowed swift access to the funds. But Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had to wait.

...The U.S. Virgin Islands was due $774 million, but it was being held because of the territory's "capacity issues," Carson said.

...HUD still has not published a Federal Register notice, which will provide an outline for Puerto Rico to establish a plan to use the funds. Until that happens, Puerto Rico, still reeling from deadly hurricanes and now earthquakes, will continue waiting...

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/15/796658767/months-after-blowing-deadline-trump-adm...

Puerto Rico emergency director fired after residents discover warehouse full of Hurricane Maria supplies
Nicole Chavez and Rafy Rivera | January 18, 2020

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced fired the island's emergency manager, hours after a warehouse filled with supplies was discovered...believed to be from when Hurricane Maria hit the island two years ago...directed Secretary of State Elmer Roman to investigate the allegations and share his findings within 48 hours.

...Families began lining up Saturday afternoon outside the warehouse, hoping to get bottled water, food and emergency radios...Puerto Rico has been ravaged by a series of earthquakes since December 28. In the last two weeks, tremors and aftershocks have destroyed or severely damaged hundreds of structures and forced thousands of people in the southern area of the island to flee their homes...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/us/puerto-rico-emergency-director-fired/index.htm...

White House threatens to veto Puerto Rico earthquake aid package
ERICA WERNER | February 5, 2020

The White House issued a veto threat Wednesday over a $4.7 billion emergency aid package intended to help Puerto Rico recover from a series of damaging earthquakes...vote planned Friday in the Democratic-controlled House to pass the aid package.

It's the latest in a series of confrontations between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats over disaster assistance to Puerto Rico. The U.S. territory is still waiting on billions approved by Congress for recovery from Hurricane Maria more than two years ago, though the administration recently agreed to release some of the money subject to several conditions.

...The House Democrats' $4.67 billion aid package would include $3.26 billion in Community Development Block Grant recovery funds, $1.25 billion for repairs to roads, and tens of millions more for schools, energy and nutrition assistance.

...House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.,... said the package also establishes safeguards "designed to address the Trump administration's outrageous withholding of vital aid to Puerto Rico," including requiring detailed spending plans and requiring money to be released in a timely way.

The House Democrats' aid package was unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10675448-181/white-house-threatens-to-veto

Trump admin will grant $11.6 billion to Puerto Rico's recovery, three years after Hurricane Maria
Orion Rummler | 9/18/2020

Three years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the White House on Friday authorized $11.6 billion in federal aid and FEMA grants to rebuild infrastructure on the island.

Why it matters: Throughout his presidency, Trump has resisted giving Puerto Rico any more federal money for its recovery from Hurricane Maria. The White House touted the grants announced Friday as some of the largest in FEMA's history.

Catch up quick: Most of the funding will go towards the the state-owned Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (PREPA), which filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and left thousands of customers without power last month in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias, per AP...

The big picture: Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, was the worst natural disaster to hit the island, and resulted in over 3,000 deaths. Puerto Rico saw a series of earthquakes early this year that displaced thousands of people, and has weathered several tropical storms this summer that caused more flooding and damage.

What they're saying: Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) said in a statement the Trump administration had "delayed, dragged its feet and resisted allocating these badly needed funds."...

Between the lines: At a White House press conference, Trump used the FEMA grant announcement to bash Joe Biden and the Obama administration's aid to the island, offering little evidence for his accusation...

...Biden's campaign is turning its focus to Puerto Rican constituents this week.

https://www.axios.com/puerto-rico-trump-funding-9536db00-09b5-4e15-bca1-fa759ed2...

>151 margd: ...Biden's campaign is turning its focus to Puerto Rican constituents this week.

I hope he means his constituents who have moved and registered in the U.S. because residents of P.R. cannot vote in presidential elections.

>152 mamzel: I'm sure he's most interested in FL and PA votes. I thought, though, territories can vote for President? Just no reps in Congress?

No voting for president in territories and Commonwealth of P.R. They have a non-voting representative in Congress.
N.Y.C. may also have a large population of Puerto Ricans. (I think I have West Side Story in mind.)