Poor Puerto Rico

[pedro47]

Hurricane Marie have hit the island with a category 3 hurricane wind force. The whole island is without electricity and with no running water. Marie also slammed the island of Dominica.

 

[Fairwinds]

Pictures are beginning to show up here and there. Looks like a lot of damage. St Croix which dodged the worst of Irma got the brunt of Maria.

http://heavy.com/news/2017/09/hurricane-maria-st-croix-damage-us-virgin-islands/

 

[Passepartout]

It is going to take years/decades- maybe generations to bring back some semblance of what the Caribbean was a month ago. It will take boatloads of building materials, and people with the expertise to use them. It will take MONEY. LOTS of money to haul off the debris, to redesign- and presumably make hurricane-proof what is built to replace what was blown- or washed away. Sadly with 3.5 million Americans on Puerto Rico and more Americans on U.S. Virgin Islands, without power and water, some will die. Not to politicize this, but the U.S. congress doesn't have a really generous record of lending a helping hand to the constituents of somebody else. And the track record of the foreign nations for whom various islands, are simply remote territory, they and their people may fare worse.

We (all Americans, not just TUGgers) need to dig deep and send what we can to Islands we vacation on through various relief agencies. And as soon as those resorts get up and running- even though the islands may appear rough and won't have the services we've come to expect, GO! the people there NEED to have us come and visit. Go. Pitch in for a few hours with a hammer and nails. Or just spend money. No more suitcases full of frozen groceries so we can avoid 'island priced' food. THEY NEED OUR HELP! Not a handout, but a hand UP.

Jim

 

[dioxide45]

It will take MONEY. LOTS of money to haul off the debris, to redesign- and presumably make hurricane-proof what is built to replace what was blown- or washed away.

I am not sure that they will update building codes when they rebuild like Florida did after Hurricane Andrew. There is a lot of poverty in the Caribbean, even in the US territories. Most of these people can't afford to build to codes that would withstand another major hurricane. They will rebuild, lets just hope this is a one in one hundred year occurrence.

 

[Passepartout]

Most of these people can't afford to build to codes that would withstand another major hurricane. They will rebuild, lets just hope this is a one in one hundred year occurrence.

We can hope, but it seems that storms are more frequent, and more powerful, and hurricanes feed on warm water. And the water isn't cooling down. Coincidence?

 

[easyrider]

Puerto Rico will be up and running just fine. Just like in other countries, Puerto Rico will be required to build under International Building Codes to obtain financing to build. Not so much in some residential areas where the need for a bank loan does not exist but everywhere else for sure.

Yes, the water is cooling down. That is what happens when there are storms. The water goes up into the atmosphere and cools off, then falls back down as rain which cools the surface temperatures of the oceans.

Bill

 

[WalnutBaron]

We can hope, but it seems that storms are more frequent, and more powerful. Coincidence?

Not necessarily. Tropical storm frequency is up, but the number of hurricanes each year in the Atlantic is pretty consistent.

Out of curiosity, I consulted this chart that shows the number of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic going back to the 1850's. I only took the time to do the math since the 1930's, taking each 5-year increment up to 2015. Here is the breakdown:

2011-15 Tropical Storms Avg 14.4/year Hurricanes Avg 5.8/year
2006-10 14.6 6.8
2001-05 17.2 8.8
1996-00 12.4 7.6
1991-95 9.8 5.2
1986-90 9.8 5.4
1981-85 9.2 5.2
1976-80 9.6 6.0
1971-75 9.6 4.6
1965-70 11.0 6.8
1961-65 8.6 5.6
1956-60 8.8 5.0
1951-55 10.6 7.4
1946-50 10.0 6.4
1941-45 9.6 5.0
1936-40 9.2 4.0
1931-35 11.6 5.8

The data shows that the number of tropical storms ramped up beginning in the mid-90's, peaking in 2001-05 (2005 was when Katrina hit). The number of Atlantic hurricanes, however, has remained remarkably consistent for the past 70 years, except for the same spike period of 2001-05.

What the Weather Underground chart does not show is the strength of the hurricanes. I did, however, check out the number of Category 5 hurricanes since the 1930's by decade. Here are the results:

1930's: 6
1940's: 0
1950's: 2
1960's: 4
1970's: 3
1980's: 3
1990's: 2
2000's: 8
2010's: 3 so far, including Irma and Maria

 

[dioxide45]

I think that the perception is that the intensity and impact of the storms is higher because there actually was about an 8-10 year period from 2005 to 2015 where the number of storms that impacted land mass in the Caribbean and US was actually fairly low. For example. Florida didn't have a storm make landfall as a hurricane between Wilma in 2005 and Irma in 2017. These things tend to be cyclical and perhaps more impact from things like El Niño and La Niña.

 

[dioxide45]

Puerto Rico will be up and running just fine. Just like in other countries, Puerto Rico will be required to build under International Building Codes to obtain financing to build. Not so much in some residential areas where the need for a bank loan does not exist but everywhere else for sure.

Yes, the water is cooling down. That is what happens when there are storms. The water goes up into the atmosphere and cools off, then falls back down as rain which cools the surface temperatures of the oceans.

Bill

Do international building codes take in to consideration hurricane force winds? It certainly is possible that for Puerto Rico and the USVI to get aid from FEMA that they will be required to build to codes similar to what they have in Florida. This would of course be the best case scenario. Of course many structures in these places are open air. Meaning the lobby of hotels and many beach bars are completely open to the outside with no real means to close them off. Perhaps they will require pull down doors for hurricanes, but closing them in certainly isn't good for the atmosphere.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Puetro Ricicans are US citizen, they are not required to be sent anywhere. Just like you or me they have a right to settle wherever they choose. A lot of them may come to Florida and we welcome them. Others may prefer to stay in Puerto Rico, after it has recovered from the Hurricane.

Well aware they are US citizens with no restrictions on their movement here. My aunt & uncle had a farm with a PR family lived in their tenant house for years. This family spent their time in PR in during the late fall and winter months.

HOWEVER, I am also aware that when a NATURAL DISASTER happens and vast numbers of people must be relocated immediately, they are moved to where a bed might be NOW and the only effort is made to TRY and keep families together ... if they are physically together when they are being moved out of a danger zone or can be flown out together.

I did house a family evacuated from New Orleans (Katrina evacuees) for several years. This large family of 2 adults and 6 kids were split between NJ and California for several weeks when they had to leave the Big Easy. The husband was originally from Philadelphia but he was flown to California with 3 of the kids. His wife was a NOLA native (an undertaker). They did eventually move back to NOLA ... several years later.

 

[Karen G]

This thread is being closed because it seems impossible to discuss without contentious political/social comments.