# Hurricane Maria



## waltky (Sep 23, 2017)

Dam about to burst in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria...





*Puerto Rico dam failure 'imminent' after Hurricane Maria*
_22 Sept.`17 - A failing dam is causing "extremely dangerous" flooding on a Puerto Rico river in the wake of Hurricane Maria, authorities say.  The National Weather Service (NWS) said the "imminent failure" of the Guajataca Dam is a "life-threatening situation"._


> More than 70,000 people live in the nearby areas of Isabela and Quebradillas.  At least 13 people have died since Maria ripped through Puerto Rico, knocking out power to the whole island.  Operators of the Guajataca Dam said the structure, at the northern end of Lake Guajataca in northwest Puerto Rico, began to show signs of failing at 14:10 local time (18:10 GMT).  It sparked a flash flood emergency for Isabela and Quebradillas municipalities, the NWS said in a series of tweets.  The agency urged residents in the area to "move to higher ground now" in an alert posted on its website.  Many who live near the dam are being evacuated by buses.
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See also:

*Failing dam poses new crisis on Puerto Rico amid flooding from Hurricane Maria*
_23 Sept.`17 - Emergency officials in Puerto Rico raced on Saturday to evacuate tens of thousands of people from a river valley below a dam in the island’s northwest on the verge of collapse under the weight of flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria._


> The potential calamity was unfolding even as Puerto Ricans struggled without electricity to clean up and dig out from devastation left days earlier by Maria, which has killed at least 25 people across the Caribbean, according to officials and media reports.  Some 70,000 people live in a cluster of communities under evacuation downstream from the earthen dam on the rain-swollen Guajataca River, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said in a late-afternoon news conference on Friday.  Residents of the area were being ferried to higher ground in buses, according to bulletins issued by the National Weather Service from its office in San Juan, the capital of the U.S. island territory.
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> Christina Villalba, an official for the island’s emergency management agency, said there was little doubt the dam was about to break.  “It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow, it could be in the next few days, but it’s very likely it will be soon,” she told Reuters by telephone on Friday night. She said authorities aimed to complete evacuations within hours.  Governor Ricardo Rossello went to the municipality of Isabela on Friday night and told mayor Carlos Delgado that an evacuation there was urgent, his office said in a statement.  Rossello said the rains sparked by Maria had cracked the dam and could cause fatal flooding.
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## waltky (Sep 24, 2017)

Hurricane destruction in Puerto Rico...




*Whole of Puerto Rico without power, water, phone services*
_Monday 25th September, 2017 - Ravaged by Hurricane Irma earlier this month, and by Hurricane Maria last week - the entire population of Puerto Rico is facing a crisis situation._


> With water, electricity and telephone services being knocked out for the entire island and officials saying it could take months to be restored - on Saturday, shipments of food, water and generators began arriving at the main port in San Juan, which has reopened.  With at least 13 people being killed since Maria ripped through Puerto Rico, the island is facing yet another problem with a dam that remains in danger of collapsing.  On Friday, operators said that the Guajataca Dam, at the northern end of Lake Guajataca in the north-west, began to show signs of failing at 14:10 local time (18:10 GMT).  Then, on Saturday, the NWS warned of flash flooding in Isabela and Quebradillas areas.  In an alert posted on its website, the agency first urged residents to move to higher ground.
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> About 70,000 residents in the areas under threat were initially told to flee and now officials have said that there are reports that the evacuation zone has since been narrowed.  The National Weather Service (NWS) has extended flash flood warnings for two areas downstream of Guajataca Dam.  Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said on Twitter that he had assessed the damage to the dam by flying over the area.  He further reiterated an earlier call from the authorities for local residents to leave their homes.  Officials also said that fallen trees are blocking main highways, whole neighbourhoods remain flooded and many homes are without roofs.  Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have said that they will take satellite phones to towns and cities which have been cut off as the telephone masts across the island have been damaged.
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## Desperado (Sep 24, 2017)

So let alternative energy prove itself.  Now would be a great time for solar power generators


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## waltky (Sep 27, 2017)

Granny says, "Dat's right - it's cause o' all dat climate change...




*September is the most energetic month for hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic*
_September 26,`17 - The 2017 hurricane season has certainly been one for the record books. Whether it be Harvey’s scale-tipping rains, Irma’s off-the-chart winds, or the sheer number of storms that have spun up, this year is clearly anything but normal._


> But how wacky has the weather in the tropics been? For that, meteorologists refer to a figure known as ACE, a measure of every hurricane’s energy put together during its life span. September produced the most ACE in any month on record in the Atlantic Ocean.  ACE, or Accumulated Cyclone Energy, is manifest in stirred-up oceans, steamy downpours, crackling lightning and ferocious winds. The force to instigate these nasty conditions is extracted from the roasting waters of the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean, and transformed into motion through a hurricane’s natural “heat engine.”  To quantify this measure, scientists take into account the strength of the winds within each and every storm, as well as their duration. ACE is calculated every six hours, and a running tally is kept for each storm so long as it sticks around. The measure does not take into account a storm’s size.
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> In a given year, ACE across the Atlantic Basin stacks up to an average in the 90s. It’s not terribly unusual for ACE to rise into the triple digits, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration classifies any season that tops 111 as “above average.”  On Monday, Phil Klotzbach, a tropical weather research at Colorado State University, tweeted that ACE in the Atlantic had soared to 155.4 for the month of September so far, a new record for any month. It ousted September 2004 as the previous record holder. This September’s ACE is more than we would see in the entirety of what’s considered an extremely active season.  Considering the entire season’s hurricane activity, 2017’s ACE already ranks in the top 10 most on record. Thus far, we’re up to the high 180s, with about two months left in hurricane season.
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See also:

*Why This Hurricane Season Is So Intense*
_ Sept. 19, 2017 - Warm ocean waters, weak winds and hot air are conspiring to feed frequent and ferocious storms_


> The most severe hurricane season in almost a decade is stoked by warmer-than-average Atlantic Ocean currents, weak westerly Pacific winds and turbulent hot tropical air over the Indian Ocean, with no sign conditions will slacken soon, climate analysts and meteorologists say.  “It’s the trifecta,” said atmospheric scientist Jeff Weber, who studies tropical meteorology and climate change at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. “The atmospheric conditions are ideal for hurricane formations.”
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> So far, the Atlantic hurricane season has spawned 13 named storms and seven hurricanes. An average season, which runs from June through November, typically produces a dozen named storms, with six reaching hurricane strength.  Formally rated a Category 5 hurricane, the Maria storm system powered winds up to 160 miles an hour toward the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Monday, while Hurricane Jose, downgraded from its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane to a Category 1 system, churned off the eastern seaboard with winds up to 75 miles an hour.  Three factors are fueling such intensity, experts say.
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## waltky (Nov 21, 2017)

What was Hurricane Maria's real death toll in Puerto Rico?...




*What was Hurricane Maria's real death toll in Puerto Rico*
_Nov 20, 2017 - People on this part of the island knew Quintín Vidal Rolón for two things: his white cowboy hat, which he seemed to wear every day of his 89-year life; and his beat-up Ford pickup truck, which he'd been driving for at least 50 years._


> It was in that 1962 truck, and wearing that hat, that Vidal spent his days zipping around the mountainous back roads of Cayey, Puerto Rico. He sold hardware from the wooden bed of the pickup. And he used those tools, and a lifetime of sweat, to build houses -- always in concrete.  Like him, the material was nothing if not consistent. It was strong enough to stand up to a storm, he told clients and family members. Don't trust anything less durable.
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> After Hurricane Maria slammed into this US territory on September 20, peeling roofs from wooden homes and amputating branches from trees, the community turned again to Vidal. No one can say exactly how many people survived the storm in the hard-cast structures he helped construct for them, often at little or no cost. But it's likely hundreds, his family said.  The man who would have been 90 years old in February survived the storm at home alone. Shortly after, he was seen by neighbors clearing debris from roads and flooded houses.
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## waltky (Mar 16, 2018)

No oversight over FEMA's Hurricane Maria response...




*FEMA's response to Hurricane Maria won't get initial review under watchdog agency's new approach*
_March 16, 2018 | WASHINGTON — With FEMA facing its deepest scrutiny in more than a decade, the government watchdog in charge of measuring the agency's performance is no longer assessing its initial response to disasters._


> The decision by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General to no longer issue preliminary reports comes as the watchdog took the extraordinary step last week of pulling a dozen largely positive assessments of the Obama administration's initial response to several disasters.  Acting DHS Inspector General John V. Kelly said the reports, pulled last week from the IG's web site, didn't meet proper standards for a government audit.  "We were not confident that the evidence collected (in those reports) was necessary to support the conclusion," Kelly said in an interview Thursday. "It doesn't mean the conclusion was wrong (but) our standard is that it has to be adequately supported. You can't say something without having the evidence even if it's true."
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> The Federal Emergency Management Administration, or FEMA, is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.  Instead of initial reports, the agency will adopt a model that provides "real-time feedback" to FEMA about its response to disasters based on observations on the ground rather than reviews that come out months after a recovery begins, Arlen Morales, a spokeswoman for the IG's office wrote in an email.   "This work does not lend itself well to a traditional audit following Government Auditing Standards.  Nevertheless, the work is critically important," she wrote. "By following standards that better suit the work, we can better accomplish the objective of the work— namely, to provide timely feedback to FEMA on issues before they become multi-million dollar problems."
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## waltky (Mar 20, 2018)

100,000 still w/o power in Puerto Rico 6 months after hurricane...




*'The job is not done': Puerto Rico's needs go unmet 6 months after Maria*
_20 Mar.`18 Generators are still humming. Candles are still flickering. Homes are still being repaired._


> Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria exactly six months ago, and the U.S. territory is still struggling to recover from the strongest storm to hit the island in nearly a century.  "There are a lot of people with needs," said Levid Ortiz, operating director of PR4PR, a local nonprofit that helps impoverished communities across the island. "It shouldn't be like this. We should already be back on our feet."  Some 250 Puerto Ricans formed a line around him on a recent weekday, standing for more than two hours to receive bottles of water and a box of food at a public basketball court in the mountain town of Corozal. Many of those waiting were still without power, including 23-year-old Keishla Quiles, a single mother with a 4-year-old son who still buys ice every day to fill a cooler to keep milk and other goods cold amid rising temperatures.  "Since we're a family of few resources, we have not been able to afford a generator," she said. "It's been hard living like this."
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> Crews already have restored water to 99 percent of clients and power to 93 percent of customers, but more than 100,000 of them still remain in the dark and there are frequent power outages. Justo Gonzalez, interim director for Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority, said he expects the entire island to have power by May, eight months after the Category 4 storm destroyed two-thirds of the island's power distribution system — and just as the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season is about to start.  Gonzalez also pledged to inspect dozens of wooden and cement poles still leaning haphazardly across the island after a wooden telephone pole fell on a car. It killed an elderly couple on Sunday as they returned from a town fair in the mountains of western Puerto Rico. The deaths of Luis Beltran, 62, and Rosa Bosque, 60, have angered Puerto Ricans and raised concerns about the safety of people as they recover from the hurricane.  "It worries me because ... it can happen anywhere," Mayor Edwin Soto told The Associated Press, adding that crews were going to inspect poles across the mountain town of Las Marias to ensure they are in good condition.
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## waltky (Apr 9, 2018)

$90B worth of damage in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria...




*Hurricane Maria caused $90B of damage in Puerto Rico*
_April 9, 2018  -- Hurricane Maria caused an estimated $90 billion in damage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the National Hurricane Center said Monday._


> As part of its final assessment of the storm, the NHC said Hurricane Maria was the most destructive hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in modern times and the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history behind Katrina and Harvey. The NHC said the price tag had a 90 percent certainty.  "The combined destructive power of storm surge and wave action from Maria produced extensive damage to buildings, homes and roads along the east and southeast coast of Puerto Rico as well as the south coasts of Vieques and St. Croix," the NHC said.
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## waltky (Aug 1, 2018)

*Judge orders further extension of aid to Puerto Rico Maria evacuees...*




*Judge orders further extension of aid to Puerto Rico storm evacuees*
*AUGUST 1, 2018  - A federal judge on Wednesday extended until Aug. 31 an order preventing the eviction of hundreds of Puerto Rican families who fled the hurricane-ravaged island in 2017 and have been living in hotels and motels across the United States.*



> *U.S. District Judge Timothy Hillman in Worcester, Massachusetts, issued the order after hearing arguments over whether he should issue a longer-term injunction barring the federal government from cutting off housing assistance to people who were forced to leave their homes because of Hurricane Maria.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had planned to end the assistance program on June 30. Hillman’s decision on Wednesday extended a previously-imposed temporary restraining order that allowed the families to remain in hotels until checkout time on Aug. 7.*
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> *Hillman extended the order to allow the government time to respond to new arguments raised by lawyers representing evacuees in a proposed class action challenging FEMA’s actions.  “It’s going to take us time sort through this,” he said.  Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 with winds close to 150 miles per hour (240 kph), causing an estimated $90 billion in damage to the already economically struggling U.S. territory.*
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## waltky (Aug 9, 2018)

*Prob'ly has taken this long to account for all the missing & dead...*
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*Puerto Rico Concedes Hurricane Maria Deaths Were More Than 1,400*
_8/09/2018 - Officials previously reported just 64 deaths from last year’s powerful storm._


> Puerto Rico has conceded that Hurricane Maria killed more than 1,400 people on the island last year and not just the 64 in the official death toll.  The government acknowledged the higher death toll with no fanfare in a report submitted to Congress this week in which it detailed a $139 billion reconstruction plan for the island.  That quiet acknowledgement was first reported Thursday by The New York Times.
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