From the weather team at the WashPost.: Harvey. Irma. Maria. Why is this hurricane season so bad?
Why Is This Hurricane Season So Bad?
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Electric Grid in Puerto Rico Was Totaled – updated
From Bloomberg technology: A Storm’s Never Destroyed a Grid Like Maria Ruined Puerto Rico’s
- Parts of island may be without power for weeks, if not months
- Utility crews will restore service to critical resources first
Another take on this same topic, from the Wall St. Journal: Puerto Rico’s Power Woes Are Decades in the Making. Years of underinvestment and massive debts left the energy grid vulnerable
An another article on a likely outcome of the extended outage. As might be expected, a major outmigration is expected. See this article in the Wash Post on Sept. 23 titled Thousands Could leave PR for Good.
The Need for Government Action
Harvey spells it out: markets alone won’t protect you, by Joseph Stiglitz
It is ironic, of course, that an event so related to climate change would occur in a state that is home to so many climate-change deniers – and where the economy depends so heavily on the fossil fuels that drive global warming.
Here is an article on a related topic: A year before Harvey, Houston-area flood control chief saw no “looming issues”
Recovery Issues in Puerto Rico – Sept. 22
Puerto Rico Faces Mountain of Obstacles on the Road to Recovery
For Puerto Rico, long crippled by enormous debt and an essentially bankrupt financial system, the road to recovery just went from long to seemingly endless. Still reeling from Hurricane Irma, which knocked out 70 percent of the power when it grazed the island two weeks ago, it faces a mountain of need in the coming months just as the federal government is stretched to the limit grappling with the destruction left by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
And unlike Texas and Florida, politically powerful states on the mainland, Puerto Rico is an impoverished, Spanish-speaking commonwealth. It is an island to boot, making aid delivery all the more cumbersome and expensive.
Since Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, we can expect a large number will move to the mainland either temporarily or permanently:
Lengthy Power Outage Could Be Fatal for Some
Puerto Rico’s Power Outage Could Be A Death Sentence For Many
“The day-to-day can unravel in an instant.”
Not Smart to Hold Back This Rebuilding Guide!
With all the disaster declarations in the works presently, this move by the present administration is highly questionable. From Bloomberg News: Trump’s HUD Keeps Climate-Smart Rebuilding Guide Under Wraps
Many Obstacles to Recovery in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria Live Updates: In Puerto Rico, the Storm ‘Destroyed Us’
Puerto Rico faces numerous obstacles as it begins to emerge from the storm: the weight of an extended debt and bankruptcy crisis; a recovery process begun after Irma, which killed at least three people and left nearly 70 percent of households without power; the difficulty of getting to an island far from the mainland; and the strain on relief efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other groups already spread thin in the wake of several recent storms.
Consider the Cultural Environment
From The Conversation: In the Caribbean Colonialism and Inequality Mean Hurricanes Hit Harder.
New Emphasis: Relocation from Coasts
Harvey and Irma are the new normal. It’s time to move away from the coasts. Climate change is rendering once idyllic lands inhospitable to life.
If we’re going to adapt to climate change without loss of life and unnecessary financial hardship in Harvey- and Irma-like storms, federal, state and local governments need to start financing and encouraging relocation.
Recovery Diva 