RebKell's Junkie Boards

[cthskzfn]

This just in from the Hurricane Center:

Looks like another storm will develop, be named Maria, and hit the Lesser Antilles Tues w/ 80+MPH winds. (then approach Puerto Rico).

Those poor folks.

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Silly, stupid white people might be waking up.

[jammerbirdi]

What has already happened throughout that part of the world is heartbreaking. You have to wonder if there is now a serious effort going on to get people out who are still reeling without access to much food, water, shelter, etc. Because the aftermath of Irma is at this point widespread misery and vulnerability.

[cthskzfn]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/09/17/maria-heading-toward-caribbean-while-jose-could-graze-east-coast-with-tropical-storm-conditions/?utm_term=.f2f998cc7148



Maria will continue to intensify over the next few days, probably reaching major hurricane status (Category 3 or greater) by late Tuesday. By that point, the storm will be on the doorstep of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. At Maria’s current forecast intensity and path through the Virgin Islands, it would mark the first time that two major hurricanes have passed so close to the island chain in the same season.

_________________
Silly, stupid white people might be waking up.

[Ay Mate]

Maria is now Irma's younger sister. Cat 5 with 150+ winds. This will be the nail on the coffin for some of these islands.

[cthskzfn]

Pretty fast intensification. You're right, some places will be laid to waste.

_________________
Silly, stupid white people might be waking up.

[cthskzfn]

PR landfall expected ~8am Wed. Might be the strongest hit the island has ever taken. 3,500,000 at risk. This is gonna be such a freaking disaster.

These are US citizens.

_________________
Silly, stupid white people might be waking up.

[crispyten]

One of my best friends since 1976 lives in Cabo Rojo near the southwest cost of Puerto Rico. He had promised to call me as soon as Irma passed. When I heard nothing, I started calling every number I had for him and his family. I got noise from land line numbers and calls to cell numbers went straight to voice mail. Eventually, he got through on his land line but he could not receive incoming calls. Cell phones were not working because the towers required electricity. (May be a reason to delay going all cellular). They were without electricity and water for three days. Irma had turned north before reaching Puerto Rico and the mountains in the middle of the island helped protect the Cabo Rojo area. After three days Alfredo was watching the weather channel and worried about us here in Atlanta. Irma had lost power down from category 5 with 185 mph winds to a tropical storm by the time it reached Atlanta. My electricity was off for 20 hours and three large oak trees had blocked three different streets between my house and the post office that is one mile from my house.

Maria is category 5 with 175 mph winds (for now) and headed directly toward the island. Alfredo's house was built to exceed government standards and they are well stocked to go several days without water and electricity, but I am scared. I have traveled to many places and lived on three continents. Cabo Rojo is one of my favorite places in the world and these are some of my favorite people in the world

[cthskzfn]

good luck to them

_________________
Silly, stupid white people might be waking up.

[toad455]

I just feel so bad for those islands. Mostly St. Thomas & St. Maarten. It's going to take months to get back to some kind of normalcy and years to rebuild.

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LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[justintyme]

[jammerbirdi]

Puerto Rico was in a state of economic collapse for much of the last decade. I've been following their troubles because I visited there a long time ago and had such a great time. We always talked about going back but never did. The days when guys like us could manage trips to the Caribbean or Aspen or Cancun, etc. passed pretty quickly. But that was a beautiful week.

We stayed at the El San Juan because our travel agent told us it was the best hotel in SJ. It came to be a REALLY expensive place to say and definitely one of the best hotels there. But I'm watching this coverage and a lot of the live shots are from the hotels lining the beach and I'm struck by how much the look of those places hasn't changed since the 70s. The look of a resort hotel has REALLY changed in the last 25 or so years and these hotels, the facade, the entrance ways. valet area, it all looks like something out of an episode of Miami Vice.

I can understand why this place fell off the list of hot vacation destinations. The whole set up of those hotels isn't conducive to either the easy exploring and barhopping on foot way people vacation and party these days or the exclusive exotic retreat style of resort hotel.

It was an infrastructure nightmare down there even in the late 1970s. We set out with some girls we met to El Yunque and a resort on the Caribbean side of the island and not far out of the city we were stalled by a dead horse in the road. A little while later it was a broken and collapsed section of the highway. The main 'river' that flows through the place, they made a POINT to emphasize to us to never go near it (AS IF!) that it was polluted with things that get people sick. My own lifelong health problems began just days after I returned from the island.

Beautiful people though. So the last time they had a big storm that knocked out electricity it was out for 6 months in, I believe I heard 25% of the island. The stability of the electrical grid there was horrible before the economic decline. Now they have trouble providing basic services in many parts of the country or keeping any of it up and running without a hurricane. They didn't even send out rescue crews until hours after the worst of this storm had passed.

So now we're hearing officials saying the island is destroyed. There's NO electricity anywhere on the island and half of San Juan is under water. A town of 20K in the center of the country is in a valley surrounded by small mountains of around 1800 feet in height. There's a river flowing through the town. Flood stage is 11 feet and the record is 29 feet. They're getting readings of 79 feet. Yeah, this is heartbreaking.

PR is no Brazil (another horror story) but to know PR is to love it and the people there. They are US citizens. I hope this country steps up and does right by them.