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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1350 on: October 27, 2017, 12:35:25 AM »
Puerto Rico's power outages are the largest in US history, report says
Quote
(CNN)In terms of the total number of lost hours of electricity, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are in the midst of the largest blackout in US history, according to a report from an economic research company.

In all, Hurricane Maria has caused a loss of 1.25 billion hours of electricity supply for Americans, according to the analysis from the economic research firm Rhodium Group. That makes it the largest blackout in US history, well ahead of Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the group said.
That 1.25 billion number will continue to grow. More than a month after Hurricane Maria knocked out the electric grid on the islands, the vast majority of residents remain without electricity, and the restoration of that power is months away. ...
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/us/puerto-rico-power-outage/index.html

     https://twitter.com/cnn/status/923610197708410880
Image below.
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1351 on: October 27, 2017, 01:45:10 AM »
I imagine most of the 2nd place, Georges and 5th place Hugo, also belong to Puerto Rico. So almost every decade we rebuild our grid.
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A-Team

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1352 on: October 27, 2017, 01:56:36 AM »
Ok, I get it, crony capitalism. FEMA to pay 100% of whitefish's preposterous invoices. Such as $1000 reimbursement for per each leg of air travel to Miami rather than $119 actual ticket cost. That is, it is like the hourly labor charges: Whitefish gets reimbursed at that rate, not the worker bees.

Given that PREPA was deep in bankruptcy prior to the hurricane and that management had long been looting the grid maintainance budget, other potential contractors were apprehensive about ever getting paid.

However Colonnetta's private equity firm could be certain in fronting the money to Techmanski that they would be repaid many times over because they could be certain of backing by Zinke, FEMA political appts, and the Trump admin.

Whitefish Energy was founded in 2015 by Andy Techmanski. In 2016, a 51% stake in the company was sold to Comtrafo S.A, an authentic Brazilian company that wanted to set up a transformer assembly plant in MT.

Whitefish had two employees when the hurricane struck; their primary investor, HBC Investments aka Joe Colonnetta, a Dallas based investor and major Trump donor  to the Trump's election campaign, the Trump Victory PAC and other GOP candidates.[wikipedia].

Colonnetta contributed $20,000 to the Trump Victory PAC during the general election, $2,700 to Trump’s primary election campaign (then the maximum amount permitted), $2,700 to Trump’s general election campaign (also the maximum), and a total of $30,700 to the Republican National Committee in 2016 alone.

Colonnetta’s wife, Kimberly, is no stranger to Republican politics either; shortly after Trump’s victory, she gave $33,400 to the Republican National Committee, the maximum contribution permitted for party committees in 2016.

The Colonnettas’ contributions to the Republican Party precede the Trump administration. For example, in October 2011, Joe Colonnetta contributed $30,000 to the RNC; in 2008, he gave $26,200 to the RNC and $28,500 to the McCain Victory Committee. During both years, Kimberly Colonnetta also contributed thousands to various Republican campaigns. [Daily Beast]

An Army Corps spokesman said its restoration work was now being closely coordinated with PREPA, but the relationship among PREPA, Whitefish and the Federal Emergency Management Agency remains in flux. FEMA, which has committed to cover 100 percent of the grid repair costs, has not yet received reimbursement requests from PREPA for work by Whitefish and other contractors, a FEMA spokesman said.

The oversight board has the authority to reject contracts such as the $300 million contract PREPA struck with Whitefish Energy. An emergency manager can play a larger role in vetting contracts. Many members of Congress have expressed concern about the contract. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged inspectors general to investigate it.

PREPA, a bankrupt, publicly owned utility with $9 billion in debt, faced deep-rooted problems even before Maria ravaged the island.

Puerto Rico's federal oversight board was created by Congress to oversee the restructuring process of the island's $70 billion debt load. It rejected a proposed settlement on PREPA's $9 billion in debt, and the power monopoly filed for bankruptcy in July.

Here is the full contract: it appears that SSNs are used rather than a business EIN because Whitefish is located at the Techmanski's lakeside home and has no brick and mortar business. 

http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4113619-Whitefish-Contract-Signed-10-17-Copy.html#document/p1

FEMA has denied it ever saw, much less reviewed or approved the contract:
« Last Edit: October 27, 2017, 03:45:22 PM by A-Team »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1353 on: October 27, 2017, 03:05:06 AM »
Brig.Gen. Diana Holland #USACE, #explains importance of making repairs at #GuajatacaDam, in SanSebastián, #PuertoRico after #HurricaneMaria
https://twitter.com/DVIDSHub/status/923698062165286913
~90 second video at the link.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1354 on: October 27, 2017, 01:15:11 PM »
Pretty much a license to steal from the U.S. / Puerto Rico.

Whitefish contract states, "In no event shall [government bodies] have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements." Wow.
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/923741769719779328
Image below.  More data in other tweets at the link.
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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1355 on: October 27, 2017, 02:26:16 PM »
Wow. Swamp the drain!

Whitefish charges
Quote
$332.41 per person for accommodations *each day*
$79.82 per person for food *each day*
and
Quote
PREPA waives any claim against Contractor related to delayed completion of work.

https://climatecrocks.com/2017/10/27/puerto-rico-update-breaking/


Neven

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1356 on: October 27, 2017, 03:26:51 PM »
Holy crap, that's Corruption with a capital C.
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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1357 on: October 27, 2017, 06:41:58 PM »
Quote
that's Corruption with a capital C
You think? But, but their newly hired PR chief in NYC says contract was all done in good faith.

As was everything before the hurricane: closing 200 schools, cutting off the power for 3 hours a night in rural areas to avoid overtime, not replacing hundreds of PREPA workers who retired abruptly to get their pension activated, and bleeding maintainance via a huge new slush fund dished out to upper management.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/27/report-puerto-ricos-300-million-deal-with-utility-company-prevents-govt-audits/
http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/08/bankrupt-puerto-rico-gave-millions-to-sketchy-firms-with-government-ties/
https://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/08/americas-fiscal-union
https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21730432-even-hurricane-maria-hit-it-was-mess-story-puerto-ricos-power-grid

"Puerto Rico has a history of dolling out shady government contracts and questionable deals with various private entities.

The island’s officials filed for bankruptcy in May and recently closed nearly 200 schools to save $7 million, while simultaneously issuing 107 consulting contracts since January to questionable recipients, according to a report in September from The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Ethan Barton.

Puerto Rico spent $256 billion in federal funds from 1990 through 2009, but only collected $74 billion in tax revenue. The U.S. territory is required to prioritize payments to creditors unless the funds go to essential services.

About $4.7 million in consulting contracts went to companies with ties to government officials, more than $800,000 of which were public relations groups. Consulting contracts totaling nearly $389,000 were awarded to the marketing firm KOI Americas, which is owned by Edwin Miranda, a friend of former Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño.

“The contract was done in good faith with PREPA (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority)” and “speaks for itself,” Whitefish spokesman Ken Luce told MSNBC in an interview, adding later: “There’s nothing there.” (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

he story of PREPA is the story of Puerto Rico. The utility, created by a New Deal governor in 1941, powered rapid industrialisation in the 1970s as American pharmaceutical and other firms flocked to the island to take advantage of federal tax benefits. By offering stable, well-paid jobs to electrical workers, PREPA helped create a Puerto Rican middle class, says José Caraballo Cueto, an economist at the University of Puerto Rico. The boom was short-lived. When the federal government peeled back the tax perks in 1996, factories started leaving and PREPA began losing customers.
Declining revenues were exacerbated by political patronage, corruption and inefficiency. Municipalities and government agencies do not pay for electricity in Puerto Rico. Successive governments spent tens of millions of dollars evaluating solar and natural-gas projects in order to wean PREPA off its dependence on oil, but did next to nothing. Less than 3% of the island’s energy came from renewables.

PREPA is responsible for $9bn of Puerto Rico’s $73bn of debt. As PREPA and other agencies borrowed billions of dollars from international creditors (and from each other, a practice some have compared to a Ponzi scheme), the utility started skimping on maintenance. In 2014 an austerity law prompted hundreds of experienced employees to retire and claim their pensions before cuts took effect. They were never replaced. The result, according to Synapse’s report, was generator failures, blackout rates four times higher than other American utilities, rising consumer costs, environmental violations and an increasing numbers of worker injuries and fatalities. A three-day blackout in 2016 caused by a fire at the Aguirre plant foreshadowed the darkness and economic standstill Hurricane Maria would bring. “We took the risk and we are paying the price,” says Mr Torres, peering at his poster.

The reconstruction has begun in an unusual fashion. Puerto Rico has hired a tiny Montana-based contracting company called Whitefish Energy to oversee grid restoration. Normally, states and municipalities contact a “mutual aid network” that can quickly mobilise thousands of repairmen. “But Puerto Rico never said ‘Hey, we need crews’,” says Mike Hyland of the American Public Power Association (APPA), which represents 1,100 utilities. Mr Rosselló originally claimed he could not get in touch with the APPA, and then later explained that he began negotiating with Whitefish before Hurricane Maria. The company had responded to a request for repair work after Hurricane Irma, and it appeared to be Puerto Rico’s cheapest option. José Roman of the Puerto Rican Energy Commission, an independent body created in 2014 to regulate and monitor PREPA, confirmed that no official bidding process took place. “The government was in emergency mode,” he said.

“It wasn’t like all the big guys were jumping up and down to go to a bankrupt island,” said Ken Luce, a Hill & Knowlton spokesman hired by Whitefish a week ago. The company, which has two full-time employees, began as a joint-venture in 2015 with a Brazilian company called Comtrafo to build a transformer plant in Montana, a project that has since sputtered out."

Edit: The contract was taken down off the web at 11:00 am Friday; however thousands of people of people downloaded the document or still have its tab open. Note 'document-cloud' only serves the pages a browser is displaying. To see more, you must scroll down and wait for that portion to load. The pdf too is an image that does not allow text searching.

Andrew Freeman has a careful account:
http://mashable.com/2017/10/27/shadiest-details-puerto-rico-contract-whitefish-energy/#slJZ9RR1iZqn

"By comparison, minimum wage in Puerto Rico is $7.25 an hour. According to Indeed.com, the average salary for a journeyman electrical lineman is $39.03 per hour in the continental U.S. However, a journeyman lineman on Whitefish Energy's Puerto Rico project will earn $277.88 per hour."

"UTIER, the electrical workers' union of Puerto Rico, expressed alarm at those rates, tweeting: "We need support and help, but under these conditions it is impossible and questionable. Who allowed this?"" https://twitter.com/utier/status/922788140938596355
« Last Edit: October 27, 2017, 08:33:07 PM by A-Team »

Alexander555

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1358 on: October 27, 2017, 08:18:44 PM »
Looks like it's going to be Okinawa, and some heavy rain for other parts of Japan. And a few days later Thailand.

Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1359 on: October 27, 2017, 09:35:27 PM »
Puerto Rico Is Burning Its Dead, And We May Never Know How Many People The Hurricane Really Killed

https://www.buzzfeed.com/nidhiprakash/puerto-rico-cremations?utm_term=.gtq4ZjeBXB&bffbnews#.iiyvP2lapa

Quote
Communication between the central institute certifying official hurricane deaths, called the Institute of Forensic Sciences, and funeral homes or crematoriums appears to be fully broken, with each side waiting for the other to take action.

On better news

Decision seeks to enhance residents' access to medical services offered by the ship(comfort):

http://go.cb.pr/2y9rb5t
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1360 on: October 28, 2017, 01:55:07 AM »
"POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE EIGHTEEN"
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1361 on: October 28, 2017, 12:47:29 PM »
There's a Major Halloween Storm Bearing Down on New England
The National Weather Service says the storm could be among the strongest ever recorded during the month of October in New England.
Quote
There's increasing confidence among weather forecasters that a late-season tropical storm could morph into a scary Halloween-eve rain and windstorm for the northeast United States. The forecast is frightening: The National Weather Service says the storm could be among the strongest ever recorded during the month of October in New England.

From Minnesota to Central America, the dangerous components are coming into place. On Friday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center upgraded a swirling mass of clouds off the northern coast of Honduras to Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen—a technical way of saying that a tropical storm is in the late stages of formation and headed toward land.

By Saturday, the NHC expects this system to congeal into Tropical Storm Philippe—pushing this year's hurricane season further into the upper echelon of the busiest of all time. Philippe could bring a quick eight to 10 inches of rain to parts of Cuba, the Bahamas, and South Florida by Sunday, when it will be sucked northward into an advancing Midwest cold front currently generating early-season snowfall over parts of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Philippe and the cold front will join forces and produce a rapidly intensifying coastal storm on Sunday and Monday that will make a beeline for the New York City area—enough for the National Weather Service to begin issuing wind and flood advisories for nearly all of New England. The storm won't officially be a nor'easter—most of the worst winds will be from the southeast, not the northeast, the defining feature of a nor'easter—but consequences could be worse: By the time it reaches land, the storm could be as strong as or stronger than any other storm ever measured during the month of October in the region. (Superstorm Sandy was much stronger, but it made landfall in New Jersey, not New England.)

The result: a high-speed meteorological conveyor belt of tropical moisture, known as an "atmospheric river," aimed squarely on shore. It's been pretty rainy in New England over the past few days, and, despite an ongoing drought, this storm will bring widespread potential for rapid flood onset. Between three and five inches of rain should fall in just a few hours on Sunday night and Monday morning—enough to rival some of the most intense single-day rainstorms ever measured in the region in late Autumn. Should the storm's center intensify as much as is currently forecast, wind gusts of nearly hurricane force could strike the shores of Long Island and Cape Cod on Monday.

The whole event will have a distinctly tropical feel—not quite as extreme as Hurricane Irene in 2011, but much of the same region will be affected. The Catskills and Adirondacks of New York, almost the entire states of Vermont and New Hampshire, parts of western Maine, and the Berkshires of western Massachusetts could all see flash flooding in the narrow river valleys of the mountains.

Of course, as with all weather events in 2017, part of this storm's ferocity can be traced back to our warming planet. As it zooms past Florida, Philippe will be passing over the exceptionally warm Gulf Stream current, and water temperatures off the East Coast are some of the most unusually warm anywhere on the planet right now. That warm water will boost evaporation rates and enhance the storm's rainmaking potential.
https://psmag.com/.amp/environment/halloween-storm-headed-for-new-england
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1362 on: October 28, 2017, 12:49:49 PM »
Day 1-3 QPF, in inches.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1363 on: October 28, 2017, 04:58:47 PM »
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Alexander555

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1364 on: October 28, 2017, 07:38:31 PM »
Still a week to go, but for the moment they put him on top of Ho Chi Minh. And they already had plenty of rain the last weeks.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1365 on: October 29, 2017, 02:05:12 PM »
At last!  Day 39:

.@USNavy Ship “Comfort”, docked in San Juan, is accepting “walk ins”
76% of beds are full
408 ppl treated so far
13 surgeries done yesterday
https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/924616305105408000
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1366 on: October 29, 2017, 02:24:42 PM »
The 16th named storm of the season, #Philippe, has formed over western Cuba. Since 1851, only 8% of seasons ever reach the 16th named storm.
https://twitter.com/bmcnoldy/status/924381836058427392
(Images at the link.)


Although Tropical Storm Phillipe is moving away from land, there is chatter about a "convective burst" which could add strength to the system which is hitting the northeast U.S.:

Keep an eye on convective burst (poss related to tropical sys). If it gets rolled up the front in tact, could increase wind potential.
https://mobile.twitter.com/AlexJLamers/status/924614179423707136
Image below.
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1367 on: October 29, 2017, 02:42:49 PM »
At last indeed. Centro Medico, the only non military hospital with the authority to transfer patients to the comfort, always works in emergency mode. Always. There is no doubt in my mind that the people that work there are the best at what they do because they are in perpetual trial by fire.

To people used to work under the worst conditions, operating patients using their phones for lights is not that much of a stretch.

The people would be better served  if any licensed MD could make referals, but opening the ship is a good start.

On a more personal note, 38 days later I have water service. Washing dishes has never been so much fun. Flushing toilets is a thrill.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2017, 03:10:14 PM by Archimid »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1368 on: October 29, 2017, 04:51:09 PM »
Archimid,

So great that things are finally looking up for you! 
It's the "little things" we take for granted that somehow can seem to be the biggest obstacles when they are gone.

And, this just happened:
Puerto Rico gov. seeks immediate cancellation of Whitefish Energy contract
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/puerto-rico-gov-seeks-immediate-cancellation-of-whitefish-energy-contract/

Update:
"We’re invoking that cancellation clause… There’s some work that needs to be finished but I am invoking that cancellation clause."
https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/nidhiprakash/puerto-ricos-governor-says-he-plans-to-cancel-whitefish
« Last Edit: October 29, 2017, 07:45:50 PM by Sigmetnow »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1369 on: October 29, 2017, 04:55:30 PM »
Tangentially related to "Hurricane season 2017", given the possibility of the related but unnamed NE U.S. storm turning out to be significant:

Didn't realize this... the unnamed hurricane during the Perfect Storm in 91 was purposely not named/advisories not initiated.
https://twitter.com/ryanhanrahan/status/920096682037178368
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1370 on: October 29, 2017, 06:19:03 PM »
HRRR maps point to a period of really torrential rains tonight in the #NYC area. Very high winds too! ...
https://twitter.com/WeatherdotUS/status/924681855248592897
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1371 on: October 29, 2017, 07:40:09 PM »
Seeing forecast surge values up to 5 feet in Connecticut after midnight tonight.
https://twitter.com/GarySzatkowski/status/924694463842344962
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1372 on: October 29, 2017, 08:59:23 PM »
Stu Ostro:
Structure of the developing storm, including #Philippe   #ItsComplicated
https://twitter.com/stuostro/status/924692101991985154
Satellite GIF at the link.

The Westher Channel:
Extremely Powerful Coastal Storm is ramping up & is expected to slam the NE with damaging winds & flooding rain.
Video: https://weather.com/news/weather/video/coastal-storm-will-bring-damaging-winds
Images below.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1373 on: October 30, 2017, 12:03:32 AM »
Puerto Rico's contract with Whitefish will be cancelled. Help is already on the way from utilities in New York and Florida under a mutual aid agreement.

https://apnews.com/0de9d002a14a40908bfa24b57981414d
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1374 on: October 30, 2017, 01:14:26 PM »
~ 7 hours ago:

Current power outages:
[Connecticut]: >104,000 (~10% of the state)
[Rhode Island]: >97,000 (20%)
[Massachusetts]: >74,000 (3%)

[Puerto Rico]: >1,000,000 (70%)
https://twitter.com/ericholthaus/status/924859471943426049


Powerful Coastal Storm Will Bring Damaging Winds, Flooding Rainfall to the Northeast Through Early Monday; Bombogenesis Ongoing
https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2017-10-26-northeast-weekend-storm-damaging-wind-heavy-rain
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1375 on: October 30, 2017, 01:52:49 PM »
"Richard Branson’s green energy plan for Caribbean may include debt relief"

See link in the Renewables thread:  https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,256.msg132814.html#msg132814
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Jim Hunt

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1376 on: October 30, 2017, 02:08:41 PM »
Not a hurricane of course, but nonetheless:

https://twitter.com/Unitil/status/924978453140688896

"1.5 million customers are without power in New England"
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1377 on: October 30, 2017, 03:48:10 PM »
Central Maine Power has ~357,000 outages, which surpasses the Ice Storm of '98 by nearly 100K. Putting things into perspective. #mewx
https://twitter.com/NWSCaribou/status/925006077057519616
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1378 on: October 30, 2017, 04:10:13 PM »
Economists Say Farmers Lost $200 Million During Hurricane Harvey
Quote
Hurricane Harvey caused more than $200 million in crop and livestock losses, according to Texas A&M University agricultural economists.

The hurricane specifically cost local farmers $93 million in livestock losses, $100 million in cotton losses and $8 million in rice and soybean losses, the economists said.

“The effects of Hurricane Harvey will linger for quite some time with our Texas farmers and ranchers,” Doug Steele, agency director for Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Extension Services, said in a statement. ...
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/hurricane-harvey/economists-say-farmers-lost-200-million-during-hurricane-harvey-n815211
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1379 on: October 31, 2017, 05:11:25 PM »
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz:
Republicans cancel Hearing where Brock Long FEMA Dir and myself where to testify on FEMA’s readiness in PR. What are they afraid of?

https://twitter.com/carmenyulincruz/status/925234903737913344
Video statement from Mayor Cruz, after landing in Washington, DC last night, at the link.

Democrats of the House Committee in Homeland Security:
@CarmenYulinCruz @fema I invited the Mayor so we could get a true picture of what’s happening in #PuertoRico from someone who has been on the ground since day 1.
https://twitter.com/homelanddems/status/925374205398577153

@CarmenYulinCruz @fema Its inexcusable the GOP have canceled this hearing no rational reason to silence the Mayor & shield @WhiteHouse from another bad news story.
https://twitter.com/homelanddems/status/925374350324326400

@CarmenYulinCruz @fema @WhiteHouse It is clear that House Republicans and the Administration fear the Mayor and her telling her story.
https://twitter.com/homelanddems/status/925374429038874625
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1380 on: November 02, 2017, 11:32:32 PM »
Before last weekend, the ship had remained off-shore, and treated an average of nine people a day.

Navy’s Largest Floating Hospital Docks in Puerto Rico
Quote
The U.S. hospital ship, which was criticized for being underutilized as it anchored off various parts of the island for the first few weeks after the storm, finally docked in San Juan on Saturday to establish closer contact with patients. It was greeted by long lines of people who waited for hours under tents on a pier normally used for cruise ships.

The beds on the hospital ship are now more than 60% occupied, and its medical staff attended to 700 people over the weekend, according ship medics. The first day alone, medical staff provided triage treatment to 371 patients, roughly two-thirds of whom were treated in trailers and released right away, while 145 patients were admitted to the ship for more serious care.
https://fusion.net/story/582738/puerto-rico-navy-floating-hospital/
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1381 on: November 03, 2017, 04:05:16 AM »
The official position was that the comfort was in stand-by mode encircling the island. I imagine that being randomly equidistant of any possible emergency med evac is an excelent tactical choice given the type of disaster and the fact it is an island.

 The problem was political, economical or communications.

 The word is many hospital were operating under emergency power.  At one point there was no diesel available. Many are still working with emergency backup and all are dealing with blackouts. Aguadilla's El Buen Samaritano Hospital lost power yesterday.

Still thats a heck of a lot better than a few weeks after the events. My hospital of preference (because of the view)  had to evacuate but they already repaired  it and have power.   Power has been restored to many hospitals.

The long term health effects on the population will be felt for a while.  Medical care ceased for a few weeks and it is now slowly building up again.

My gasoline generator is holding up but I've had some issues. I  had to repair the pull cord twice and once had to empty the tank because of water damaged gasoline. I'm changing the oil every 50 hrs even when the manual asks for 100 hours. The first choice oil is not available anywhere, but the second choice is also the most common one.

I'm really hoping it lasts until I get the power back.  I'm using it 16 hours a day,  at 6-8 hours per gallon. Generator theft is a big constant fear, but mine is very silent and I keep the lights at low levels.

The refrigerator is also acting up. It has been from the begining. I blame it on the constant and prolonged power interruptions. I'm hoping that also lasts a while longer.  I think high efficiency refrigerators are not made for this type of use.


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Clare

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1382 on: November 03, 2017, 05:45:47 AM »
Best wishes with all of this Archimid, I imagine your life has been completely taken over with these day to day struggles.
Kind regards, Clare

Alexander555

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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1384 on: November 04, 2017, 01:35:13 AM »
Soon to be typhoon #Damrey is expected to bring heavy rain and the threat of landslides to Vietnam late Friday into Saturday, local time.
https://twitter.com/weatherchannel/status/926261623513403393
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Shared Humanity

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1385 on: November 04, 2017, 06:12:40 PM »
This story is going to explode soon.



The thing about these kinds of water borne disease outbreaks, it does not simply affect small numbers of people. These kinds of outbreaks generally result in widespread disease.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Milwaukee_Cryptosporidiosis_outbreak

The CDC is, likely, not withholding this information because they don't want us to know about these deaths but are more than likely withholding this info because of the implications. Large portions of Puerto Rico are still without access to drinking water. Likely tens of thousands are now ill and many will die because they do not have access to medical care.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2017, 06:26:38 PM by Shared Humanity »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1386 on: November 04, 2017, 09:15:29 PM »
Puerto Rico, Day 45:
—Millions still w/o power
—Hundreds of thousands still w/o clean water
—Still a humanitarian emergency.
    https://twitter.com/ericholthaus/status/926823083029143552
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1387 on: November 04, 2017, 09:24:41 PM »
The official position was that the comfort was in stand-by mode encircling the island. I imagine that being randomly equidistant of any possible emergency med evac is an excelent tactical choice given the type of disaster and the fact it is an island.

<snipped>


Archimid,

Have you heard any reason why the Comfort remained off-shore, and did not come into any port until recently?  Was there a problem with the ports?  Or was it just an incredibly dumb strategy?
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1388 on: November 04, 2017, 10:20:27 PM »
The reason given by the state Secretary of Health was that it was in stand-by mode to serve as back-up in case a hospital lost power and had to be evacuated. To me that is a horrible reason.

First, hospitals may have hundreds of patients. How in the world they can evacuate hundreds of patients in a timely manner to a ship? How many helicopters are needed for that? Wouldn't it be better to use hundreds of ambulances and evacuate them to nearby hospitals? It makes no sense.

I can see the circling the island as a good strategy if all hospitals and medical facilities could call the Comfort for med evac. Word in the news is that hospitals had no idea how to do that. Instead they were sending patients to Centro Medico. Centro Medico was the only facility sending patients to the Comfort and they were working on back up power and suffering blackouts.

It may be simple miscommunication. To this day cellphone coverage is spotty. It could also be a matter of keeping hospitals at 100% utilization for financial reasons. My bet is that some beaurocrat thought that because hospitals already send patients to Centro Medico, if Centro Medico send patients to the Comfort indirectly all hospitals are using the Comfort. Dumb, but fully expected.
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1389 on: November 04, 2017, 10:23:26 PM »
BTW word over social media is that the Comfort is leaving tomorrow at 0600 to re-supply.
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1390 on: November 04, 2017, 10:52:49 PM »
Best wishes with all of this Archimid, I imagine your life has been completely taken over with these day to day struggles.
Kind regards, Clare
Thanks.

The first few weeks was madness. Everywhere you looked there was destruction. It felt as if surviving was a way of life. We all lost weight except for my 2 year old. It wasn't for lack of calories, we had plenty of Spam, rice and pasta. It was merely the increased activity levels. Flushing toilets with buckets, bringing water for showers and doing dishes, hand washing clothes and clearing debris was all there was to do. Well, that and standing in line.

There were lines for fuel, food, filtered water, and cash. The fuel and cash lines were the worst. Remember, they were no communications, which means all transactions were cash only. Add to that no working ATMs and only one bank in my town and what you get are ten hour lines for cash.

Things have greatly improved since we got water. Having sporadic cellphone and internet  does wonders. It is great to know what's going on and that recovery is on the way.
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Archimid

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1391 on: November 06, 2017, 05:42:56 PM »
This is grim but it must be known.  Using google translation

Quote
High number of "natural deaths"

Partial reports of the Police lack specific data of the deceased

The majority of the complaints do not cover the critical days during the passage of Hurricane Maria between September 19 and 21

The partial reports of the Police show that 894 complaints were issued for natural deaths, most of these weeks after Hurricane Maria, between October 1 and 23.

In turn, of the documents to which El VOCERO had access, it appears that eight of the deceased were between 100 and 105 years of age and 277 cases in which the years they had were not indicated. About 200 reported deaths occurred in homes for the elderly and another 200 in emergency rooms and hospitals.

They do not indicate whether there was electricity in the places where the deaths occurred and if the elderly depended on it to avoid aggravating their health conditions.


An examination of the complaints shows that in 72 of the cases, the deceased were not identified. Of those 19 are men and four women. The remaining 49 are not identified by sex, age or name.

The lack of information in the registry of the complaints prevents accurate numbers. In some cases, the date, age and residential address appear, but not the name. In other cases they are the deaths of young people on public roads.

Of the cases examined by gender, some 397 are women.

According to the partial statistics in San Juan, between September 21 and the first days of October, 127 complaints of natural deaths were issued, of which 32 were from people who lived in homes for the elderly and 29 in hospitals. Of the 127 deaths in that area, about 23 were people between the ages of 90 and 99; another 30 between 80 to 89 years, and 12 between 70 to 79 years.

While the police area of ​​Bayamón, partial reports between September 25 and October 23 total 68 cases of natural deaths, of which 11 occurred in homes for the elderly and 15 in emergency rooms and hospitals.

In one of the cases the person was over 100 years old. In another ten cases between 90 to 99 years of age; 18 of the cases between 80 to 89 years; 11 of the cases between 70 to 79 years and in six of the cases between 60 to 69 years.

On the other hand, in the area of ​​Ponce, which also includes Juana Díaz, Villalba, Santa Isabel, Peñuelas, Guayanilla, Yauco and Guánica, there were 75 complaints. It was indicated that 16 of the deaths in that area occurred in homes for the elderly and 14 in hospitals or emergency rooms.

In the Caguas area, which includes the municipalities of Cidra, Aguas Buenas, Gurabo, San Lorenzo and Juncos, the complaints amounted to 131.

In Mayagüez, 36 deaths were added, of which 21 were in homes for the elderly and 22 in hospitals and emergency rooms. Of the deceased 22 had ages between 90 to 99 years; 26 between 80 to 89 years and 23 between 70 to 79 years.


Utuado the most stripped

Other areas such as Utuado, Arecibo, Guayama and Humacao have the minimum information in their records, mainly age.

Guayama reported 21 deaths between September 30 and October 10, one of which occurred in a nursing home and three in hospitals. Five of the deaths are of people over 90 years old; four over 80 years old; five older than 70 and four older than 60.

The registration in Utuado adds 25 complaints. Five were in nursing homes and one in a hospital. Three are nameless and covers from September 2 to October 8. It does not add other known deaths directly related to Mary, such as that of three sisters who perished buried in an avalanche.

In the Carolina area with 105 complaints, it is established that 18 of the deaths occurred in hospitals and nine in care homes. One of the deceased was 105 years old; another 11 older than 90; 14 over 80 years old; 10 over 70 years old and 11 over 60 years old.


http://www.elvocero.com/ley-y-orden/alta-cifra-de-muertes-naturales/article_a97fe9bc-c28e-11e7-ab49-df6587f3e5a6.amp.html
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Tor Bejnar

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1392 on: November 06, 2017, 07:04:51 PM »
I wonder what the background numbers are, for example, for the month before Hurricane Maria. 

I've heard it said that people are dying almost as fast as they are getting born.
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TerryM

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1393 on: November 06, 2017, 08:19:03 PM »
I wonder what the background numbers are, for example, for the month before Hurricane Maria. 

I've heard it said that people are dying almost as fast as they are getting born.


Or perhaps one year earlier, if there is a seasonal signal involved.
Terry

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1394 on: November 07, 2017, 12:21:55 AM »
I wonder that too. This is the best I have found:

https://twitter.com/julito77/status/925025350941335553

It is important to note that September and October numbers are not complete because systems were down.

Another important thing to remember is that hundreds of thousands of people left the island, including thousands of vulnerable people that were evacuated.

I think that given the chaos it was fully expected for information to be lost. I also undetstand why they cremated the bodies. Overflowing morgues could have quickly become a health hazard. What I don't understand is why they stand by their numbers with such confidence when their data is obviously crap. They didn't collect basic data points like age, how can they trust these numbers?
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1395 on: November 07, 2017, 03:41:15 PM »
Tropical Storm Rina continues this active hurricane season over the abnormally warm Atlantic Ocean.

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Shared Humanity

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1396 on: November 07, 2017, 05:49:48 PM »
Definitely warm but the color coding is misleading.

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1397 on: November 08, 2017, 07:33:12 PM »
New stats being released that reinforce my suspicions:

From September 1-19, 2017, #PuertoRico averaged 82 deaths per day.
From September 20 (day #HurricaneMaria hit) to September 30, 2017, it averaged 117 per day.

 That is 35 more deaths per day on average.

September 2015: 2,242 registered deaths
September 2016: 2,366 registered deaths
September 2017: 2,838 registered death

October, 2015: 2,379 registered deaths
October 2016: 2,353 registered deaths
October 2017: 2,119 registered deaths (but these numbers will be changing bc PR gov't is taking 14 days to register deaths)

 Official numbers attributed to Maria:

20 direct deaths and 31 indirect deaths from Hurricane Maria, and the other 4 are from lepto, PR gov't says. #PuertoRico

From https://twitter.com/julito77/status/928310378425126913.
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Tor Bejnar

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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1398 on: November 08, 2017, 09:35:03 PM »
Thanks for gathering relevant statistics.  Grim.
My heart goes out to you (with a planned donation to the PR Children's Hospital, as soon as I can figure out how to send one - their website is in Spanish (appropriately), but of which I am not fluent).
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Re: Hurricane season 2017
« Reply #1399 on: November 08, 2017, 09:36:15 PM »
"If FEMA hadn't interceded, the mutual aid request would have pushed forward" before Maria, hastening the arrival of mainland support...

New 'day one' for Puerto Rico grid repair, 7 weeks after storm
Quote
The disaster of Hurricane Maria was twofold: first, a natural disaster. Second, a bungled human response to a humanitarian crisis and the longest blackout in American history.

Grid restoration work is finally picking up speed nearly seven weeks after the hurricane's strike. But the faltering response has still not been resolved into a unified campaign to bring power back (Energywire, Nov. 3).
...
A hearing scheduled today by the House Natural Resources Committee aims to scrutinize the initial decision by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to give a $300 million grid restoration contract to a small Montana contractor, Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC, while spurning potential mutual aid assistance from potentially scores of mainland power companies.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060065805
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