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Thread: Island of Puerto Rico 'destroyed' by Hurricane Maria

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Island of Puerto Rico 'destroyed' by Hurricane Maria

    Island of Puerto Rico 'destroyed' by Hurricane Maria, officials say


    • By MARK OSBORNE
    • MORGAN WINSOR
    • JULIA JACOBO

    Sep 20, 2017, 3:58 PM ET

    Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Imag
    WATCH Puerto Rico buildings, homes vulnerable to Maria

    The island of Puerto Rico has been "destroyed" after Hurricane Maria made landfall there as a Category 4 storm Wednesday morning, according to emergency officials.

    Puerto Rico's office of emergency management confirmed that 100 percent of the U.S. territory had lost power, noting that anyone with electricity was using a generator.


    Telecommunications throughout the island have "collapsed," Abner Gomez Cortes, executive director of Puerto Rico's office of emergency management and disaster administration agency, told ABC News.


    Cortes described Maria as an unprecedented storm, adding that the island had not seen a storm of that strength since 1928.


    SLIDESHOW: Photos: Hurricane Maria pummels Puerto Rico, Caribbean more +

    A hurricane task force for the U.S. Department of State is monitoring Maria's path in the Caribbean and will coordinate evacuations for U.S. citizens and provide aid on the ground, a State Department official told ABC News.

    Puerto Rico is still experiencing tropical storm force wind and emergency services are waiting before heading out to assess the damage, Cortes said.


    More than 12,000 people are currently in shelters, and hospitals are now running on generators, Cortes said. Two hospitals -- one in Caguas and one in Bayamon -- have been damaged.


    No deaths have been reported so far. The expected flooding is the danger "that will take lives," Cortes said, advising residents not to venture out of their homes until Thursday because "it is not safe to go out and observe."


    "We will rebuild our island with federal and state fund, hard work and the spirit of all Puerto Ricans citizens," Cortes said.


    Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

    Tourists flee from the rain on a beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sept. 19, 2017, prior to the arrival of Hurricane Maria. more +

    Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced via Twitter that a curfew was in effect starting at 6 p.m.

    As of 2 p.m. ET, Maria had weakened to a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained wind of 155 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.


    "This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," the National Hurricane Center warned.


    Jose Romero/AFP/Getty Images

    This satellite image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Maria, Sept. 20, 2017. more +

    Hurricane Maria is 450 miles wide and hurricane-force winds extend up to 60 miles from its center.

    Storm surge was predicted to be 6 to 9 feet in coastal Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Rainfall totals for Puerto Rico were projected at 12 to 18 inches, with as much as 35 inches in isolated areas.


    Felix Delgado Montalvo, the mayor of Catano, some 7 miles southwest of San Juan, told ABC News on Wednesday there are hundreds of people in shelters and over 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in the communities of Juana Matos, La Puntilla and Puente Blanco. Most of the homes are flooded and are missing roofs or have collapsed walls, he said.


    About 80 percent of residences in the Juana Matos community were destroyed from storm surge and flooding. Homes there are filled with at least 3 to 4 feet of water, according to Montalvo.


    ABC News

    Hurricane Maria is forecast to move through Turks and Caicos, but not make a direct hit, Sat. 21, 2017.more +

    Puerto Rico will experience hurricane-force wind gusts through Wednesday afternoon, though the wind will weaken as the day goes on.

    Maria is forecast to move off Puerto Rico's northern shores and into open Atlantic waters Wednesday night, potentially allowing the storm to strengthen, according to ABC News meteorologists.

    Maria is also forecast to approach the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night, but the Caribbean nation is not expected to get directly hit. Still, Punta Cana could experience hurricane conditions.

    ABC News

    The latest forecast model shows Hurricane Maria missing the United States and moving out to sea. more +

    By Friday, Maria will pass to the east of Turks and Caicos, where there's a potential for hurricane-force winds and heavy rain, but the storm is not expected to make a direct hit.

    From there, the hurricane is forecast to pass by the southeast Bahamas.


    "At this point, it looks like Maria will miss the United States and will move out to sea sometime later next week," ABC News senior meteorologist Max Golembo said. "But this will be a close call, so we will be watching carefully."


    Forecast models currently show the storm continuing to weaken next week as it travels far offshore.


    Splash News

    Hurricane Maria battered the small Caribbean islanda of Guadeloupe after it made landfall, Sept. 19, 2017. more +

    Maria leaves behind trail of death, destruction in Caribbean

    Maria did severe damage to multiple Caribbean islands over the past 36 hours, including Dominica, Guadeloupe and the Virgin Islands.

    Hartley Henry, an adviser to Dominica's prime minister, told reporters via WhatsApp on Wednesday that several people have died and the death toll "will rise" as officials continue to assess the widespread damage on the tiny island. Dominica has suffered a "tremendous loss of housing and public buildings" since the storm hit, ripping off roofs and tearing doors from hinges. The island's main general hospital "took a beating" and "patient care has been compromised," he said.


    "The country is in a daze -- no electricity, no running water," Henry said via a WhatsApp message. "In summary, the island has been devastated."


    Officials in Guadeloupe announced Wednesday that two people were killed and two others were missing due to the storm.


    France's Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said some 80,000 people in Guadeloupe -- around 40 percent of the population -- were without electricity Wednesday. Many roads there are impassible due to flooding and French Navy planes have not been able to assess the damage on the island due to bad weather conditions.


    In Martinique, about 70,000 homes were without electricity and 50,000 homes did not have access to safe drinking water Wednesday. Fallen trees and downed power poles have blocked many roads there, Collomb said.


    Police and soldiers have been deployed in both Martinique and Guadeloupe to ensure security. More than 3,000 first responders are on the French Caribbean islands, according to Collomb.

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=49971859

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    5:07

    Hurricane Maria wreaks total destruction in Puerto Rico

    CNN
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    Poor Puerto Rico.
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

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    Moderator Beezer's Avatar
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    Yes, poor everybody.

    But do not ask us for any more money.

    We already bailed you out on your bankruptcy.

    China has plenty to borrow.

    We are 20 trillion in debt.
    ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

    DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    This has to be a nightmare for the people in Puerto Rico.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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  8. #8
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    Evacuees leave Puerto Rico by cruise ship, some doubting they will return



    By Robin Respaut and Dave Graham
    ,ReutersSeptember 28, 2017

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Thousands of people lined up at San Juan harbor on Thursday to board a cruise ship that will take them from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland in one of the largest evacuations since Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico more than a week ago.


    Maria, which came ashore as the strongest storm to hit the island in nearly 90 years, has created a humanitarian crisis. The powerful storm knocked out the nation's electric grid and has crippled communications networks, transport and the water supply for the territory's 3.4 million people.


    The devastation is likely to feed an exodus that has driven tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans from the economically struggling island in recent years in search of opportunity on the mainland.


    "I'm sorry to be leaving Puerto Rico, but I have to. I prefer home, but it's impossible with these conditions," said Ada Reyes, 85. She was in a wheelchair and traveling on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship bound for Florida with her granddaughter, Maria Fernanda, 19.


    Fernanda planned to drop her grandmother in Florida, then head to Boston to look into colleges. A second-year student at the University of Puerto Rico, the teenager did not know when classes there would resume.


    Royal Caribbean International said its Adventure of the Seas cruise ship will carry 3,800 passengers from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A company spokesman said the cruise line is providing the passages free of charge and that travelers were registered with the help of local officials.


    The ship will make humanitarian calls in the hurricane-hit U.S. Virgin Islands, where it will drop off supplies. It will then head to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a planned arrival of October 3.


    The cruise line said it will work with airlines to make travel arrangements for passengers looking to meet up with friends and family on the mainland.


    "This is a humanitarian mission on behalf of Royal Caribbean," company spokesman Owen Torres said.


    At San Juan's main airport, flights are slowly returning. Major carriers including Southwest and JetBlue are still operating at reduced schedules as the airport works to restore power and return to full staffing levels.


    JetBlue typically has about 40 flights a day to Puerto Rico but on Thursday it had only seven, which it said was still more than any other airline flying to the U.S. territory.


    ONE WAY OR ROUND TRIP?

    People have waited for days for a flight out, with some Puerto Ricans wondering if they will stay once they reach the U.S. mainland.

    Lilliana Pastor, 34, of San Juan, decided on Tuesday to buy a one-way ticket to Florida for her and her 7-year-old daughter, Leah Aguayo.


    "Right now we don’t know about the electricity. We don’t have running water," Pastor said. “I'd rather go to Miami where we have family and see what happens."


    As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans can easily move to the United States. Migration to the mainland has soared in recent years, fueled by Puerto Ricans' desire for economic stability, jobs, schools and access to medical care.


    Between April 2010 and July 2016, the population of Puerto Rico dropped by 8.4 percent, the U.S. Census said, the largest percentage drop of any U.S. state or territory.


    Nearly one-third of those born in Puerto Rico now live on the U.S. mainland, economists wrote in a research report published on a blog site run by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.


    The migrants are mostly younger workers, tilted toward the lower end of the skills and earnings spectrum. The loss of these taxpayers is a blow to the island's already reeling economy, the economists wrote in an August 2016 post for Liberty Street Economics.


    Puerto Rico, which earlier this year filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. municipal history, is struggling to regain economic stability in the face of a $72 billion debt load and near-insolvent public health and pension systems.


    ECONOMIC DETERIORATION

    The out-migration has accelerated the aging of Puerto Rico's remaining population, further straining government services, the economists said.

    "If people continue to leave the island at the pace that has been set in recent years, the economic potential of Puerto Rico will only continue to deteriorate," their research said.


    Back at San Juan's port, Lara Brown, 42, who runs a child care center, was fighting back tears. She was sending her son, 14, and daughter, 12, to Miami to live with her sister-in-law, where she says life for them will be easier.

    "They have no electricity. Sometimes they have water, sometimes they don't," Brown said. "I'm afraid to leave them at home alone."

    Brown started to cry.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/evacuees-...-business.html
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    Moderator Beezer's Avatar
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    All these people have nothing left and will be coming here.

    Another reason to HALT all immigration to our country and ramp up deportations.

    No more refugees, asylum, illegal aliens. No more coming here legally with NO means to support themselves.

    End anchor baby scam

    Get illegal aliens out of our schools and off healthcare, welfare and food stamps.

    We need to plan for what is best for OUR future and bringing in millions of people is not going to bode well for this country.
    ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

    DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL

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