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

PR natives are "citizens" - don't know how or why that was relegated. The island is mainly on our welfare system and has not been able to progress into what it could be as a tropical paradise. The residents are not going anywhere but to the USA. Think they can come anytime they wish to.

Unfortunately, islands everywhere will be going under in the future unless they are built up higher to withstand rising sea levels. The storms, well they require more planning to survive them. How much money are we supposed to give to PR w/o devising a way to achieve a return on that investment to improve it?

I have a feeling that's exactly what this administration is thinking about.

I am tired of giving OUR money to pay off bankruptcy and then give more of OUR money to rebuild when disaster hits.

There needs to be procedures in place to stop these Governor's and Mayor's from bankrupting their cities.

Look at Flint MI and we have to pay for the water system to be fixed while they squandered taxpayer money.

Look at Baltimore and the riots and they want MORE of our taxpayer money to clean up.

Look at Jerry Brown of CA giving our taxpayer money to ILLEGAL aliens but refuses to retrofit the dams, roads and bridges or build more reservoirs. Wait until the "big one" hits CA. They will come crying to taxpayers to rebuild the whole State. This is complete BS.

Many cities are in disrepair...many levee's are failing...much waste, fraud and abuse of our money.

Why should they be held accountable if they KNOW they can come to Uncle Sam with their grubby paws out for more bailouts and more money?

Just let the cities crumble to ruins and spend the money on anything you please...this is the new norm and they know they can get away with it.

The $135billion a year drain caused by illegals could go a long way to improve/update our systems instead.

Originally Posted by artist

The $135billion a year drain caused by illegals could go a long way to improve/update our systems instead.

YES!! YES!! YES!!

Originally Posted by artist

P.R. natives are "citizens" - don't know how or why that was relegated. . .

Why is Puerto Rico a territory of the US?

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. It became a U.S. territory in 1898, when it was acquired from Spain after the Spanish-American War. With approximately 3.5 million residents, Puerto Rico is the most highly populated of all United States territories.

Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory - Puerto Rico Report


When did residents of Puerto Rico became US citizens?

On March 2, 1917, Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act, under which Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory and Puerto Ricans were granted statutory citizenship, meaning that citizenship was granted by an act of Congress and not by the Constitution (thus it was not guaranteed by the Constitution).

Puerto Ricans become U.S. citizens, are recruited for war effort - Mar ...

Give it back to Spain...let them hemorrhage money to pay for it.

TEXAS Month after Harvey, debris piles show recovery takes time


1,300 people still living in shelters, . . .

More than 60,000 displaced people are still living in hotel rooms paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, . . .

The storm is estimated to have damaged or destroyed more than 176,100 homes in Texas. . .

More than 834,800 people in Texas have registered for FEMA assistance and more than 298,000 have so far been approved. . .

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Andrew Weinstein
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ICYMI @realDonaldTrump, here are some pictures of the people of Puerto Rico waiting for everything to be done for them.
5:17 PM - Sep 30, 2017

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Puerto Ricans desperate for cell service turn to Mexican carrier



By Nick Brown and Robin Respaut
,Reuters•October 2, 2017

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Puerto Ricans exasperated by the patchy U.S. relief response to their hurricane-blasted island are turning to a Mexican billionaire's mobile phone network they say has been faster to restore service.
Claro Puerto Rico, a subsidiary of America Movil owned by Carlos Slim, has stepped up to a challenge in the wake of Hurricane Maria that U.S. peers like AT&T Inc , T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp have been slower to address, residents said.

By Saturday, 11 days after Maria hit, Claro, the island's No. 2 cellular operator, had restored service in 28 of the island's 78 municipalities, reaching about 310,000 customers.

"Claro is the only one with service here," said Francisco Portales, 47, a customer of privately held Puerto Rico-based network provider Open Mobile who was waiting outside the Claro store in Fajardo hoping to buy a phone to call his wife, whom he has heard from just once since the storm.

The coverage picture on Puerto Rico overall remains dire, with 88.8 percent of the island's cell towers out of service as of Sunday, according to the latest U.S. Federal Communications Commission update.

Neither AT&T, the commonwealth's biggest wireless provider, nor T-Mobile or Sprint disclosed how much of their networks are up and running. AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said on Sunday that it was making "steady progress" with temporary cell sites and generators that have processed 100,000 calls in the previous 24 hours, and has more equipment and staff arriving in coming days.

The lack of commercial power remains a significant problem, he added.

Claro said it had power generators, diesel, batteries and vehicles ready 72 hours ahead of the storm.

In contrast, AT&T had readied fuel supplies, but "could not pre-stage recovery assets in fear that they would be lost," Joan Marsh, the company's executive vice president of regulatory and state external affairs, said in a Sept. 28 blog.

Sprint said on Friday its towers were still standing and "largely intact" and that it was working to restore power and connections to towers in the most populous areas.

T-Mobile said on Sunday that it is making progress with repairs and service but that "it's going to be a long road to recovery." It said it had prepared portable generators and fuel for any permanent generators.

Verizon Communications Inc , the biggest U.S. cellular provider, does not have its own network in Puerto Rico, providing service through a roaming agreement with Claro.

Sprint said it had shipped some spare parts to Puerto Rico needed for network restoration ahead of earlier Hurricane Irma.

Wireless providers say they are coordinating service restoration efforts and opening their networks to each other's customers. Activating a roaming service will connect a phone to whatever network is available.

Claro is winning supporters like Mercedes Saldana, a 54-year-old school cafeteria worker and Sprint customer. She had no service and joined friends seeking to buy a Claro prepaid phone.

"I don't have any service, none," she said. "We don't know when Sprint's going to be connected again."

AT&T has a 34 percent share of the island's active wireless numbers, according to research firm Sharetracker. Claro is second with a 26 percent share, followed by T-Mobile with 19 percent, Open Mobile with 11 percent and Sprint with 10 percent.
Luis Pacheco, 64, spent more than an hour in line to shop at a Fajardo Walmart. He was planning to drive with his wife to Canovanas - 30 to 40 minutes west - in hopes of finding a cell signal to text his daughter in California.

Choking up, Pacheco said Canovanas was the only place he knew of where his carrier, AT&T, has a signal.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/puerto-ri...--finance.html