Originally published at the Organic Prepper – reposted at Prophecy News with permission. A friend sent me a link regarding questions I had about Ham Radio operators on the island and I am offering the article link here.
By Daisy Luther/Organic Prepper September 29, 2017
Things are dire in Puerto Rico. We haven’t heard much directly from people there since Hurricane Maria took out power for the entire island, but what we do know is that the situation is desperate. This is a shocking, real-life glimpse into what it’s really like when the S hits the fan.
I saw a post from a friend of a friend who has family in Puerto Rico. I don’t have permission to share names, but here’s what she said:
“My family has lost everything. My uncle with stage 4 cancer is in so much pain and stuck in the hospital. However conditions in the island are far worse than we imagined and my greatest fear has been made reality. The chaos has begun. The mosquitos have multiplied like the plague. Dead livestock are all over the island including in whatever fresh water supplies they have.
My family has been robbed and have lost whatever little they had left. The gang members are robbing people at gun point and the island is in desperation. People are shooting each other at gas stations to get fuel.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1638#rgDJKzThA3zPzMgq.99
Finally, proof that the “boring ass” HAM radio class I forced my son and husband to go to was worth the effort. (They refused to continue classes with me, so they are not nearly as radio capable as I.)
(From the article)”There will be no food in Puerto Rico,” Mr. Rivera predicted. “There is no more agriculture in Puerto Rico. And there won’t be any for a year or longer.”
There is little communication.
The lack of communications means that more remote areas have no idea what rescue operations are on the way, nor can they contact loved ones. And the lack of communication is vast:
1,360 out of 1,600 cellphone towers on the island are out. Many communities have been isolated from the outside world for days, relying only on radios for news. The communications shortage means the full extent of the crisis has not been assessed.
Surprisingly, one of the most reliable ways to contact the outside world is with Facebook Messenger.
In fact, Facebook has dispatched a “connectivity team” to help more people contact loved ones. AT&T is bringing giant floating antennas in an effort to restore cell service.
It won’t be any surprise to preppers that ham radio operators are the only people still reliably able to communicate.
When things went dark and quiet in Puerto Rico, a cadre of amateur radio operators became a lifeline on the island.
About two dozen amateur radio operators on the island helped police and first responders communicate when their radio networks failed completely. Some of the radio operators, or hams traveled on trucks to provide communications to the power company, PREPA…”
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1638#rgDJKzThA3zPzMgq.99
I think someone else said it best: “You have an island in the middle of hurricane alley and it gets smashed flat every couple years yet people seem surprised when this happens. I’m getting tired of paying for other peoples poor decisions about where they live. If you want to live there fine, just don’t come to me to rebuild it with my tax dollars when ever it gets smashed flat.
I have seen pics of this place before it got blown away again, looks like a 4th world nation even before the wind blows. Build something hurricane proof or forget it. Tin shacks just don’t cut it.
I suppose we’ll just print up some more money and fix Texas , Florida and PR back to the way they were so they can get smashed flat again next year. It’s the definition of insanity if you ask me.”
All true. That is exactly the problem. But, are they allowed to emigrate to the mainland to get out of this vicious cycle? Or do the laws only allow the luxury of “immigration” to the muslim brotherhood and ms13?
Maranatha!
Blessings:-}
edwitness,
they can already come and go because they are citizens–
b4 the storm,there were as many here as on the island so don’t encourage more to come here,at least not florida–
i bet wyoming or utah would be places that they’d like to live–
I’ve been to both and lived in Utah; they would not survive.
You cannot sit out on the porch comfortably from November to March in Utah; I suspect it’s longer in Wyo. The incredible snow in winter is matched with 100-degree heat in summer; you really have to be capable and determined to have a vegetable garden. Wyoming lacks trees for the most part; Utah is mostly a desert.
If you want to send them to die, OK. If you are trying to do them a favor, send them to Canada; it’s colder but overall more hospitable / farmable than either Utah or Wyo.
Point taken. Lol. It seems they really are crazy by staying there when they know it does this.
Blessings:-}
Thanks, God bless you, and I thot I was alone in the world. You are so right, please don’t change a word. again thanks
Puerto Rico was already a crime and drug infested place before the hurricane. It was also bankrupt, most importantly its government owned electricity provider was too. For years PR has been borrowing money to support a huge public payroll and the most productive young people have fled the island for the mainland consequently it has no tax base or ability to borrow money now when it needs to.
This is not going to end well. Puerto Rico will default on its $74 billion bonded indebtedness and require the Federal government to rebuild its public infrastructure. Perhaps more importantly for the immediate future is Puerto Rican disaster relief tying up a large amount of US military resources that could be required to support our forces in Korea and Japan should war break out there.
To paraphrase Sam Kinnison….”You’re living on a fucking island in the middle of the ocean. Move!”
See Jim Stone regarding Puerto Rico and WHY it is as it is. http://82.221.129.208/.zy5.html
Actually the problem of moving disaster relief from the ports to the towns is washed out roads and security. Who wants to be driving a tanker full of gasoline in a society where law and order was marginal even before Maria but has now broken down almost completely?
Puerto Rico is a shithole because it’s full of Puerto Ricans. A mystery only to cucks and liberals.
Every adult (unless they are really physically disabled) needs to become much more self-sufficient (ref Maggie and the millions of “evil” USA Preppers). All our ancestors did it for 100,000 years or more before our liberal government interfered and created The Great Society Voting Block of 1964. Now we clearly all see that government overloaded US and every unproductive Taker needs to store up a couple months food, water, money, etc. Millions of people can’t keep crying for others to bring them food, water, shelter etc just days after every emergency. It’s also time for the do-gooders to understand that they created this Monster of Welfare Masses totally dependent on others for every necessity; they are the do-gooders Pets per se. Liberals have the responsibility themselves to provide these neo-survival handicapped masses with emergency powered community water wells (or manual pumps), cement shelters, armed protectors, food gardens & storage methods etc. Do-gooders should demand their Pets contribute something themselves to earn that food and water. Thanks for listening but I must go now because I am one of the so called Privileged Conservative White Male Christians blamed for every problem in the World and unqualified for all government assistance; I have survival work to do.
Shit, my husband and I bought this place to be self-sufficient and retire early. Now, I suspect we need more perimeter work.
Sorry, but you are not alone. Fences, Motion Detectors, infrared barrier sensors, a Parabolic Electronic Microphone, FLIR Night Vision etc make that job so easy a fifth grader with a .22 or .223 semiautomatic rifle would make intruders pay hell. A .22 rim fire round is less than 10 cents and should cause an intruder to retreat; a .223 Rem is less than a quarter and retreats would be short; a .308 costs over 30 cents and there is no retreat.
I think George Romero died too soon … just imagine what would be going throught his mind re. this Puerto Rico clusterf#ck !!
All in all folks technology is not conducive to long term survival of the human species. We have been built to us our muscles and brains to survive. Technology has turned us as a species into mushy headed slugs who can not survive without technology. Hell most people ( me included ) could not walk 40 miles carrying what they need for the whole trip. When a situation like this happens a lot of people will be culled.
I need more ammo.
My only experience on Puerto Rico was 40 years ago. What struck me was there were no cars parked on the streets, all were behind locked gates. Every window had bars on it. That was the good neighborhoods in San Juan. PR was the only place someone came into my darkened (I went to bed early) hotel room with a key in the middle of the night. It scared the F out of me and they ran away. Hookers in the streets. In the country the only “store” had like 3 bottles of coke and a couple snacks on a dirty table. Tip: don’t drive through the crowd in the street when the bullfights are on. The jungle bar I went in could have been out of Apocalypse Now. PR the only place I’ve been to where the price of a hotel room goes up every night if you don’t have a reservation. Like Mick Jagger said “The US is “A”, everywhere else is “B”. Except some places are “C”, “D” and “F”.
Another article with some references to this one…
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/09.17/puertorico.html
Many homes were completely destroyed.
In the town of Catano, more than 60% of the residents are homeless due to the storm. At the shelter in Catano, the bathrooms flooded and sewage backed up into the building. There is food, but no water. It’s hot, dark, and the stench is overwhelming. There is more than one person at the shelter who is diabetic, and there is no ice for their insulin. (source)
Rivera Aviles, a Cataño city council member who set up the shelter with the help of her husband, found that her home was devastated, too.
She and her husband evacuated before the storm because their house — made of wood — is close to the water’s edge. After Maria passed she returned home and was shocked that “the entire roof was blown off.”
“Everything got wet — the beds, furniture, everything,” she says. The water damage has made it unlivable. (source)
The homes that are still standing were horribly damaged. “Even in homes that remain standing on the island, water damage and power outages have destroyed most belongings, medicine, and food.” (source)
There is hardly any potable water.
Nearly half the people in Puerto Rico are without potable drinking water. The tap water that is restored has to be boiled and filtered, and others are finding water where they can. You can expect a health crisis soon due to waterborne illnesses. When I researched my book about water preparedness, I learned that waterborne illness is one of the deadliest threats post-disaster. Although FEMA has delivered 6.5 million liters of water, on an island with 3.4 million people, it isn’t enough.
Isabel Rullán is the co-founder and managing director of a non-profit group called ConPRmetidos. She is very concerned about the water situation. She said that even if people were able to acquire water “they may not have the power or means to boil or purify it.”
She added that the problem went beyond access to drinking water — it was becoming a real public health concern.
Compounding that issue was hospitals lacking diesel and being unable to take new patients, she said.
“There’s so much contamination right now, there’s so many areas that are flooded and have oil, garbage in the water, there’s debris everywhere,” she said by phone.
“We’re going to have a lot of people that are potentially and unfortunately going to get sick and may die,” she said. (source)
According to the Department of Defense, 56% of the island has potable water, but in one town, Arecibo, the only fresh water comes from a single fire hydrant. (source)
Hospitals are struggling to keep people alive.
And speaking of hospitals, 59 of the 69 on the island were, according to the Department of Defense, “operating on unknown status.”
Only 11 of 69 hospitals on Puerto Rico have power or are running on generators, FEMA reports. That means there’s limited access to X-ray machines and other diagnostic and life-saving equipment. Few operating rooms are open, which is scary, considering an influx of patients with storm-related injuries. (source)
A hospital in San Juan reported that two people in intensive care died when the diesel fueling the generator ran out. The children’s hospital has 12 little ones who depend on ventilators to survive, and once they ran out of fuel, they have gotten by on donations. FEMA has delivered diesel fuel to 19 hospitals.
But many darkened hospitals are unable to help patients who need it most.
Without sufficient power, X-ray machines, CT scans, and machines for cardiac catheterization do not function, and generators are not powerful enough to make them work. Only one in five operating rooms is functioning. Diesel is hard to find. And with a shortage of fresh water, another concern looms: a possible public health crisis because of unsanitary conditions…
The hospitals have been crippled by floods, damage and shortages of diesel. The governor said that 20 of the island’s hospitals are in working order. The rest are not operational, and health officials are now trying to determine whether it is because they lack generators, fuel or have suffered structural damage. All five of the hospitals in Arecibo, Puerto Rico’s largest city in terms of size, not population, are closed. (source)
One emergency room director said, ““This is like in war: You work with what you have.”
And it isn’t just the hospitals that are dealing with medical crises.
“We are finding dialysis patients that haven’t been able to contact their providers, so we are having to transport them in near-death conditions,” Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz said, recalling a group’s visit to two San Juan-area nursing homes this week. “We are finding people whose oxygen tanks are running out, because … small generators now don’t have any diesel.” (source)
Residents of Puerto Rico are also having trouble getting necessary medications.
A shortage of open pharmacies is another stressor, especially for the chronically ill and elderly residents. Most pharmacies in Puerto Rico remain closed, although they are slowly beginning to reopen. A CVS spokesman said that 21 out of 25 Puerto Rico-based CVS stores are now open, including 17 pharmacies. The first one reopened last Thursday. A Walgreens spokesman said about half of the island’s 120 stores are open and running on generators, but that hours vary. The stores are also receiving supplies of medication.
But many pharmacies in Puerto Rico are independently owned. With so many people pleading for medication, some pharmacists who know their clients are dispensing drugs without the required prescriptions or refill bottles.
Hospitals still have adequate supplies, and so do many of the open pharmacies, but there are concerns they may run out because suppliers are unable to get to them, said Dr. Victor M. Ramos Otero, the president of the College of Doctors and Surgeons of Puerto Rico.
Even when people find the drugs, they often cannot pay for them. Without electricity, A.T.M.s do not work and stores cannot accept credit cards or process insurance plans. (source)
The people who were already weakened by illness will fare the worst, shortly followed by those who become injured or ill in the aftermath.
There isn’t much food.
Much of the food on the island has spoiled or been contaminated.
In the town of Utuado, Lydia Rivera has started to ration crackers and drink rainwater to keep her two grandchildren alive. “No water, no food,” Rivera told CNN. (source)
The few markets that are open are rationing food with only 10 items per person allowed. People are standing in lines for hours to purchase their 10 items. There’s no way to keep perishables fresh. (source)
Then there is this:
Imagine an intelligent alien visitor hovering over the scene and reporting back to the invading force… “They appear to be dependent on a small device in their hands to tell them what to do every second.”
The water borne illnesses mostly sewage related are going to go exponential in PR especially in the flooded towns where the water supply/system has been compromised. There are 3,000 containers of aid sitting in the harbor but distribution is a huge problem due to security and impassable roads. I know people who “had” a vacation home on Vieques and a family on the far western side in Mayaquez. No information on either due to the communication problems. I am thinking the west side is less damaged but cut off……the vacation home owners on Vieques which took a direct hit likely will have to rebuild. This hurricane season was a wake up call for the US which had been in a big hurricane “drought” since Katrina in 2005……….anybody hear of the 11 year sun cycle……get ready for some upticks in number of storms. I run easyprepper.net and have seen a big increase in sales, though getting product from the vendors has been a huge challenge on water storage containers, freeze dried foods especially. Luckily hurricane season 2017 is over but 2018 will being in June so plan accordingly. Canned goods, flashlights, water storage and filtration, cooking alternatives, storable foods, first aid and at least get some emergency radios to listen for information if you don’t want to go the whole Ham route. For $350-$500 you can very nicely be ready for a family of four (including pets) to ride out a hurricane and lose power for a week. Floods like Harvey you can’t prep for….other than don’t buy that “Cheap” house in a flood plain it will eventually flood. Forget about the Doomsday Prepper stuff……..prepare for the standard hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, storms, tornadoes etc. If we get the EMP from the North Koreans….90% or Americans are going to die in 12 months. We get nuked well if you are not killed by the blast or radiation its still going to be an impossible situation unless you are a homesteader. I recently moved from the NYC metro area to Bozeman MT…….to start homesteading. It takes a lot of commitment and willingness to sacrifice other things (how do you vacation if you have a herd of angus, 15 chickens etc). Homesteading has to be its own reward not a hedge against a pudgy dictator. Even FEMA (god bless their little hearts) is now on a big kick for more prepping by Americans……..no wonder. During Sandy we had people in high rises out of power for 7-10 days and they didn’t have so much as a flashlight to get up and down the dark stairs to their dark apartments/condos…….with no sanitation etc….it went nasty very quickly.
Reflecting on the situation in Puerto Rico it occurs to me that the people there could do more to assist relief efforts but have become conditioned to await help rather than do what they can to bring help to them. No reason why local people could not have started clearing roads of fallen trees and filling in washed out roads even if with nothing more than hand saws and shovels. It is all our ancestors had!
Puerto Rico’s local government should have been better prepared too. Instead of noting that this was the most powerful storm in 90 years in the US planning is based around 100 year events. Now the US is in the position of having to fly in WATER from 1000 plus miles away because PR government officials did not anticipate the inevitable strong hurricane. Why was there not provision for at least 10 days worth of diesel fuel at hospitals for back up generators. This too was a known vulnerability should a major hurricane hit.
Island time is too many degrees away from tdc. And it’s like living in Bastiat’s window-house. Or staying in casino until busted. But also, for many barely getting by, windowhouse casino’s the only option.
But the hurricanes that did the most damage were the serial “annexations.” Va(e)mpires – mass murder, enslavement, followed by teat subsidy CAFO ops having all the solidity of Trojan horses. These ‘canes, canings, are worldwide, historywide.
A rut – where humanity habitually, mostly, has always resided, is a grave with the ends kicked out…& when enough precip comes down, those arroyos turn into raging sluice abattoirs. Pecuniary: c.1500, from Latin pecuniarius “pertaining to money,” from pecunia “money, property, wealth,” from pecu “cattle, flock,” from PIE root *peku- “wealth, movable property, livestock” (cf. Sanskrit pasu- “cattle,” Gothic faihu “money, fortune,” Old English feoh “cattle, money”).
Pecu people & the toughlove vaqueros they love, lurching from one codependent co-morbidity to another ∞. I saw a Houston woman whose number came up – tract house in flood plain – recounting how long she & others in some organization had been demanding that the government do something (to forestall or prevent her number coming up). But never did it occur to her to move to higher ground. Self-righteous, it apparently still does not occur to her.
Not too far from where I live, down in a snowmelt runoff valley that floods from time to time, a several million dollar custom home is going up. Pecu often has nada to do with brains…& subsidy is lobotomy, boltgun, & Anton Chigurh.
I have lived in PR. It is a total shithole. The people are lazy, drunken, corrupt criminals. I would not spend one cent helping those fuckers rebuild. They will only rebuild to the point of having a shack, and that will be good enough until the next hurricane. The are too stupid to harden their infrastructure against hurricanes. They are wontonly irresponsible.
Fuck ’em. They can leave that shithole and try their luck on the mainland, or they can rot.
Individually, these things are tragedies. En masse, they are symptoms of gross stupidity.
I just looked at a bunch of photos taken after the hurrcane. The reporters were going on and on about “what a disaster, what a tragedy”!
Fucking imbeciles. If they had visited before the hurricane, the photos would have shown the same thing. It is a shithole, before or after the hurricane. People live like pigs. They throw their trash anywhere and everywhere. They live in shacks and make no effort at all to take care of them. They let livestock wander in and out of their homes.
Seriously, I could not see a difference in the post hurricane photos. It looked exactly the same as pre hurricane to me.
How long are we going to keep rebuilding, at the cost of billions, places where the people have no intent of ever taking care of themselves? If they want to live like pigs in the dark ages, who are we to tell them different.
I wonder if HGTV is still playing scenes from “Island Living” or “Beach House Hunters” that were done in PR?
I currently live on the closest thing to Puerto Rico, Kissimmee, Florida. Those people live like animals and are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. The Dominicans and the other Latinos here look down on them for the trash that they are.