You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Hurricane Maria Has Transformed Puerto Rico Into A 'Cash Only' Economy
2017-09-26
Moved to Page 3

[Zero Hedge] Electricity, internet access and cell phone service have been offline in parts of Puerto Rico for a whole week. And with the island still struggling to rescue people stranded in remote villages, those managing the emergency recovery effort have yet to focus their attentions on the monumental task that looms ahead: Rebuilding the island’s devastated infrastructure, from communications to sewers and water treatment plants that have been damaged by flash flooding and 155 mph winds that Hurricane Maria visited upon the island.
Posted by:Besoeker

#8  But what happened to the telescope!?
Posted by: Skidmark   2017-09-26 22:57  

#7  A damn good argument against large infrastructure.

It's too expensive now but imagine this... Nice solid solar cell collectors like the Tesla Solar tiles and a power wall instead of power lines.

Well a storm like that comes through. Some people would loose roofs and power. Some would not. So the whole island would not be without power. It would limp but it would be functional.

Now the same for other infrastructure. Large low earth sat nets like the ones close to implementation. Thousands of sats are not taken down by a hurricane. If the flat phased array antenna on your roof or car survives to provide WiFi (typical way they will be used as wifi routers) Then enabling wifi on your cellphone and will enable you to communicate near your home. Downed phone lines and cell towers will not matter. If the wifi operates with carrier enable (like say Xfinitiy) then you could have mobility with your wifi cell all over the disaster area.

Perhaps the hardest would be sewer and water in built up regions.
Posted by: 3dc   2017-09-26 22:27  

#6  Given the huge amount of money they borrowed, spent, and cannot pay back, I have a simple question: what infrastructure was it spent on?

For instance, I noticed the failing dam is almost 90 years old. How did they allocate and spend money to maintain the dams?

If the answers are none and/or they didn't, then you sleep in the bed you made.
Posted by: si vis pacem, para bellum   2017-09-26 14:07  

#5  PR has pretty much always been a cash-only economy.

Most of it somehow ends up under a table, though.
Posted by: Pappy   2017-09-26 11:46  

#4  EMP does for electronics what the Neutron Bomb was advertised to do for people. No cars, no elevators, no water pumps or blow dryers, etc. but buildings still standing with few blast effects.

PR looks like high wind shock wave devastation in a poor building code neighborhood.
Posted by: Skidmark   2017-09-26 11:34  

#3  Similar to what post-EMP looks like?
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy   2017-09-26 11:13  

#2  Give them independence:The Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (English: Armed Forces of National Liberation, FALN) was a Puerto Rican clandestine paramilitary organization that, through direct action, advocated complete independence for Pu
Posted by: jack salami   2017-09-26 09:09  

#1  ATMs hit hardest
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-09-26 08:13  

00:00