Hurricanes: Harvey... Irma... José... Maria... Ophelia...

[Hervé]

...

[Foxie Loxie]

Heads Up for Avid! Looks like another one is heading your way! Let's hope not!!

[justntime2learn]

I just signed up to go there and help. Just waiting for a call ...

Have they forgotten about Saint Croix?

Hurricane Irma Support

"**Everything below is subject to change as the situation in Puerto Rico develops. We thank you in advance for your patience and support**"

http://www.ctpuertoricanagenda.com/hurricaneirmasignup

Just received this by email if it helps: Charles --

Thank you for signing up to volunteer. Please share our work with anyone you know who can contribute. You can also find regular updates on our face book page here.

If you or anyone you know is in need of emergency services on the island, please find the government agency emergency numbers here.

While we will do donation drives when needed, our primary goal is to ensure our island receives all of the direct immediate disaster relief it needs. This means forcing our elected officials in Congress to treat Puerto Rico with the same urgency as other natural disasters.

Please contact your congressional representatives and demand that Puerto Rico receive full and complete FEMA support and reimbursement.

Secondly, on October 1st, the CT Puerto Rican Agenda as part of the Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Network will be hosting a fundraiser and information session at 95 Park St in Hartford. Please join us and share our event with your friends and family in CT.

We at the CT Puerto Rican Agenda appreciate the outpouring of support we received already, and we look forward to uniting our diaspora community around helping our people weather another storm.


Jason Ortiz, CT Puerto Rican Agenda President
http://www.ctpuertoricanagenda.com/

[TargeT]

Posted by PR_People
Please contact your congressional representatives and demand that Puerto Rico receive full and complete FEMA support and reimbursement.

PR seems real greedy to me in this post hurricane.... they are trying to pull a Rahm Emanuel on this "disaster"....

makes me want to wash my hands... gross behavior.





We are still around 10-15% energized (85-90% with out power) curfew is 8pm to 5am (wish it was a bit later, but we're still having people run into things at night so it's not safe enough yet).

One of the local music groups wrote (ok, adapted) a song, pretty funny IMO... haha

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2-5WycubAjA

I'm taking my kids to the waterfalls (really just rain run off, they are dry most the year) once or twice a week as it's hitting low 90's still here (pretty hot) and there's not much to do... I've hosted several movie nights at my place, not many people have power or even a generator to make power. Domestic violence cases are still up as everyone is hot and sweaty and stuck inside from 8pm to 5am so having something to do after the sun is down is a great stress reliever.

I go to work and download movies then bring them back home. It's an interesting new way of life. We've successfully figured out how to manage power so we all have fans all night long (GODSEND!) and my fridges mostly work (having some electrical issues I'm troubleshooting).

It could be worse... we have a LOT of people here from the states and national guard units are rotating in and out from all over (just got some guys from alaska yesterday).

[justntime2learn]

Posted by TargeT (here)

Posted by PR_People
Please contact your congressional representatives and demand that Puerto Rico receive full and complete FEMA support and reimbursement.

PR seems real greedy to me in this post hurricane.... they are trying to pull a Rahm Emanuel on this "disaster"....

makes me want to wash my hands... gross behavior.





We are still around 10-15% energized (85-90% with out power) curfew is 8pm to 5am (wish it was a bit later, but we're still having people run into things at night so it's not safe enough yet).

One of the local music groups wrote (ok, adapted) a song, pretty funny IMO... haha

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2-5WycubAjA

I'm taking my kids to the waterfalls (really just rain run off, they are dry most the year) once or twice a week as it's hitting low 90's still here (pretty hot) and there's not much to do... I've hosted several movie nights at my place, not many people have power or even a generator to make power. Domestic violence cases are still up as everyone is hot and sweaty and stuck inside from 8pm to 5am so having something to do after the sun is down is a great stress reliever.

I go to work and download movies then bring them back home. It's an interesting new way of life. We've successfully figured out how to manage power so we all have fans all night long (GODSEND!) and my fridges mostly work (having some electrical issues I'm troubleshooting).

It could be worse... we have a LOT of people here from the states and national guard units are rotating in and out from all over (just got some guys from alaska yesterday).

Hi TargeT,

I just wanted to really help and that's why I volunteered to be on the ground as many choices were offered other than monetary. I was offering my time and labor free of charge to help, feeling the contribution would mean more seeing it in action. There were many options on the link versus monetary, so I chose to be there on the ground.

You're right on target TargeT, so I won't bother anyone with the email I just received which is much more of the same. Their agenda is sounding more selfish which throws up every red flag, Bell and whistle for me.

It's so difficult to fully experience the glory of giving while you have a complete understanding of all the smiley glad hands.

It feels like the worlds thought process has been reduced while requiring a phenomenal amount of discernment just to help those in real need.

Much love to all on our quest for the truth

[sandy]

Hi TargeT,

Good to hear things are happening slowly but surely which is better than not. Maybe another new adventure is on the horizon when the electrical all comes back online.......Family Weekend Theatre or Drive-in............I loved the Drive-in when I was a youngun'..

Sending continued Best Regards to YOU and FAMILY and all the ISLANDERS too including the Helpers from afar!!

[TargeT]

Posted by justntime2learn (here)
You're right on target TargeT, so I won't bother anyone with the email I just received which is much more of the same. Their agenda is sounding more selfish which throws up every red flag, Bell and whistle for me.

It's so difficult to fully experience the glory of giving while you have a complete understanding of all the smiley glad hands.

I couldn't agree more, we are moving pallets of food (animal food, dog and horse mostly) down here and trying to distribute it as fairly as possible, but people get greedy and take WAY more than is reasonable so we have to be vigilant.

It's unfortunate but I suppose it's a byproduct of capitalism.

You do have to be careful how and who you help, lots of opportunists following disasters unfortunately.

Posted by sandy (here)
Hi TargeT,

Good to hear things are happening slowly but surely which is better than not. Maybe another new adventure is on the horizon when the electrical all comes back online.......Family Weekend Theatre or Drive-in............I loved the Drive-in when I was a youngun'..

Sending continued Best Regards to YOU and FAMILY and all the ISLANDERS too including the Helpers from afar!!

I've been hosting movie nights at my house for a couple weeks now, the "near zero socialization" aspect of the hurricane is causing a lot of mental stress on top of everything else... this island is full of people used to going out at night and hanging out with people ( they call it "liming" down here).

I've got a great back porch we fill with couches and chairs, move the TV outside and everyone hangs out; Curfew just got lifted further it's now 11pm to 5am, (because of the world series mostly.... haha) I was out in town last night just because I could be.. haha


I'd say we are about 18-25% energized as far as power goes... it's getting there!

"On St. Croix, service was restored to portions of Feeder 1A including: Seaborne, Red Brick community, Estate Richmond, Department of Property and Procurement offices, and VITEMA. On Feeder 5A, the Sunny Isle Shopping Center including Scotiabank and Viya’s headquarters have been restored. On Feeder 6A, Club St. Croix, Harborview, Golden Rock, JFK housing community, Colony Cove, Carib Villas, Sugar Beach and the LBJ lift station were all restored. On Feeder 8B, Budget Rent-A-Car on the airport road, VI National Guard headquarters, the FAA control tower, facilities of Cruzan Rum were restored, as were as some underground circuits. Crews also reconstructed primary circuits in the areas from Concordia Gas Station to the police station in Frederiksted, from Mountain Gas Station to Carlton and from the Hannah’s Rest intersection to Claude O. Markoe Elementary School. More than 300 new poles have been planted on St. Croix as part of the hurricane restoration."

http://viconsortium.com/virgin-islan...ration-update/

[TargeT]

One of the homeless guys that occupied an area I frequented was found stabbed to death on my birthday, we called him "Bipolar" (he seemed a bit manic/depressive) and I'm sure his earned name lead to his murder.

Pretty sad, he used to harass me all the time about washing my truck, I'd always come back with some stupid "dad joke" about how the dirt protects my paint or something. One time I was bringing my big horse trailer into the projects to move a horse and I took a corner too short and ran over the corner of a garden he had made along the street in front of a business. He was pissed and would yell at my wife that I had to fix it so I bought him a 6 pack of beer and he said it was too much and was happy to see us ever since.

Curfew has been lifted across all the islands as of Monday; no one has power yet but at least we can goto the bars with generators and relax a bit (which is a very common activity down here). Most Restaurants have modified "hurricane" menus with more affordable food (still great though!) though the drink prices haven't dropped at all (haha).

I downloaded Season 2 of Stranger things and we had a gigantic cheese board nibbling watch session for Halloween last night; my back porch has turned into a sort of outdoor movie theater for our family and friends.

[Noelle]

Posted by TargeT (here)
One of the homeless guys that occupied an area I frequented was found stabbed to death on my birthday, we called him "Bipolar" (he seemed a bit manic/depressive) and I'm sure his earned name lead to his murder.

Pretty sad, he used to harass me all the time about washing my truck, I'd always come back with some stupid "dad joke" about how the dirt protects my paint or something. One time I was bringing my big horse trailer into the projects to move a horse and I took a corner too short and ran over the corner of a garden he had made along the street in front of a business. He was pissed and would yell at my wife that I had to fix it so I bought him a 6 pack of beer and he said it was too much and was happy to see us ever since.

Curfew has been lifted across all the islands as of Monday; no one has power yet but at least we can goto the bars with generators and relax a bit (which is a very common activity down here). Most Restaurants have modified "hurricane" menus with more affordable food (still great though!) though the drink prices haven't dropped at all (haha).

I downloaded Season 2 of Stranger things and we had a gigantic cheese board nibbling watch session for Halloween last night; my back porch has turned into a sort of outdoor movie theater for our family and friends.

The poor guy!

How are the bigger resorts doing? I am guessing that some may have to go out of business.

[TargeT]

Posted by LadyM (here)
The poor guy!

How are the bigger resorts doing? I am guessing that some may have to go out of business.

You can't find a room or a rental car on St Croix right now, with the influx military / fema / outside workers we are "flush"... every restaurant is packed, bars stay busy and in some parts of the island it almost looks like normal (very small parts).

It's both far better, and far worse than most people think.. a hard situation to explain, harder still because the culture down here was already so much different than the US before the hurricane.

Anyone who stayed to stick it through this hard time will come out ahead I think. I doubt any large businesses will do anything but grow at this point.

[Foxie Loxie]

So.....you're not moving back to Alaska???!

[TargeT]

Posted by Foxie Loxie (here)
So.....you're not moving back to Alaska???!

I don't use the word much, but I'm confident I can here.

I'll never move back to Alaska.

I may be taking a job elsewhere (if the interview goes well), but still maintaining a house and the rescue / tours here; and looking to open a horse tour there as well (gotta expand or die in capitalism... just the way the game works).

This area was never more than a transition for us anyway; though one we will leave roots in for sure!

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by TargeT (here)
We are still around 10-15% energized (85-90% with out power)

Good news - help is on the way.

Puerto Rico has given a $300 million no bid contract to rebuild their power infrastructure to the company Whitefish Energy.

You (anyone reading this) haven't heard of Whitefish Energy ?

Let me help. Whitefish Energy is a small company operating out of a rural residence in the small Montana town of Whitefish, with a permanent staff of two employees. It has no prior experience in such large opertations.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is also from the small town of Whitefish, Montana. He denies that he had anything to do with the contract ... purely a coincidence, I'm sure.

More details at: Whitefish Scandal Shows Government Takes Advantage When Needed Most.

[Noelle]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by TargeT (here)
We are still around 10-15% energized (85-90% with out power)

Good news - help is on the way.

Puerto Rico has given a $300 million no bid contract to rebuild their power infrastructure to the company Whitefish Energy.

You (anyone reading this) haven't heard of Whitefish Energy ?

Let me help. Whitefish Energy is a small company operating out of a rural residence in the small Montana town of Whitefish, with a permanent staff of two employees. It has no prior experience in such large opertations.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is also from the small town of Whitefish, Montana. He denies that he had anything to do with the contract ... purely a coincidence, I'm sure.

More details at: Whitefish Scandal Shows Government Takes Advantage When Needed Most.

It looks like the contract was cancelled amidst the scrutiny. See this article.

[TargeT]

Posted by LadyM (here)

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by TargeT (here)
We are still around 10-15% energized (85-90% with out power)

Good news - help is on the way.

Puerto Rico has given a $300 million no bid contract to rebuild their power infrastructure to the company Whitefish Energy.

You (anyone reading this) haven't heard of Whitefish Energy ?

Let me help. Whitefish Energy is a small company operating out of a rural residence in the small Montana town of Whitefish, with a permanent staff of two employees. It has no prior experience in such large opertations.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is also from the small town of Whitefish, Montana. He denies that he had anything to do with the contract ... purely a coincidence, I'm sure.

More details at: Whitefish Scandal Shows Government Takes Advantage When Needed Most.

It looks like the contract was cancelled amidst the scrutiny. See this article.

Does not surprise me at all; though they (FEMA) are "trying their best", I'm sure there will be many situations like this (though how many will be stopped as this one appears to have been?)

[Bob]

Just heard from my friend in Puerto Rico.

His on the ground report is as follows:

FEMA is blocking shipments from reaching PR.. He is aware of shipment of necessities being held in Florida, being prevented from reaching port(s) in PR.

Batteries are basically non-existent. He has a solar system with inverter, but no batteries.. He needs batteries desperately (as do the others on the Island).

He has food (basic grains, "bread") and water. Not much else.

He said the "power line rebuilding" escapade is a total scandal, doubts it will succeed..

He has no land-line, nor internet. Says the tower for his wireless internet is down, and doesn't have any time when it will be repaired.

He says what we hear on "news" services is nothing like how it is in actuality on the land.

They are still worried about the dam breaking.

[Noelle]

Posted by Bob (here)
Just heard from my friend in Puerto Rico.

His on the ground report is as follows:

FEMA is blocking shipments from reaching PR.. He is aware of shipment of necessities being held in Florida, being prevented from reaching port(s) in PR.

Batteries are basically non-existent. He has a solar system with inverter, but no batteries.. He needs batteries desperately (as do the others on the Island).

He has food (basic grains, "bread") and water. Not much else.

He said the "power line rebuilding" escapade is a total scandal, doubts it will succeed..

He has no land-line, nor internet. Says the tower for his wireless internet is down, and doesn't have any time when it will be repaired.

He says what we hear on "news" services is nothing like how it is in actuality on the land.

They are still worried about the dam breaking.

Thanks for the update, Bob. No wonder so many have decided to leave. Has anyone seen an "official" number of people who have left Puerto Rico, whether before (evacuees) or after Hurricane Maria? I know a slew have come to Central Florida.

[Foxie Loxie]

Wish I could figure out "who" had it "in" for PR & what exactly their plan is for rebuilding....or, taking over?!

[justntime2learn]

Here's an update from one of my friends who is there.

"UPDATE: NOV. 8TH 2017 — Puerto Rico still needs ‘unprecedented’ help! The September storm damage is estimated at $45 to $95 billion. So far, Congress has only approved $5 billion in aid. Now that cameras are gone, people can’t imagine what the Puerto Ricans are going through. While conditions have somewhat improved since the Sept. 20 storm — 4 out of 5 Puerto Ricans are still without electric. The Government estimates power to return by April 2018. The longest blackout in American history is far from the island's biggest problem. Homes haven't been rebuilt, thousands remain in shelters and tens of thousands of houses do not have roofs. Many are still waiting for installation of temporary tarps which will take months. People' jobs and income are gone including basic government functions ie: police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees. The island’s power grid and other infrastructure are virtually destroyed. Communications shaky (internet + phones)"

[Bob]

Highly consistent with my friend's observation on the Island. I talked with him today once again (a plea for batteries for solar systems, as portable generator systems are creating noxious fumes)..

He mentioned Trump should be taking names.. (figurative speech.. re: getting to the bottom of corruption).. that for folks to get supplies, they have to pay bribes.. Corruption in other words. We briefly discussed if the FEMA group has been witholding shipments/necessities because of corruption, or a requirement to pay a "bribe" to get needed commodities..

This could be literally another swamp to expose.. Corruption and those bleeding the residents dry to make $$$ due to tragedy.. This is NOT something to ignore if one is "draining the swamp"..

Posted by justntime2learn (here)
Here's an update from one of my friends who is there.

"UPDATE: NOV. 8TH 2017 — Puerto Rico still needs ‘unprecedented’ help! The September storm damage is estimated at $45 to $95 billion. So far, Congress has only approved $5 billion in aid. Now that cameras are gone, people can’t imagine what the Puerto Ricans are going through. While conditions have somewhat improved since the Sept. 20 storm — 4 out of 5 Puerto Ricans are still without electric. The Government estimates power to return by April 2018. The longest blackout in American history is far from the island's biggest problem. Homes haven't been rebuilt, thousands remain in shelters and tens of thousands of houses do not have roofs. Many are still waiting for installation of temporary tarps which will take months. People' jobs and income are gone including basic government functions ie: police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees. The island’s power grid and other infrastructure are virtually destroyed. Communications shaky (internet + phones)"