It has been three weeks since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. The relief effort is changing, slowly, to a recovery effort for the island and for the US Virgin Islands. Recovery seems many months away.
The Daily Beast October 10, 2017:
Carlos Flores, the secretary of Puerto Rico’s secretary of the Department of Agriculture told The Daily Beast that hurricane Maria caused $1.8 billion in losses to the farmers, leaving the island to rely almost entirely on imported food.
“The import of food is currently at 95 percent on and it will remain that way for the next six months,” Flores said, adding food usually takes a week to arrive since it is delivered by sea.
IMPORTANT NOTES
Power outages are typically reported in number of customers, not the number of people. In Puerto Rico, over half of the customers are businesses, government, etc., and not residential. The single largest electric customer in Puerto Rico is the Water Authority. I have not seen any data on the number of homes with restored power.
Highways
Airports and Seaports
Status PR: Puerto Rican ports are open and operating at a 75 percent level.
Search and Rescue
Status PR: 108 shelters remain open. They house 5,742 people and 123 pets.
Remaining SAR assets are focused on the delivery of relief supplies to isolated homes and communities.
Water and Power
The Danish Emergency Management Agency is working in its former territory, the US Virgin Islands.
The National Guard has a great story up about its efforts on St. John, USVI. The island currently has no power or cell service. Since Hurricane Irma struck on September 6, the island has been struggling.
Unlike its larger neighbor St. Thomas, St. John has no airport, and must rely entirely on ferry service between the two for supply deliveries; a service made unavailable for several days in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. … With Dagou’s assistance, a primary distribution site was established on the Julius E. Sprauve School grounds in Cruz Bay. Soon after the St. John fire station in Coral Bay stood up as a second point of distribution.
Once ferry service had returned, entire semi-trailers loaded with emergency supplies were pre-positioned at the Cruz Bay site, allowing multiple agencies to store and distribute supplies more efficiently.
Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration St. Thomas, USVI:
The crews are now working on the transmission line toward a substation on the East side of the island, which connects to the submarine 115-kv line that transmits power to St. John. VI-WAPA contractors are working on repairs to the overhead-to-submarine line at the substation.
FEMA:
- As of Oct. 10, USACE installed 53 generators at critical facilities in Puerto Rico
- To date, USACE installed 53 generators in the U.S. Virgin Islands
- $54.6 million awarded to the Puerto Rico Electric and Power Authority (PREPA) for the repair of the electrical power system.
South Dakota National Guard- Four soldiers “They will deploy to Puerto Rico with two Load Handling System vehicles and trailers equipped with four Compatible Water Tank Racks, or “Hippos.” The Hippos has the capability to receive, store and distribute up to 2,000 gallons of potable water per system.”
- As of 11:00 AM EDT, Wednesday, October 11, Puerto Rico reported approximately 1.4 million (89.4%) of customers are without power.
- PR- PREPA has reported that as of 9:00 PM EDT, Tuesday, October 10, approximately 224 of 1,112 (20.2%) transmission lines or line sections of various voltages have been energized.
- PR- PREPA has reported that as of 9:00 PM EDT, Tuesday, October 10, approximately 108 of 342
(31.6%) substations of various voltages are energized. - PR- The Jacksonville Electric Authority and the New York Power Authority have sent crews and equipment to help in the restoration of electrical power.
- USVI- Governor Kenneth Mapp announced VIWAPA is aiming for 90% of the USVI to be restored by late December.
- USVI- As of 5:45 PM EDT, Tuesday, October
10, VIWAPA estimates that approximately 3,700 customers (~14.4%) on St. Thomas are receiving power from the grid out of 25,599 total customers. - USVI- None of the approximately 2,893 customers on St. John are receiving power from VIWAPA. Only facilities connected to temporary generators have power on St. John at this time.
- USVI- As of Friday, October 6, DOE estimates that approximately 2,960 customers (~12%) on St. Croix are receiving power from the grid out of 24,664 total customers.
Hospitals
FEMA:
- PR- 97 percent of hospitals* have power restored or are operating on generator power.
- PR- Four of seven regional pediatric centers are open.
- PR- The Veterans Affairs Hospital at San Juan Medical Center has reopened and eight outpatient clinics are seeing patients.
- PR- 46 of the 48 dialysis centers are open.
- PR- Eleven U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) medical teams are stationed across Puerto Rico and have cared for 1,600 patients.
- PR- The USNS Comfort has treated more than 78 acute care patients, ranging in age from six months to 89 years.
- USVI- A 73-person DoD medical company established mobile medical services at the Schneider Regional Medical Center in St. Thomas.
- USVI- … another medical company is setting up a full field medical layout in St. Croix
- USVI- HHS personnel are augmenting staff at the Gen. Juan Luis Hospital in St. Croix and the Morris F. deCastro Clinic in St. John.
Communications
FCC:
- PR- 77.6% of the cell sites are out of service.
- PR- 15 out of the 78 counties in Puerto Rico have
100% of their cell sites down. - PR- Approximately 54% of the population were reported yesterday to be covered by wireless carriers in Puerto Rico.
- USVI- Approximately 79% of the population wasreported yesterday to be covered by wireless carriers in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- USVI- 100% of cell sites in St. John are still out of service.
Personnel
Ohio National Guard: Over 200 soldiers and airmen supporting efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The equipment for the 285th Medical Company (Area Support) is arrived by air. Maj. Bryanna Singleton, 285th ASMC commander. “With our medical equipment now arriving, we are fully capable and functional to start our mission toward helping the people of Puerto Rico.”
FEMA: 19,000 federal civilian personnel and military service members are supporting the islands
New Deliveries
Navy and Coast Guard Response
Sources
- Department of Defense
- Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]
- Defense Video Imagery Distribution System [DVIDS]
Prior Posts
Hurricane Maria Relief Report for October 8
Hurricane Maria Relief for October 5
Hurricane Maria Relief at the Two Week Point
Hurricane Maria Relief for Day 13
Hurricane Maria Relief Report for October 2
Hurricane Maria Relief Update for October 1
Aid Moving Through the Port of San Juan
Day 10 for Maria Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico
Relief and Recovery Report for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands for Sept 29
Status Report from the Puerto Rican Government for Sept 29
Hurricane Assistance for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands [September 28]
September 27 Aid Update for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
September 26 [late evening] Puerto Rico planned to fail before Maria hit
September 26 [late evening] Relief and Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico
September 26 Hurricane Maria Relief News for Today
September 25 Puerto Rico versus Haiti