Hurricane Maria: Whole Of Puerto Rico Without Power

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-41340392

Us Brits are famous about moaning about our weather, but ........

3.5 million people without any electricity....dear God !

[237SJ]

It's like the hurricanes have systematically wiped out one island after another.

[vetuste_ennemi]

It seems Mother Nature doesn't like Latinos.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Sorry, it's 11:53 into the clip.

[Mamyalynne]

Hard to get your head round so much destruction really.

[EDDIE51]

It's going to be a long time before the Luxury Holiday market recovers.
Tourism was the main source of income in the Caribbean area. Who is going to go there now?

[naomi24]

Once the hotels in the Caribbean are up and running - and it won't take long - tourism will continue as usual.

[bookbinder]

I see on some photographs of Puerto Rico that there appear to be power cables on telegraph poles along the sides of the streets, as there are in some US towns. It isn't really surprising that power is knocked out by storms. Is there a good reason (apart from the expense) for hanging power cables in such a vulnerable position?

[mikey4444]

Eddie...the same daft people that went there this year I would imagine.....the same people that willingly go to a place that is famous for having hurricanes at this time of year, just as it does every year.

[naomi24]

Mikey, the hurricane season runs from the beginning of June to the end of November. The majority of tourists are highly unlikely to encounter one.

[mikey4444]

Accept the 100,000's who are caught up in this seasons hurricanes.

[Zacs-Master]

3.5 million people without any electricity....dear God !



Must be almost as bad as living in Wales.

[naomi24]

Mikey, I do accept that a lot of people are caught up in the hurricanes - of course I do - but that doesn't negate the facts. Or did you mean 'except'?

[mikey4444]

Yes....spelling/grammar error from me...its getting late and I am tired, which I am sure you would accept !

[naomi24]

Of course. Night night.

[EDDIE51]

Once the Hotels are up and running again, you mean once they have rebuilt them .

[Jackdaw33]

Naomi makes a good point. I remember as a child that if there was a storm telegraph poles would collapse and the phones cut off.

[EDDIE51]

Read this, the consensus is that it will take years to rebuild the tourist industry
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/world/americas/caribbean-irma-tourism.html?mcubz=3
95% of the structures on some Islands have been destroyed or seriously damaged. Most places look like Hiroshima after the A bomb .

[jim360]

"Mikey, the hurricane season runs from the beginning of June to the end of November. The majority of tourists are highly unlikely to encounter one."

Wouldn't the majority of tourists go in the Summer though?

Also, the hurricane season may officially run from June to November, but it's been a few years now that things started earlier, and they occasionally end later as well. I don't think that Mikey is remotely fair to call people visiting the area "daft", though. I haven't been myself but I understand that it's quite a nice-looking place, is the Caribbean.

[naomi24]

Eddie, //Read this, the consensus is that it will take years to rebuild the tourist industry//

Your link doesn’t say that exactly. It is speaking more broadly. Whilst the hotels may have sustained some damage, the buildings that will have suffered most are not brick built. Most houses on those islands are built of wood and other flimsy materials, but the hotels, in the main, are constructed of brick and will not need to be rebuilt. Additionally, the storms haven’t affected the majority of the 7000 or so islands in the Caribbean. Only about 10 (that’s a guess) were affected this time. Being in the Caribbean in the hurricane season is no guarantee of encountering a hurricane. The tourist industry in most places is unaffected.

When a hurricane is approaching people do all they can to minimise the potential damage. Windows are taped up to prevent broken glass from doing its worst, anything that can be brought inside is brought inside, anything that can be battened down is battened down, sandbags are piled against doors, and all outside furniture etc., is sunk in swimming pools. It’s not unusual for power lines to come down or for communication with the outside world to be cut off for a while.

Jim, people go to the Caribbean all year round. Beautiful.

[jim360]

Maybe there's not as much of a seasonal variation as I assumed.

At any rate, I still think Mikey's daft to dismiss tourists to the area as "daft". Maybe one day I'll be daft enough to go there myself.