Drones at work in Puerto Rico power restoration.
- Thread starter billanole
- Start date
Drones are cool. Amazing how small they are getting.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans still without power from Maria is not cool.
Yep. Unreal in this “modern” world in which we live. Maybe Duke could buy out the system down there. At least there would be an incentive to make it provide for as many as possible.
Sorry, I haven't kept up with the situation in PR, which is probably rather common here in the States. What is the issue, is it lack of manpower, lack of equipment, or something else? I know the island was devastated and there was a lot to cleanup before they could restore power to a lot of areas, but I am surprised they aren't further along at this point.
If it was Long Island or Cape Cod, do you think the national guard and overwhelming private assistance would have been there within days?
This is pretty surreal to realize how long many, many citizens have gone without power being restored.
I am sure it would be different. I am asking though what the issues are. I am sure it would be easier to get equipment to Cape Cod or Long Island than it is to get to Puerto Rico...though at this point that shouldn't be an excuse.
Unfortunately, while it isn't right, there are a lot of people that don't view Puerto Rico as part of the US since it isn't a state (I'm not one of them by the way).
Why they have been left to essentially fend for themselves is beyond me.
I must say that my understanding of the issues there is no better than yours, dawg. Strongly second your statement about fending for themselves....
There was a story not too long ago about retired electricians, power company guys, etc... slowly but surely rebuilding the areas where they live. They were struggling to get “parts” and supplies.
Yeah. One interesting result is a huge population are moving Into Florida, especially the Orlando area. Speculation is most will stay.
Puerto Rico was and is broke. It’s infrastructure was primitive, and horrible, BEFORE the storms literally destroyed everything. Just saying it is a big complex mess that will take a long time to fix.
This. A good friend if mine who is also PR has been on multiple relief efforts to the country with supplies and manpower. He told me the corruption is almost unbelievable, and that many relief supplies are sitting in staging areas as local officials struggle with logistics and delineation of authority.
Cool article.
Turns out rural Puerto Rico isn't exactly like Long Island.
"The drones are subbing in for a tedious, imprecise, dangerous, and usually very human process. Ordinarily, Duke Energy’s workers would trudge through the island’s tropical mountain forests—and its ravines and gorges—to find dropped power lines and attach the rediscovered ones to a light string and brass projectile. The workers would then use a gun to shoot the lines through the 1,000-foot gaps between utility poles. That’s a pretty exhausting task for lineman working 13-day shifts, from sunup to sundown."
Yeah. It turns out that Puerto Rico does not get as much attention as Long Island. Big surprise.
How many mountains, ravines, gorges, and jungles are the power lines in Long Island strung across?
Asking for a friend who is slow on the uptake.
It's next level. I hear from the Walmart guys the black market is HUGE.
Good articles on the current state of events.
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/p...l-power-puerto-rico-seem-never-ending-n847211
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...eecfa8741b6_story.html?utm_term=.6f46f64034e0
Also.....
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyp...puerto-rico-no-more-walmart-tax/#a4139f06d3cf
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Just a few months different on the time needed to get things back up to snuff. That is what a friend told me...
There is no excuse that somebody on the main land would tolerate. None.
We sent about 60 line personnel there. They said it's by far the worst terrain they have ever worked in. Miles of lines that run through basically a jungle, with no access. Having to make roads through it just to get equipment there. It's not like driving through the suburbs where everything is kept up on. The system was a mess before the storm. They basically have to rebuild the system. Tasks that would take a couple hours to do in a normal day was taking days to do in PR.
The logistics of boating the equipment there for just 60 people was a task in itself as well.
The logistics of boating the equipment there for just 60 people was a task in itself as well.
We've never treated them with the same approach as we would a state, so they've been essentially left to fend for themselves as if they weren't part of the USA. As a result, much of their infrastructure is built out like a small country on it's own would be built. It's time we added them as a 51st state.
What have they done in the last 50 years that makes you think they'd be a good addition? It would be like co-signing an auto loan for someone who recently got into a car wreck....... after just getting out of jail for writing bad checks (multiple offender).
Then give them their independence and free them from the harmful effects of the Jones Act
I could say the same thing about a large number of states who seem to be taking more from the tax coffers than they give and who keep churning out poorly educated students from their school systems.
I don't disagree with you about some of the States, I just don't think we should be looking to add more of them any time soon..
I guess I've always been of the mindset that if you're going to take over a country and dictate laws to it and call it a territory, and it's people citizens, then you need to treat it as fairly as all other American citizens. I understand why some "America First" people would disagree, but in this case Puerto Rico is America and we've essentially been happy to sit back and let it languish, using it for our benefit when necessary, and letting it go otherwise.
How do their federal taxes paid compare to federal outlays received?
I don’t presume to know the ins and outs, so I’m asking, why is Independence so low in popularity if they in fact perceive mistreatment at the hands of the Feds or Americans in general?
How does standard of living in PR compare to other Central American / Carib locales? Are they on the short end?
Without much digging, there are many states who receive generous federal outlays in comparison to the taxes paid. Many.
Do those state’s residents get to avoid federal income taxes?
I’m trying to figure out why Independence has polled low and keeps going lower each time people go to vote. Are you seeing something they don’t?
Looks like someone already did the math:
Link
“In overall terms, Puerto Rico is indeed getting the best deal out of the fiscal union”
From 1990-2009 PR received 291% of their GDP in federal outlays over federal receipts.
How do you expect statehood to improve on this exactly?
What makes Delaware look like such a sucker?
“1209 North Orange [St, Wilmington, Delaware] is the legal address of no fewer than 285,000 separate businesses.
Its occupants, on paper, include giants like American Airlines, Apple, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Cargill, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Electric, Google, JPMorgan Chase, and Wal-Mart. These companies do business across the nation and around the world. Here at 1209 North Orange, they simply have a dropbox.”
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