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Comment by zaroth | Hacker News Reader

FEMA is used to dropping massive quantities of supplies "at the doorstep" and relies on local infrastructure to distribute it.

Apparently there are 10,000 containers in port but no way to distribute the goods. No drivers, no gas for trucks, and no passable roads to drive on.

You can't rebuilt the islands electrical grid in a couple weeks, when first you have to rebuild the roads, which you can't build because there's no one there to build them because there's no food or water.

I'd say the devastation is truly shocking. It's not particularly shocking that the recovery is just getting started and that they are facing absolutely enourmous logistical problems compounded by the pre-existing state and very poor readiness for this level of event.

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> Apparently there are 10,000 containers in port but no way to distribute the goods. No drivers, no gas for trucks, and no passable roads to drive on.

The US military relies on the ability to rapidly solve these kind of problems anywhere in the world (even across “big water” from the Continental US) including on-demand road clearing/building with either minimal pre-existing infrastructure or heaving damage to pre-existing infrastructure rendering it unusable.

US law provides broad authority for the use of military resources for disaster relief. It's a failure of the executive branch senior leadership if the need for such resources is not identified and acted on in a timely fashion.

It seems like there should be a carrier parked off the island providing relief. Those things are freaking cities, complete with state-of-the-art trauma centers and heavy logistics support. It's what the US does when there are massive tsunamis or similar in other parts of the world.

And don't tell me that the army's engineering corps can't spare a bunch of trucks, half-tracks, bulldozers, mobile bridges, etc. That and preparing for/preventing natural disasters is practically what the army's engineering corps exists for, domestically. The US army holds its place in the world because of its astonishing ability to provide extensive logistical support anywhere, anywhen. But we apparently can't manage basic distribution in our own home when the roads get swamped?

There is a carrier off the coast of PR: USS Kearsarge. The USS Oak Hill (not a carrier though) is also in PR. Both arrived shortly after Maria hit.

The USS Wasp was recently moved from Dominica to PR.

Note, this is still less help than FL received for Irma. FL got Kearsarge + Oak Hill + New York + Iwo Jima. (The last two ships have about 2000 people.. they were clearing roads, restoring electricity, and distributing supplies in FL.. they went home from FL the same day maria was upgraded to a cat 4 and was just off PRs coast.)

And note, USS Wasp was in PR for Irma, then moved to Dominica for Maria, now has moved back a couple of days ago. (USS Wasp has water purification systems.. they're literally distributing water)

Huh, cool. It's always nice to see them being used for relief efforts like this.

Good update from WaPo on ship deployments [1] including deploying USMS Comfort (which apparently PR officials initially declined).

[1] - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/10/04...

No drivers, no gas for trucks, and no passable roads to drive on.

Which is what the Army, Coast Guard, and Marines -- not to mention all those gold bars in Fort Knox -- are for.

If the current administration wanted to flex every available muscle to help the people of Puerto Rico, it would. But very clearly it doesn't.

I would encourage you take a few minutes to read about the extent of actual efforts undertaken, starting days before landfall, to manage this disaster.

DoD has in fact taken over responsibility for local management of disaster response. I couldn't find a MSM source but you can Google Translate this [1] - god help me I had to find the link on /r/the_donald.

[1] - https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/nota/cambialalog...

Solar energy could be a good temporal solution for this kind of disasters:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-solar/how-...

The military probably have a lot of experience deploying solar energy infrastructure in places with complex accessibility.

Afghanistan was a testbed for this technology because remote bases were often extremely expensive to maintain if running off of generator power. The cost of fuel was astronomical since it had to be ferried in by helicopter.

Your favorite vendor-of-the-future is on the case [1].

[1] https://www.ecowatch.com/tesla-batteries-puerto-rico-2490950...

I have a friend who sells containerized solar+wind+battery power systems, which is pretty handy in places where there's no grid. But still, given that PR does have a grid, repairing it plus sending in diesel for hospitals/cell cites is probably more cost-effective than sending in containerized solar now.

> there's no one there to build them because there's no food or water.

Surely there are still 3.4 million Puerto Ricans on the island?

Are they all starving and without water?

Might you possibly be exaggerating?

I'm sorry, that was meant to read "no local food or water" which is what the OP says.

I can't imagine 3.4 million people stick around with no electricity for 4-6 months, and no local economy. I did not at all mean to claim 3.4 million people have left already.

I am guessing if the electrical grid is truly destroyed and will take 4-6 months to rebuild as reported, how could that not lead to a mass exodus?

A lot of people will leave (and a lot of people have been leaving because the economy's been in freefall and they've been imposing more and more extreme austerity measures to keep paying bonds), but the island will not by any stretch of the imagination be deserted.

Hyperbole, noun: Obvious and intentional exaggeration; an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”

Where are you getting your assessment of the road damage?

I am unsure, but this site has been excellent for tracking progress of other indicators.

http://www.status.pr/

This is a very good source and runs off of mobile and desktop nicely to my surprise. Please anyone take a moment and donate even if its $5. It could be you or your family next time in need (hope not)

Just quoting CNN, NPR, etc.

The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration tells NPR that the government is working with the truck driver's union to find a solution for driving with downed power lines and damaged roads, and the Department of Defense says it has sent teams to work on clearing blocked streets.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/28/554297787/...

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