[kazbert]

I have relatives in Puerto Rico, so the devastation by Hurricane Maria is of importance to me. 

What was it about Hurricane Maria that has the devastation left in its wake be so much more of a crisis than past hurricanes?  My mother was living in Puerto Rico in 1989 when Hugo hit.  She recalls being without running potable water for a month, and without electricity for six weeks.  She and her neighbors collected rain runoff from their roofs for drinking water and even used the flowing rainwater from gutters to shower in their backyards.  As for electricity, they simply made do without and relied on battery-powered radios to keep up to date on the progress of the restoration of utilities.  I don’t recall reading about any of that in the news at the time.  I know communications were better back then because there were no cell phones yet, the landlines were all underground, and phones operated independently of the electric grid.

I do not doubt that the living conditions in Puerto Rico right now are harsh, but I can’t help but wonder if it is being exaggerated for political purposes.  Are the current conditions any worse than Puerto Rico has experienced (and recovered from) in the past, or is this actually an unprecedented crisis for them?  If it is unprecedented, what made Maria so terrible in its effects?

[jeffreyH]

I haven't seen any data from hurricane observations so I can't comment. The eye wall passing over Puerto Rico was the cause of the major damage. It was an unfortunate circumstance.

[chiralSPO]

Maria hit Puerto Rico as a category 4 hurricane (the first cat 4 to make landfall on the island since 1932, I believe). Also, as mentioned above, it was a direct hit. I don't think the path could have been any worse given the power of the storm. Plus, the island had just been hit by Irma, so there was latent structural damage in some parts, and the ground was already probably saturated with water, increasing the flooding for Maria.

I don't know what the conditions are on the ground. I have a few friends there, but other than being able to send a quick message that they are ok, they haven't really had much contact with the rest of the world. The island is basically blacked out, and their water treatment facilities got wrecked by the flooding. I imagine there are probably politicians that gain more the worse it sounds, but I think they would have to work pretty hard to exaggerate conditions to worse than they are...

[jeffreyH]

There were at least two hurricanes that reached category 5 this seasons with wind speeds reaching around 186mph. Wind gusting actually exceeded that. If your house was of wooden construction than you had no chance. Was it the worst? I don't know. Texas, the outlying islands and Florida were all hit. You can have freak weather so there is no way to tell.

[evan_au]

I understand that the damage from the hurricane is so bad that the island has no capacity to recover by itself.

I don't know what economic conditions were like in 1989, but I understand that the electric company, the telephone company, and the government of Puerto Rico are now effectively bankrupt, so they can't pay for repairs, and they can't borrow money to pay for repairs.

[jeffreyH]

I understand that the damage from the hurricane is so bad that the island has no capacity to recover by itself.

I don't know what economic conditions were like in 1989, but I understand that the electric company, the telephone company, and the government of Puerto Rico are now effectively bankrupt, so they can't pay for repairs, and they can't borrow money to pay for repairs.

Well then Trump better get off his fat behind and act. Unless he wants the whole world to think he is an uncaring idiot.

[alancalverd]

We already do, but The People Have Spoken and he is still the president. Quite unlike George W Bush or Richard Nixon. At least this uncaring idiot didn't actually start a war.

[kazbert]

I did take a look at the 1989 Hugo path, and the eye just barely clipped the north-east corner of the island.  Maria went right across the middle.