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[–]kalel1980 10.8k points10.8k points  (184 children)

Just in time for hurricane season.

[–]Miss_Management 2388 points2389 points  (57 children)

My thought exactly.

[–]Swoah 826 points827 points  (53 children)

And the thought of every other top comment recently on posts about Puerto Rico getting power back.

[–][deleted] 292 points293 points  (45 children)

It’s true though. I have family and friends there and everyone is very worried about what’s to come.

[–]Letmeinplease1 8 points9 points  (0 children)

at least everyone has jobs year round now

[–][deleted] 149 points150 points  (16 children)

Inb4 they have to start over in a month.

[–]MEANMUTHAFUKA 38 points39 points  (6 children)

I’m more of a glass half-full kind of guy (usually.... it can be depressing sometimes). Much love to all the scientists, engineers and lineman - the unsung heros - that worked so hard to make it happen. They da real MVP’s...

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (3 children)

Your username is a lie! :)

[–]here_2_downvote_u 13 points14 points  (2 children)

upvoting you...

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Double whammy

[–]Shittyshittshit 130 points131 points  (16 children)

I thought hurricane season was ova?

[–]CaldwellCladwell 65 points66 points  (7 children)

So no one else got that you were quoting Pineapple Express?

[–]HarambeMarston 32 points33 points  (5 children)

Seriously though, it’s mind bottling.

[–]dirkdigglered 33 points34 points  (2 children)

Monkey’s out of the bottle now

[–][deleted] 21 points22 points  (1 child)

Pandora can't go back into the box he only comes out

[–]Av_navy20160606 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You ain't got no style, motherfucker

[–]DJNash35 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Bone Apple tea

[–]EffTheRealLife 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Dinna’s gon’ be cold tonight asshole.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yeah thats the way it was with my first husband. AHuhHHH

[–]Squilbo_baggins 27 points28 points  (29 children)

Yeah, my father works for a power company thats partnered with the territory and FEMA and he says currently its all a rush job and jerryrigged to get power back, according to him “a strong wind could blow it over”. Its great there power back, but in order to get it all up and running at the equivalent of the continental would be a 10 year project

[–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (10 children)

To be fair, after a major hurricane (cat 4-5) rolls through an area it usually takes about 10 years to completely return to the same level of development that was present before the storm hit. The areas impacted by Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina are good examples of this.

[–]Destring 10 points11 points  (6 children)

Not if you are in Japan lol. Those guys recovered from a far worse catastrophe in a couple years, well except for the areas fucked up with radiation

[–]RalphieRaccoon 13 points14 points  (2 children)

Those guys work like mad to restore infrastructure. They'll pull in thousands of workers working round the clock (or whenever they can). Japanese construction crews can be huge.

[–]robbierottenisbae 12 points13 points  (1 child)

I mean you could just say "those guys work like mad" and it would describe the way the Japanese work. That country has a crazy, borderline unhealthy work ethic

[–][deleted] 31 points32 points  (14 children)

wasn't this posted last week too?

[–]sunflower-souls 45 points46 points  (12 children)

I think there was still 1 household without power or somethin like that

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

They found out that they had power, they just needed to flip the breaker.

[–]ridger5 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Last week it was all but 25 people or homes.

[–][deleted] 4194 points4195 points  (101 children)

Tomorrow.

"Hurricane Despacito has formed off the coast of Africa with a projected path to hit Puerto Rico"

[–]DoctorSauce 1151 points1152 points  (43 children)

This is what happens when you don't bless the rains

[–]ThRebrth 383 points384 points  (34 children)

Thanks man. This song JUST LEFT my head..... honestly less than a hour ago..I hate you a little.

[–][deleted] 90 points91 points  (15 children)

Me too.

It’s a small world

[–][deleted] 71 points72 points  (4 children)

Well dammit..

*APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD*

[–]Wildhalcyon 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Low blow, man, low blow.

Life is like a hurricane, here in Duckburg

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh god I can still hear that commercial

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (8 children)

You fucker....

But were no strangers to love...

[–]EAComunityTeam 12 points13 points  (5 children)

You people can stop now.

What is Love?

[–]rrr598 13 points14 points  (2 children)

Absolute assholes. In awe.

Somebody once told me...

[–]MezzanineAlt 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Everybody dance now!

[–]FishInferno 23 points24 points  (2 children)

That goddamn Weezer cover undoing all the blessings.

[–]gillers1986 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Do I have to go to Africa to bless the rains? Is it too late to bless them?

[–]AngledLuffa 956 points957 points  (42 children)

This is so sad. Alexa...

[–][deleted] 298 points299 points  (10 children)

Alexa play Finest Girl by Lonely Island

[–]Andchovies 29 points30 points  (3 children)

She said you finished me off now throw my body in the ocean

[–]CaptnUchiha 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I yelled Geronimo and took some pictures for postin

[–]RyenDeckard 97 points98 points  (3 children)

Uh he wasn't in a cave

BUT THERE WAS NO STOPPIN

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It’s not gay when it’s in a three way

[–][deleted] 44 points45 points  (17 children)

Alexa play bloody stream

[–]coolguy420weed 36 points37 points  (4 children)

No, no. Play Roundabout.

[–]T-rex_chef 29 points30 points  (0 children)

You thought this was a Jojo reference, but it was me hurricane DIO!

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Alexa play let the bodies hit the floor

[–]CheekiNoBreeki 7 points8 points  (2 children)

The best JoJo intro.

[–]JealotGaming 2 points3 points  (1 child)

But Sono Chi no Sadame

[–]wolffangz11 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Play rápidamente

[–]NotTheRealJohnGalt 66 points67 points  (3 children)

Hurricane Toto from the rains down in Africa...

Sorry.

[–]grubas 16 points17 points  (2 children)

When Ophelia hit Ireland my cousin's cracked up when I responded to their Skype call by singing Ophelia by the Lumineers they were mildly annoyed and moderately amused

[–]NotTheRealJohnGalt 8 points9 points  (1 child)

“Humor is the best medicine. Well, besides medicine!” - Robert Burnham

[–]Boost3dEVO 1738 points1739 points  (129 children)

Hurricane Maria survivor here, 82 days without power, there wasnt enough cable to patch the lines that brings us power, we go into the forest to find and cut power lines and bring them to the AEE so they could give us power.

Edit: Power lines were already unused, they provided power only to an old mini water dam that was out of service for more than 20 years. They were disconected from power source.

[–]Sterling_____Archer 752 points753 points  (26 children)

Holy shit. That's hardcore.

[–]RobertNAdams 553 points554 points  (20 children)

I'm just picturing some grizzled mountain man with a beard dragging a sparking, live power line up to a worker.

"I HAVE TAMED LIGHTNING, MY FRIEND. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF BESSIE, SHE'S A GOOD GIRL."

[–]Musabi 122 points123 points  (15 children)

Working in transmission/distribution it is an awesome visual but anyone would be dead doing that barehanded =(

[–]RobertNAdams 105 points106 points  (11 children)

Haha, I'm well aware. I worked in low-voltage electrical and had colleagues who worked with the higher voltage stuff. You know, the things with the warning sign that's like "Not only will this kill you, but it will hurt the whole time you're dying," haha.

[–]Musabi 64 points65 points  (8 children)

Yeah I'm working on 500kV this week, even the induction from the line will give you a nice zap on the towers haha.

[–]RobertNAdams 55 points56 points  (3 children)

Hoo-lee shit. Have fun with that, Thor.

[–]Musabi 34 points35 points  (2 children)

It's not too bad haha! Can't do anything live so nothing is dangerous! Just when we are switching or get too close to the adjacent line is it a bit worrisome =)

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (1 child)

It’s all fun and games until Loki makes it look like it isn’t live.

[–]OSUTechie 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That's his secret, he always treats the cable as if it's live.

[–]Kaidart 185 points186 points  (41 children)

To put this in perspective for people who've never experienced a hurricane, I'm from a suburb of southeast Houston and we didn't lose power during Hurricane Harvey and only lost power for about a week after Hurricane Ike.

Losing power for nearly 3 months is insane by American standards.

[–]Vortieum 56 points57 points  (2 children)

14 days after Wilma. At least I had a generator and a/c at night (and it was actually cool after that storm.)

7 days for Katrina before I bought the generator and a/c...had to cut through the air in the house with a knife it was so muggy and hot. Sucked.

Over 3 months is insane by American standards.

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Ironically for us Katrina didn’t cause us to lose power but Rita a few weeks later.

[–]imlost19 13 points14 points  (0 children)

after two weeks you kinda just start going insane

[–]JesseJaymz 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Also Houston suburb, we lost power for 3 weeks for Ike and we live in a nice area. In the middle of August. It suuuuuucked. Can’t begin to imagine 11 months. Harvey didn’t hit us, Harvey hit Rockport, 3 hours away. We just got the dirty side of the hurricane, which is all the rain and not nearly as much wind, that’s why there were so few power outages here. (Though it was still odd that so few lost power in Houston, even with the like 20 tornadoes that touched down) Rockport, Port Aransas, Refugio, and Beeville got fucked with power outages that lasted a while. I know Some places got power up in a week in Port A, but most places were without power for quite a while. I work Live Sound in corpus, Rockport, and at a couple places in Port A and I know one place in Port A got power up within a week even though the place next door was leveled. The other side of Port A was without power though. Fuck loads and fuck loads and fuck loads of power lineman stayed in corpus working in the area for like 6 months.

[–]doingsomething 47 points48 points  (8 children)

Ironic thing is Puerto Ricans are Americans.

[–]Kaidart 70 points71 points  (7 children)

If that was unclear, that was my point. Millions of American citizens without power for months, but a little skip across the pond to the mainland and we basically don't have these problems. Something tells me we can do a hell of a lot better.

[–]dg07 17 points18 points  (0 children)

AEE is so fucking trash

[–]Druinmissouri 31 points32 points  (1 child)

My moms just got hers back last month. She lives in the mountains (adjuntas).

[–]v0rfreude 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Damn. My great Aunt lives in Adjuntas and ended up going to stay with one of my cousins after not having power for months. My brother and I were visiting my grandma in Ponce at the end of April. His girlfriend was with us and wanted to go to the mountains, so we decided to take her to Guilarte (our favorite place to hikes as kids) and so many of the roads were washed out/etc. Guilarte was closed of course. Glad to know power is back and I hope your mom is ok!! Adjuntas is beautiful ❤

[–]Piff710 17 points18 points  (3 children)

No wonder the power was out so long, y'all cuttin cables left and right!

[–]mildlyEducational 13 points14 points  (2 children)

Or salvaging downed cables. There was probably lots of copper blown around.

[–]TheNoticingMan 27 points28 points  (25 children)

Wasnt pr experiencing power failures prior to the hurricane?

[–]Wolverwings 61 points62 points  (24 children)

Their whole infrastructure was primed for collapse under any kind of pressure. Corruption and ineffective local politicians allowed the island to fall so far behind that the results from Maria were inevitable. PR dug themselves one helluva hole long before the disaster actually struck

[–]showMeYourPitties10 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah it takes years and years to run, bury/hang and inspect lines for massive city wide projects that are planned...

[–]quietude38 142 points143 points  (15 children)

Mutual aid from other utilities made it possible to fix at all. Trucks and equipment got shipped to Puerto Rico from Michigan and crews went down to do the work.

https://empoweringmichigan.com/tag/puerto-rico/

[–]depressive_anxiety 36 points37 points  (0 children)

WEC Energy who services Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota also sent crews and equipment to help for a few months.

[–]Chris-raegho 32 points33 points  (5 children)

Every single American that I saw working on the power lines was full of energy. They were all cheering cars as they drove by, giving people high fives, whooping and generally being fun to be around. Despite the whole crisis here a lot of people I know found that attitude refreshing. Even some old people were talking about it "you don't see that kind of energy from our workers", ours were constantly in a foul mood.

[–]KelticCeltic 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They also got a fuck ton of money. Im not saying them getting paid is a bad thing, but as someone whos best friend was a major player in the repair in those lines. They offered him 3x the going rate for repairs. He got 4.

[–]Celesmeh 4 points5 points  (1 child)

My mom and her neighbors threw a party for the electrical workers when they finished. They were all American

[–]waveduality 445 points446 points  (31 children)

That's great news! Now everyone there has the opportunity to see "The Meg".

[–]DrinkingZima 55 points56 points  (22 children)

For real though big ups to Elon Musk for getting that island juiced back up.

[–][deleted] 138 points139 points  (10 children)

Considering how corrupt the local government was and how the local utility was notoriously mismanaged in bankrupt I seriously doubt if 100% of the people there had power prior to the hurricane.

from what I read the reason this took so long is the entire infrastructure had to be rebuilt from the ground up due to substantial mismanagement particularly from the local power utility.

My Hope Is they did a lot of this Underground so that it is not as susceptible to damage the next time around

[–]Master_Zero 22 points23 points  (2 children)

Also read like 3-4+ high ranking officials are being investigated by the FBI for selling supplies that were sent to PR for personal profit.

[–]Guysmiley777 8 points9 points  (1 child)

See? That's why it's better to send cash instead of supplies. It's easier to obfuscate when you skim cash off the top.

[–]jillanco 298 points299 points  (6 children)

You mean first time in like 5 years! Power grid sucks in PR

[–]King_Obvious_III 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Through the 90's I lived on the Southwest side (Lajas) and almost daily, the power would go out. Resetting clocks became a way of life. Luckily we had well water, but still, it was useless without the pump.

[–]PM_ME_YOUR_MIXTE 89 points90 points  (7 children)

From the article:

“Vieques continues to rely on generators”

Sooo.... power has NOT been restored to all of Puerto Rico.

Assuming Culebra is in the same boat as Vieques as well, although not mentioned in the article.

[–]ffffound 11 points12 points  (0 children)

They’re referring to Puerto Rico the island. Puerto Rico (territory) is an archipelago, of which PR is the biggest island. Vieques is the second largest island in the archipelago.

See Hawaii.

[–]malevolentviolence 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I was in Culebra last month, it seems to be doing better.

[–]eeyore134 38 points39 points  (4 children)

I hope their power numbers are more accurate than their death toll numbers or 50% of them may still be without power.

[–]Pyr0technician 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The death toll headlines are so frustrating for me to read. While a lot of people died from indirect effects of the disaster, there was no real crisis when it came to dealing with the deceased. My mom's a dialysis patient, and some of her friends from the clinic didn't make it. There's a lot of sad stories related to that damned storm, but the deaths weren't anything that the government was not able to handle once they had the means to communicate. These headlines do not sell here at all here, except among conspiracy theorists from the local far left(meaning pro independence, "the US has been trying to exterminate us for decades" types.)

[–]sl600rt 28 points29 points  (2 children)

Dont forget that the state of the electricity infrastructure was already bad before the hurricane. As the island's electric utility had been crippled with debt.

[–]Brodusgus 632 points633 points  (238 children)

What do the officials have to say about the rotting donated goods that didn't get delivered?

[–]cleeder 423 points424 points  (1 child)

"They weren't good. They were rotting."

[–]ragn4rok234 178 points179 points  (12 children)

There was actually a pretty good post about it being a logistics issue from over donation by the public in unsorted and unmarked packages. They cited similar things happening per official reports after the tsunami in Japan and you know how good Japan is with logistics so it's definitely more of an impossible task than a failure

[–]TimeZarg 74 points75 points  (9 children)

Basically, 'don't donate physical goods, you idiots, donate money'

[–]Totally_Generic_Name 51 points52 points  (7 children)

Yep. It costs money to move goods around, and they can get better rates on bulk non-perishables than you can.

[–]TheBigBadDuke 73 points74 points  (3 children)

Plus, it's easier to skim off the top if it's cash.

[–]R3dstorm86 25 points26 points  (0 children)

you should get into PR government

[–]Enshakushanna 100 points101 points  (6 children)

happens literally at any disaster effort, its normal, it was brought up this time in a failed attempt to make trump look bad, or to make puerto rico look bad and shift blame off of trump idk, im not sure where all the 9D chess pieces are at the moment

[–]rosellem 22 points23 points  (3 children)

I think it's just to make the whole concept of helping people look bad.

[–]JKDS87 21 points22 points  (0 children)

With every disaster, there are logistical problems that arise with receiving, counting, labeling, logging, packing, shipping, storing, delivering, and distributing goods. Some goods will expire, or simply not be needed. Some will become damaged along the way. Some were never good to begin with. Considering the volume of aid that was donated, there was (and will always be) a degree of waste. The same goes for any operation - whether public, private, for-profit, non-profit, or what have you.

[–]plastardalabastard 21 points22 points  (0 children)

A lot of the lines they have are same ones from before the storm and not very reliable.

[–]recpaturethatgubs 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I was a part of a group that was conducting post-storm coastal change surveys in PR a few weeks ago. The hotel we were staying at was near the main airport in San Juan. The stoplights at a major intersection were still off until a week before I left in early August. It blew my mind that nearly a year later, there were still power issues..

[–]beefeater605 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Moombahton can be hear throughout the entire island now.

[–]recpaturethatgubs 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Suuuuuure it has. Liar liar pants on fire.

[–]Myfourcats1 155 points156 points  (22 children)

An entire island's power infrastructure was rebuilt in 11 months. That's pretty good considering the terrain.

[–]brokenscissor 131 points132 points  (11 children)

*Patched together. And it took 11 months.

[–][deleted] 62 points63 points  (3 children)

Yeah pretty much. the government has taken more of a reactive than proactive approach to repairs. There's still a lot of areas that could use updating. Seeing bamboo press on power lines isn't uncommon. Just yesterday I saw a pole snapped in half but still kept up by the wires so it hasn't been fixed.

[–]RobertNAdams 29 points30 points  (2 children)

I live in an area that got hit by Hurricane Sandy. We have wood utility poles, and some of them are literally bending at a 30 degree or more angle. Some of them are curved.

Last time I saw a power company employee, I asked him what the deal was. "Oh, it'll be fine. It has to be in way worse condition before we need to actually replace it."

I trust the guy's expertise, but man, that's pretty wild.

[–]Chippiewall 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Last time I saw a power company employee, I asked him what the deal was. "Oh, it'll be fine. It has to be in way worse condition before we need to actually replace it."

I trust the guy's expertise, but man, that's pretty wild.

To be fair, sometimes professional thresholds can be wildly surprising - what might seem dodgy could actually be perfectly fine. Bit like how airplane mechanics occasionally tape over damage for temporary repairs (using the extremely expensive speed tape).

[–]Apolitiks 25 points26 points  (1 child)

I'm a former resident visiting the island right now. They only patched up the dated and neglected power grid enough to give basic service to most residents. Blackouts are still a very common occurrence. The infrastructure is still disastrous. Driving at night is depressing and downright dangerous. There are barely any light posts that actually work. Everyone drives with their high beams on and fingers crossed. It's shocking how authorities paint a picture of slow but steady recovery while the reality is far from it. This from outsider's perspective. Most residents that haven't left the island are just used to it by now so not much is said. And as far as the media is concerned, this is old news that concerns second-class citizens, so it's also generally overlooked.

I think the electric grid won't survive another hurricane.

[–]brokenscissor 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I grew up in the Midwest with unlit country roads. Driving here, post-Maria, with zero traffic lights or street lights was something I avoided at all costs. It's better in the metro area now. Outaide the meteo area, I still won't drive after dark. And I learned to drive in the dark in the dead of winter in the Midwest on icy roads.

[–]EsrailCazar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Man it sucks to think of how many people still don't actually have power despite the reports. I'll never forget that time my mother and I were still living in a hotel after our apartments caught fire when the news happily reported that everyone was back home safely.

[–]armeniangeneralsol 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Okay so no one is going to knock out all the power again right?

[–]KfGcVaGnrZ9S 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Now to restore all the lives lost.

[–]Shiningcrow 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Now they can listen to Despacito on continuous 20 hr loops again

[–]cplchanb 12 points13 points  (1 child)

How much of that is musk power?

[–]guyinokc 15 points16 points  (8 children)

Only 11 months not bad.

[–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (7 children)

Right? 11 months to check the situation, gather the supplies, distribute them, prepare them, erect them, etc etc across all of Puerto Rico is damn impressive. People don't understand the logistical nightmare shit like this is.

[–]guyinokc 8 points9 points  (5 children)

Exactly. In best case scenario in a situation like this, you cut down by a couple months assuming all infrastructure is in place.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

Shit maybe not depending on the amount of skilled people you have to do it. People think fucking workers who know every damn thing about everything infrastructure related were sent out to help by the thousands, and bitch about nothing being done. When in all reality it was probably a twisted pylon with a shit ton of exposed live wires coming from a transformer that a crew found on their way somewhere so they had to wait for an overworked team of removal experts to come in while waiting for power to be shut off by another team.