We Should All Be Watching Puerto Rico

What has happened to Puerto Rico will be visiting many of us. Maybe not in the form of a hurricane, however all manner of Earth events / Solar events can take out power grids, shut off clean water supplies, and deny everyone the fuel they need to cook and maintain their lives. Puerto Ricans are now without grocery stores, even emergency food distribution centers.

Many Americans simply cannot get it through their heads that bad things are going to crash into America. Puerto Rico's power grid is not going to be coming back up anytime soon ... as in months.

How will spoiled Western nations deal with this sort of thing when it DOES hit. Me, I see spoiled Americans de-compensating rather rapidly ... as in, before one week is out. I think all people interested in getting through hard times caused by whatever type of disaster or war, need to have their eyes and ears directed to reports coming out of Puerto Rico.

http://www.fox5dc.com/weather/puert...ity-after-hurricane-maria-rips-through-island

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-puerto-rico-maria-survivors-20170922-story.html

https://sofrep.com/90364/sofrep-exc...ped-widespread-looting-puerto-rico-hurricane/
From the above article, I read the following comment:
"WayTooMuchGear
"I was raised about a mile from that prison complex in Bayamon, so I know that my former neighbors are on edge. Our criminals are some of the boldest I know. Sadly it's only going to get worse, as people's bellies start to really ache, LEO's reach their limits, looters get bolder and there is less of the good stuff to loot from stores. Guess what; down there, generators are a big "come rob me" beacon shouting out to a half mile radius. Shit's getting real, and there's little respect for the rule of law or private property, and private firearm ownership is rare. You have to have a permit to possess, and another one to carry, and they're both subject to the whims of the approving authorities. This is where that laid back, care-free Caribbean attitude stops being cute. The island has a history of recorded hurricanes since the 1800's and it's still always a last minute panic. My uncle installs storm shutters down there for a living and was working until 11pm the night before the storm hit. I got good status back from most of my family except for my uncle, but this is only the beginning. God help them because only he can change the heart of those who would do harm."

 

And then there are those potential disaster victims who become offended. Many believe -- as in religiously believe -- that they are to be protected from Earth events, even predictable human-generated disasters. For these folk, big government is their Savior -- the Way, the Truth, and the Light, as it were. These people loathe actual world religions, especially Christianity, yet irony of ironies, they behave more dogmatically than those at whom they laugh. I call them born-again government serfs.

To question that government must be there for them in the event of any disaster whatsoever is like telling a zealous Christian that Mary was no virgin -- its almost a fighting matter. Main stream media here in America publish articles titled much like this, "What Washington D.C. owes Puerto Rico". Forget the politics, such statements make the assumption that horrific Earth events can all be overcome with enough money. Worse, the serf (not a citizen, I'm talking serf, a child of government) is powerless to help himself / herself. "Mommy and Daddy must come to the rescue of Baby!" And, "Mommy and Daddy can fix anything, everything bad."

Pull their thumb out of their mouth and they have a violent tantrum.

Again, the accurate statement, "... those that rely on technology for everything will perish when that technology fails." Yes, they are going to perish.

What is a wise person to do if he swims out to save a person drowning, only to have that person begin dragging them down with them? Answer, push them away and swim back to shore -- punch them, if you have to. Save yourself.

Me, I believe that adults around the world have had all manner of warnings concerning dangerous Earth events such as quakes, tsunamis, violent storms, volcanic activities, on and on. The same can be said of wars and rumors of wars. Adults should understand the list of threats that pertain to their environment -- as a matter of fact, have been specifically informed of many, if not most, of the threats endemic to their region.

If someone has made no preparation for hard times, I am profoundly disinclined to provide aid to such an arrogant idiot. I am utterly and totally not the person from whom to seek help if it involves my taking from my family to help them -- as a matter of fact, they should retreat rather quickly when I tell them to go work it out for themselves.

 

A news update concerning Puerto Rico from the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...d975285475e_story.html?utm_term=.c7dc9b7fb2b9

"Approximately 20 other mayors across the island still have not been able to make contact with government officials, leaving major gaps in the broader understanding of the damage Maria left behind.

"The mayors greeted each other with hugs and tears, and they pleaded with their governor for some of the things their communities need most: drinking water, prescription drugs, gasoline, oxygen tanks and satellite phones. The entire population remains without electricity. Families everywhere are unable to buy food or medical treatment. Roads remain waterlogged, and looting has begun to take place at night.

“'There is horror in the streets,' San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said in a raw, emotional interview with The Washington Post. 'People are actually becoming prisoners in their own homes.'”

 

Meanwhile in Dominica:
http://www.looptt.com/content/dominica-crisis-widespread-looting-reported-3

St. Croix:

 

St. Maarten:

Teacher arming against looters

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/t...ribes-aftermath-of-hurricane-maria/ar-AAsmYZt

"[Brett] Gloor [a Toronto teacher at the Caribbean International Academy in St Maarten] has no running water or power at the moment and cell service is 'a hit or miss.' He said he was prepared for that, but not for the danger faced by the residents.

"'You see people siphoning gas, people looting, people walking around with blackened eyes, just fear in their faces,' he recalled.

"Gloor said immediately after the storm, he and his students 'barricaded ourselves in, we had some makeshift weapons to protect ourselves.'"

 

The 2017 hurricane season has brought savagery and looting to devastated regions:
http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/12/anarc...es-prisoners-and-sparks-mass-looting-6920425/

"On Friday, Massimiliano Napoliello, the manager of a bar in Maho Beach, made a desperate appeal to help families, children and babies get off the island.

Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/12/anarc...nd-sparks-mass-looting-6920425/#ixzz4tZZu7O93

 

More links on chaos / looting in Caribbean post hurricanes (plural):

Here's a very good report from a local couple. Detailed, plus they have local friends. Note that no one had been putting back water even though the hurricane had been reported days before.
http://newsday.co.tt/2017/09/24/irma-tales/

The police do get some of these thieves. Note the items stolen -- not exactly food and water:
http://today.sx/police-news/police-arrests-looters/

http://www.loopnewsbarbados.com/content/dominica-crisis-widespread-looting-reported

Major media outlets are NOT reporting this stuff. When they do, they downplay the terror among the disarmed locals. One article I read said that the looting of food and water should not be called "looting" -- the implication being that such was justified. Here is another implication, "One cannot prepare, only official agencies should be handling this."

 

More links

Locals having no firearms for defense causing major issues / enabling thieves:
https://www.aircrap.org/2017/09/23/survivor-stories-hell-broken-loose-caribbean-hurricane-irma/

If anyone is expecting Big Brother to help ...
https://nltimes.nl/2017/09/18/dutch-soldiers-nothing-post-hurricane-looting-sint-maarten-pm

 

MAN, the problem in Puerto Rico may last for MONTHS and MONTHS and we may indeed get to see what a global collapse may look like. No power, no water, no sewage, no gasoline because there will be no power to run the pumps. No refrigeration and food shortages may indeed be of end of the world levels!!!

 

A sad truth is that the difference between a crook and your neighbor is about 3 days without
water and 5 days without food. IF it takes that long!
I live in the country and tell NO ONE what supplies I have. They know I have guns because
they hear be shooting at my back yard range. That might be o.k. as they know I'm armed.
They are not.
I might help them IF their attitude is humble and helpful. After all I'm but one.
Having willing help that will LEARN and LISTEN would be positive. (but trust no one 100%)

 

When devastation of this magnitude happens many freeze. They over look obvious ways that they can start pulling their lives together. When you turn in a circle and all you see is destruction, it is overwhelming. The people of Puerto Rico need water, food and shelter. They need medical supplies and electric. Sounds simple but they are on an island so help is not down the road. When Hurricane Harvey hit, the Cajun Navy immediately mobilized and was there on the ground the next day. Puerto Rico is not so lucky because of location and their status of territory vs. state.

 

AuntB:
That was a great post indeed. Whey we read and incorporate PLANNING for survival into our
lives and this board is fantastic.
No one can think of everything for every eventuality.
There's a ton of useful information here buy great members.

 

It is a metric of societal weakness when Truth must be suppressed so as not to panic the sheeple.

 

"FEMA Director Urges Americans To Develop 'A True Culture Of Preparedness' But No One Is Listening"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-...op-true-culture-preparedness-no-one-listening

 

September is National Preparedness month. .gov encourages people to have a plan and be prepared but sadly most cannot make the time to take care of themselves. As for Puerto Rico, they were already in debt so recovery will be all charity and thru the government.

 

Believe me I totally understand the sheeple mind set. Disgusting.
A huge number of sheeple with the "take care of me" mind set (what mind!?) comes from
"gimmie" people. "gimme mo', I wants mo'". Those that have made being on welfare and food stamps
a multi-generational vocation, thus my quote of "gimme mo' ".
I policed a city of about 50,000, about 40 to 50% ...........ah..............hum????????????, oh, yeah
ETHNICS.
Just about 99% lived in "da hood". A few, very few, lived in UPPER CLASS areas in homes
I couldn't begin to afford and were college professors, doctors, engineers, and the like.
Those few WORKED to get an education and elevate themselves.
Gotta respect that.
The rest that are on the dole, INCLUDING white trash, a mix of Hispanics, etc. have
no conception of self sufficiency or one iota of the very idea of surviving anything.
Trust me. The worse of the worse, the dregs of society were the white garbage.
Those were the absolute dirtiest, most ignorant, of the lot of low class.
I recall a white welfare family that had 6 daughters. Prostitutes everyone and most of the
time pregnant at tax payers expense. Everyone of them were pretty girls.
Well, IF one could bathe them in antibiotics and clean 'em up good.
I recall one family of white garbage that stopped up the toilets so they cut a hole in the kitchen
floor and crapped into the basement.
They had little children so I TOOK the kids into custody and called child protective services
to come care for them. That took some hours so we cops bought those poor kids
food and drinks and they gobbled the food down like they were starving.
They WERE starving.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Child services sent the "parents" to parenting classes for a month and gave the kids back!

 

Sheeple vs. survivalist.
Heck I still have a flip phone and I don't even like having that but I got rid of my
land line phone.
Good 'nuff for me.

 

I only have a flip phone. I do technical work, nevertheless I only use technology to the degree it serves my purposes and nothing more. My grandparents were born between 1890 and 1908. As a kid, I had indoor plumbing, radio, and black'n'white TV. My clothes were repaired on a pedal-powered Singer sewing machine. My parents had a private-line telephone unlike most of our relatives. It had the rotary dial. For math & physics, I used a slide rule. Eventually I actually did use an electronic calculator; when working in radians, that really helped.

I've been well served with FAR less than most people "require".

 

This is going to sound royally cynical and totally cold emotionally. Could it not be best that the unprepared become totally disabled and very rapidly so, post SHTF. The longer the shutdown, the more protracted the suffering.

And I don't want the sheeple getting in the way of those who are going to be rebuilding / reforging the future.

As to those who become aggressors, they must be wiped-out. The needs of humanity transcend. Strong and able folk must be enabled to be themselves, so as to release their creative minds and skilled hands. No impediment must interfere with this natural process.

 

Looting report. Things not good down in Puerto Rico. Relief agencies being robbed.
https://247sports.com/college/virgi...urricane-Relief-Supplies-En-7685083?View=Full

A day in the life of Puerto Rico:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...uerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria.html?mcubz=3

 

Here is a pro-firearms-ownership article that has some information about Puerto Rico and the chaos appertaining to the hurricane's aftermath:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timot...-all-why-gun-rights-are-so-important-n2389013

I'm still searching for reports from the ground. Almost everything concerns the lack of food, water, and fuel. There many videos pleading for help. Private aid to victims is outstripping U.S. national aid.

My take-away so far is that precious few (yet to read about one) were in any way whatsoever prepared for such an event. Am I shocked? Well, no. But isn't it downright brain-dead to not be prepared for disaster when you live on an island that has a near 100% chance of getting hit by a hurricane, or for sure multiple tropical storms?! That is not to be understood.

So far, civil behavior is holding. People ARE still willing to stand in line. However I am hearing an increasing desperation in people's voices.

Is anyone else getting information from the Caribbean? I have exactly zero people to hear from down there. Anyone getting intel from the Caribbean post-hurricane devastation, do please post.

 

The U.S. is sending literally TONS of supplies to P.R. and still the media bashes Trump
for doing too little.
Of course the liberal media FAILS to mention all the containers of needed supplies of all
types that ARE in P.R. sitting on the docks.
People including the liberal media fail to mention the reason the supplies are sitting
on the docks.
The roads to the most devastated areas are destroyed, bridges are out, rivers are above
flood stage.
This supply issue is a P.R. infrastructure situation that is hard for P.R. to overcome.
The P.R. gov't is catching royal hell from media sources that also fail to tell the
whole story. The roads and bridges are out. The only option is to fly supplies into
devastated, isolated, areas and there simply aren't enough suitable aircraft for that task.
Sounds like a "lesson learned" for you and I is to be prepared for any eventuality no matter
how remote the possibility.
In my area in N.E. Ohio those crippling possibilities are sever t-storms and tornadoes
in warm weather and blizzard conditions with strong freezing winds and heavy snowfalls.
Both remote but both HAVE happened. The blizzards that crippled supply lines and power
twice in my lifetime. So far.
I need stock up on at least 3 months non perishable food stores at a minimum.
Emergency lighting etc.
Guns and ammo would be useless but I have those available.
There are lessons from the disaster in P.R.
I'm praying for those poor folks.

 

Basically if the cops and government will stop protecting the criminals and gangs the strong good people will take care of them. It is basically the difference between a negative feed back system and a positive feed back system. Our current system works on negative feed back. Guns are used to commit crimes so we make guns illegal...criminals don't obey laws so are not affected and only criminals have guns. A positive system would go people can use guns to protect themselves let them have and use them. Criminals are people that use them wrong and they need to be permanently removed from society. Negative systems empower the criminal while positive empowers the honest good people.

Over the years the criminals have bred like rats. You have generation after generation of criminals. We have a guy on death row here in Texas that has like 20 kids by 12 different women. All are on welfare and what do you want to bet that most will follow their sperm donor into a life of crime. If you are a good hard working person they will tax you into poverty. If you will refuse to work and sell drugs they will give you a place to live, food, telephones and money and the more bastard kids you have the more money you will get. The kids from the welfare projects have nicer clothes and their parents drive newer cars than the working class people and their kids. This has to end and in Puerto Rico now you are seeing the cancerous results of this sort of insanity.

 

Jeager told of supplies being stuck, so here's some info on containers of supplies stuck in San Juan. Puerto Rican gov. excuse is "no truckers" being available to move relief supplies into the island. I'm surprised CNN carried this article and didn't curse America for providing truckers and diesel fuel.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-aid-problem/index.html

We've got a general on the ground now, but if the locals won't pitch in to help, our military can't do it all for heavens sake. Why aren't the locals clearing roads? Good that America still has some responsible people out there -- many good people came to the aid of Houston.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...housands-supplies-still-stuck-port/711894001/

I'm reading that the Army Corps of Engineers are clearing roads. Seems everything has to be done for the people in Puerto Rico. Any workers down there?! Just do it. Get to work or we can't help -- takes everybody.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Great post! And TRUE!

 

I think it will be a while before we hear much of anything about preppers in Puerto Rico. I’m not surprised that we’ve not heard anything about them. I think that there are plenty there, but they’re not saying a word, and I don’t blame them. Later on, down the road, stories will come out about how people that were prepared rationed their supplies and got by.

The FEMA head guy said on Fox News that 10 distribution sites had been set up around the island, and some of the big box stores were beginning to have some needed supplies for people. I doubt that it’s enough for everyone, but at least maybe some supplies are getting through. I wonder if they’ll have any type of rationing in place to keep the horders from taking more than they really need and leaving others to do without?

CD in Oklahoma

 

Update on Venezuela and Puerto Rico:

"Food riots grip western Venezuela, mob reportedly slaughters cattle in field"

https://news.trust.org/item/20180112035017-q9adf

"An opposition lawmaker from Merida, Carlos Paparoni, said four people had died and 10 were injured in the chaos over the last two days, but he did not specify the circumstances."

"Looters plundered a truck carrying corn, a food collection center, and a state-run supermarket, according to Paparoni, and a vet who witnessed the mayhem."

"Zuley Urdaneta, a 50 year-old vet in Merida, witnessed the looting of a truck along the highway around 2 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. About two hours later, he said some 800 people converged on a food collection center and proceeded to plunder it."

Puerto Rico
Got tarps?
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/12/us/sutter-maria-route-puerto-rico-invs/index.html
This article points out the need to keep some building materials around to repair structural damage. In Puerto Rico, it was a hurricane that did the damage. In America, earthquakes would be the more likely culprit. Or looters busting out windows. Or fire. Consider the events that could force you to repair your home, then think of the means by which you could lower the degree of damage (fire extinguishers) or repair the damage (nails, screws, tarps, plywood, ...).

Do not expect the police to protect you:
http://time.com/5099781/puerto-rico-murder-rate-hurricane-maria/

People learn quickly that they must take care of themselves. Some groups can be formed to help communities. Looking to government can result in disaster (one of the above articles mentions that during the looting of a food center, the government troops and police helped distribute looted items in an attempt to placate the masses). The following article has some positive news. I enjoyed reading this, however in an urban setting and many rural areas, aid groups will require armed protection should gangs attempt to steal relief supplies.
https://earther.com/puerto-ricans-are-helping-each-other-as-federal-aid-flo-1821009721

 

I must be missing something here...or perhaps there is something wrong with the manner in which I think.

Does not Puerto Rico have a long history of Hurricanes...and such disasters...including some of the islands, Volcanic activity.

My point here...is that there seems to have been next to zero acticvity in regards to preparedness for this or any other storm.

I am asking myself...why did not the state and local governments work together to plan for several air drop zones arund the Island...helicopter approach landing areas set up ahead of time. Buldozers and such equipment ...even those tractors with a hydraulic shovel on one end and a bucket type plow on the other.

Sort of like this ..but with a digging shovel on the other end.

https://www.machinio.com/cat/tractor-with-front-end-loader#quickview/26940036

I bring this up because I know that many many of them were built here at a factory in the Industrial Park of Hampton, Virginia and were sent to the middle east when Desert One war broke out and never returned.

Why are not the national guard in Puerto Rico so equipped and maintained with parts...for just such an regular emergency.

Why does there seem not to be any such plans in effect..particularly pre staged landing zones...for rotary aircraft to access the more remote parts of the Island???

None of these plans seem to have been put into effect or even maintained if they are in effect...Why.

I have heard the stories coming out mostly of the "Blame Game " nature....by this woman politician in Puerto Rico.

I am asking myself ..why is it that with the long history of that area....and the known damage that a Hurricane can cause...why is it that little to no such efforts seem to have been prestaged...put in place.

It just seems to me that several landing areas around the island ...strategically located for relief aid to assist would have greatly helped...access to the more isolated parts of the island.
How about an Emergency communications system designed to survive and cover the Island and it's various dead spots...to and fro these isolated landing areas?? Solar charged and ready....high wind survivable.

There are all kinds of federal funds available for various causes including foreign give aways ..but Puerto Rico seems to have done or gotten none of this stuff. What have these local governors and or Senators been doing?

I find it difficult to believe that no one has thought this through...to a reasonable and sensible conclusion...followed by preparation .

Do they have a National Guard.....why have not they thought it through? This seems like common sense for a Natural Guard Unit???

I just get the overall impression that someone has dropped the ball....and for a long long time now...dropped the ball.

That someone has put emphasis more on party time than such basic preparedness.

And now that an event of this magnitude has happened..it is the same olde..."Blame Game."


Someone has Put the Island and it's people into bondage and servitude to the magnitude of such an storm....and let certain common sense preparations go by the wayside. And now they are paying for such laxness.

I get the impression that someone may have thought this through in years past but overridden by professional politicians ....rather than fund such an project.
Also get the impression ...by the tone of the news coverage on Puerto Rico....that any such story exposing politics will never see the light of day...verses "The Blame Game."

It seems that Puerto Rico...also has Ishmaelites among them...and are now paying for it.

I believe so too will the rest of America ....be subject to such Ishmaelite fruits over time...

My .02,

Watcherchris

Not an Ishmaelite.

 

They just hadn't been really smashed in a while. The government and a surprising amount of people will forget what just happened instantly, but some folks will be better prepared after some hard lessons learned.

 

A hurricane is not a thing about which to boast...that one has survived per se. You just never know...nor do you know the real character of the people around you until you have served with them in difficult circumstances or any tasks which will require discipline and an attention span.

In my limited experience..it is difficult tasks and circumstances which develop character.. not good times.

I think someone on the island in leadership positions dropped the ball on this one...and have been dropping the ball for many many years.

As an American Territory ..they now find themselves not much different from Haiti....with it's two legged wildlife.

I've been in hurricanes and also in the Orient ..in Typhoons. Fortunately we were spared extensive damage where we lived...but that it not something one needs take for granted.

I have not been through a tornado..and will forgo that pleasure ....thank you.

I am just a bit incredulous that with the record of annual hurricanes transiting through the Caribbean and into Central America...that someone in government....no matter what political affiliation ...has not thought this through to a better and more working/operational conclusion.

One of the lessons to come out of the First Gulf War...was the discovery that the US Military did not have sufficient heavy sea lift capability. The ability to move large units and their loadout....gear....across the world...in any volume. This means ships..not airplanes. What the US Military had to do and did...was to ferry C141 carge planes..night and day to get sufficient gear, equipments, and supplies to the middle east. They flew these C141 aircraft to pieces...stopping only for equipment break downs and to gas up and or change crews.

All the C141 aircraft have today been scrapped in the boneyards...to be replaced by the much m ore expensive C17.

What else happened is that the US Navy began building and modifying ships to carry heavy military cargos....equipment's Ammunition and other supplies on commercial freighters. Many of these types of ships have a huge ramp on them by which they can offload vehicles wherein there are no pier facilities or cranes. Many of these types of ships have cranes on them in addition to the drive on and off ramps.

You can see many of these ships ready and loaded and ready to go in the lagoon at Diego Garcia...in the Indian Ocean on Google Earth.

Many of them not loaded are at pier side ...on the east and west coasts both....with crews assigned to them to periodically run equipment on a schedule and do maintenance on them 24/7 such that they are ready to go to sea on a moments notice.

The point in all of this is that someone realized that there was a significant fault in our military preparedness which the First Gulf War made clear to those who can think. Remedies have been made...changes for the next time.

I know all this about these ships because I have worked on them when they come into this shipyard for extensive repairs.

They are called Roll on Roll Offs....or sometimes RORO's.

What is wrong with Leadership in Puerto Rico that they cannot seem to do similar???? I don t care how long it has been since a severe hurricane came through there. They have had plenty of warnings by way of what happened in other Caribbean Islands over the last 50 years....as well as in Central America and Mexico.


My non Ishmaelite .02,

Watcherchris

 

Puerto Rico is ground zero for hurricanes. They knew what the future held -- no crystal ball needed. They were/are lazy and thus bankrupt.

Now the Puerto Rico "leadership" blames the U.S. Fed and especially Trump for not bailing them out. U.S. Democratic Socialist magazines and online propaganda sites blame Trump. I'm no Trump fan, however Puerto Rico's "leadership" is a bad joke. Trump called them such due to this being an in-your-face reality.

Relief aid sits in their ports, yet Puerto Rico can't manage to organize itself. Gangs and plunderers rule the better part of this territory.

The people of Puerto Rico are disarmed so who now owns the generators, the relief packages? Yes, the gangs of looters.

All of this is quite instructive. Come whatever SHTF, such will be the situation in major urban areas of the West. Dear Democratic Socialists, pay attention to Venezuela and Puerto Rico! Your world is also going to collapse even as have their's. Expect zero help from Heartland America, your sins will find you and we will not be filled with sorrow when your skies are filled with black smoke.