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Lights Slowly Come On for Puerto Ricans in Rural Areas (csmonitor.com)
Almost a year after two hurricanes ravaged the US territory, repair crews are working to energize the more than 950 homes and businesses that remain without power in hard-to-reach areas. Puerto Ricans remain fearful that their newly returned normality could be short lived. An anonymous reader shares a report: Lights are slowly coming on for the more than 950 homes and businesses across Puerto Rico that remain without power in hard-to-reach areas. Repair crews sometimes have to dig holes by hand and scale down steep mountainsides to reach damaged light posts. Electrical poles have to be ferried in one-by-one via helicopter. It is slow work, and it has stretched nearly two months past the date when officials had promised that everyone in Puerto Rico would be energized. And even as TVs glow into the night and people like delivery man Steven Vilella once again savor favorite foods like shrimp and Rocky Road ice cream, many fear their newly returned normality could be short-lived. Turmoil at the island's power company and recent winds and rains that knocked out electricity to tens of thousands of people at the start of the new hurricane season have them worried.
To make it clear: a 600W/12V solar panel, a few 12V batteries, and a 1200W inverter can be had for under $2000.
It's essentially a third world country, though a territory of the US. An interesting third world country, and I liked many of the people.
I lived there from 1976 - 1989. I won't call it a 3rd-world country at all. The neighborhoods I lived in / hung out at were 1st-world, all the way.
The PR people see on TV is not all of PR. Yes, a lot of it looks like that.. but another lot of it is immaculate lawns, concrete houses with concrete roofs, pools, etc.
The media seems obsessed with showing the tin shack side of Puerto Rico.
Plaza Las Americas, built in 1968, is still my yardstick for malls. The malls in the US may be larger, but the malls here all look unfinished next to Plaza. My family was friends with the family that built Plaza. No expense was spared.
The power grid, on the other hand, has always been a disgrace. By age 8 I knew how to oil, wick and trim oil lamps and cold-blast hurricane lanterns because the power went out all the time, even in the 1st-world 'hoods. Some of that was the power union -- whenever they need something done to the contract, they'd blow up a couple of large transmission towers. Blam, in the dark for 4 hours.. or all night.
I could say South Florida is a 3rd-world country, you know. But it isn't. Same with PR.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Given there are approximately 1.26 million households and 43,000 businessesin Puerto Rico, this is actually pretty much a non-issue. We're talking about 0.07% of the homes and businesses in PR that are left without power. My guess is you get close to that in any given US city just from daily work/repairs and accidents (drunks hitting power poles, etc).
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Puerto Rico can't even get a referendum passed in that country for statehood with the support of other political parties beside the ruling one(PNP). IOW, no majority of Puerto Ricans can be bothered to show up at the polls to vote for statehood. They've tried in 1967, 1993, 1998, 2012 (all during Democratic administrations), and 2017 (Obama allocated money for federal support of referendum) and failed every single time.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/337751-puerto-rico-statehood-bid-a-total-failure
If you use the "PPP" purchasing power parity ranking T&T is the richest independent country in the Caribbean. Once territories are included, it changes. Puerto Rico would be at the top of that list with 2015 data of $35,291.80 vs. T&T's $32,194.28.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Yes. Puerto Rico has no business being part of the USA. It's a different culture, different language, different lifestyle. Puerto Rico should be totally free and independent of the USA. Let Puerto Rico chart it's own course and be allowed to blossom.
Sadly, Slashdot has been infested with Trump-supporting racists, authoritarians, and Russian trolls recently. Yes, it's a shame how far ./ has fallen. I remember it in the late 90s and early 00s as a bastion of tolerance and also as being skeptical of authority.