Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
All the discussion about Jose was a waste of time, the real threat is Maria. Current forecast has Maria hitting the Virgin Islands (and other islands already slammed by Irma) then strengthening to a Cat 3 hurricane as it slams Puerto Rico. The real risk is to the east coast of the US though.
Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
Maria wasted no time getting to Cat 3 so now the majority of the models have it strengthening to Cat 4 in the next 24 hours. Bad news for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico for sure.
Afterwards that it looks less likely that it will impact the east coast.
Photographer
Lightcraft Studio
Posts: 13682
Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Maybe she'll get drunk like Jose did and start staggering around in circles too.
Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
Recent reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft
indicate that Maria continues to rapidly strengthen. The aircraft
measured SFMR winds of 139 kt in the northwest eyewall and an
estimated minimum pressure of 925 mb, based on dropsonde data.
Based on these observations, the initial intensity of Maria has
been increased to 140 kt, making Maria a potentially catastrophic
category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Clothing Designer
Baanthai
Posts: 1218
Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
Bowling for Miami. She's a full blown fiver now. There's an ELEPHANT in the room. Why is it political to talk about weather/climate?
Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
Maria slammed into Dominica as a Cat 5 and now it's headed to Puerto Rico. None of the models had it increasing from Cat 1 to Cat 5 in just 24 hours. ![https://i.imgur.com/pG0N1rc.jpg]() ![https://i.imgur.com/jp8OMGT.jpg]()
Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
The 144hr forecast has Jose hitting the middle of New Jersey as a weak tropical remnant low and Maria offshore of Cape Hatteras. It may end up that Jose is what keeps Maria from hitting the US.
Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
Maria passed just west of St Croix in the Virgin Islands. Unfortunately that means that it took the brunt of the energy since the right front quadrant is the most powerful area. Hopefully they were prepared. Next up is Puerto Rico but it appears that Maria is going to clip the eastern end of the island not go over the center as was forecast. You can see that it's east in this satellite image. ![https://i.imgur.com/MSdsmja.jpg]() It'll still be a very powerful storm as it hits Puerto Rico but being farther east may save them tremendously.
Photographer
Instinct Images
Posts: 23162
San Diego, California, US
Maria went through an eye wall replacement cycle (ERC) just before making landfall which weakened it slightly. It made landfall as a strong Cat 4 storm. News reports say that the entire island is without power. ![https://i.imgur.com/PmqpJJB.jpg]()
Photographer
Eagle Rock Photographer
Posts: 1286
Los Angeles, California, US
Maria hit PR as a big Cat 4, just 2 mph short of Cat 5. The island was trashed sadly.
Photographer
udor
Posts: 25255
New York, New York, US
Baanthai wrote:
Bowling for Miami. She's a full blown fiver now. There's an ELEPHANT in the room. Why is it political to talk about weather/climate? This is truly embarrassing!!! 
Clothing Designer
Baanthai
Posts: 1218
Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
Puerto Rico shredded. Misery, no water, little food, fear, etc. Hit by two cat. 5s in two weeks. Puerto Ricans are U.S. Citizens. They fought with us and died in WWII, Viet Nam and Korea. They're in desperate need now.
Photographer
Lightcraft Studio
Posts: 13682
Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Baanthai wrote:
Hit by two cat. 5s in two weeks. Puerto Ricans are U.S. Citizens. Irma was a cat 5 when it brushed passed PR, but they did get a little lucky by avoiding a direct hit. Maria was however a direct hit, but was a 4 not a 5.
That said... PR has a big mess to deal with after Maria. Their 85 year old dam is close to failing (Corps of Engineers are there trying to deal with it), their electric company is (and has for some time been) bankrupt, so their electrical infrastructure was more vulnerable than what we're used to here on the mainland. The island itself is $73 billion in debt, so their local resources are poor for this sort of event.
The electrical issues have compounded issues with the airports (and getting aid in by air) because of radar and other systems not working. Blackhawks have been doing search and rescue from ships, but basing these sorts of missions on land would speed things up.
My area in FL lucked out with Irma, and we only got winds in the 80 MPH range... but we sill lost power for 5 days in my and many other neighborhoods. Our electric company invested tons in the last 20 years hurricane-proofing their infrastructure, and companies from other states were able to simply drive into the area as soon as the storm passed to lend a hand.
Its been 5 days or so since PR took a direct hit, and they're an island... harder to reach than FL or TX. It's unfortunately going to be a much longer recovery process for them
Coast guard cutters currently involved:
◾Coast Guard Cutter Cypress – Homeported in Pensacola, Fla.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Elm – Homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Diligence – Wilmington, N.C.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley – San Juan, Puerto Rico
◾Coast Guard Cutter Forward – Portsmouth, Va.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez – San Juan, Puerto Rico
◾Coast Guard Cutter James – Charleston, S.C.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier – San Juan, Puerto Rico
◾Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon – San Juan, Puerto Rico
◾Coast Guard Cutter Venturous – St. Petersburg, Fla.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Valiant – Jacksonville, Fla.
◾Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser – San Juan, Puerto Rico
◾Coast Guard Cutter Yellowfin – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Port status for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands:
♦Guayanilla, Puerto Rico – Open ◾Exception: Peerless Oil open w/ restrictions – Daylight transit only
♦Tallaboa, Puerto Rico – Open
♦Salinas, Puerto Rico – Open
♦San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit Only
♦Fajardo, Culebra, Vieques – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit only
♦Guayama, Puerto Rico – Open with restrictions ◾Tug/barge only ◾No deep draft vessels ◾No vessels greater than 500 gross tons
♦St. Thomas, East and West Gregrie Channels, U.S. Virgin Islands – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit only ◾VIPA-Homeport Pier Virgin Island Port Authority ◾VIP A- Sandfill ◾WAPA – News Station ◾Tropical Shipping ◾Crowley
♦Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit only
♦Red Hook, St. Thomas – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit only
♦Cruz Bay, St. John – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit only
♦Limetree Bay, St. Croix – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight only ◾Draft less than 45ft
♦Krause Lagoon, St. Croix – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight only ◾Draft less than 45ft
♦Frederiksted, St. Croix – Open with restrictions ◾Daylight transit only
All other ports remain closed. Information can be found at the Coast Guard’s Homeport Web site.
Photographer
Robb Mann
Posts: 12327
Baltimore, Maryland, US
All I'll say is that we need to be doing much better in PR than we are currently. They were hit much worse than TX or FL, and thousands of people are in critical need of aid. This is a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Photographer
Frank Lewis Photography
Posts: 14492
Winter Park, Florida, US
I saw on the news this morning that the fuels, like diesel and gasoline, needed in Puerto Rico can only be shipped via U.S. flagged carriers. as opposed to any and all flagged ships being able to carry fuels from U.S. mainland ports to ports in Puerto Rico. Kind of limits the amount of much needed fuel supplies being able to reach the island. Kind of a shitty way to treat Americans.
Photographer
Brian Diaz
Posts: 65617
Danbury, Connecticut, US
Frank Lewis Photography wrote:
I saw on the news this morning that the fuels, like diesel and gasoline, needed in Puerto Rico can only be shipped via U.S. flagged carriers. as opposed to any and all flagged ships being able to carry fuels from U.S. mainland ports to ports in Puerto Rico. Kind of limits the amount of much needed fuel supplies being able to reach the island. Kind of a shitty way to treat Americans. And it's not just fuel; it applies to all shipments since shortly after WWI, when the US was afraid of not having enough sailors to defend against German U-boats. That's one of the major reasons for Puerto Rico's financial crisis in the first place. Without those restrictions for nearly a century, they would be in a much better financial situation to handle this sort of natural catastrophe.
Photographer
Lightcraft Studio
Posts: 13682
Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Frank Lewis Photography wrote:
I saw on the news this morning that the fuels, like diesel and gasoline, needed in Puerto Rico can only be shipped via U.S. flagged carriers. as opposed to any and all flagged ships being able to carry fuels from U.S. mainland ports to ports in Puerto Rico. Kind of limits the amount of much needed fuel supplies being able to reach the island. Kind of a shitty way to treat Americans. You're talking about the Jones Act. It wasn't suspended in this case because the ports are too damaged at the moment and can't handle more than the numbers of ships already bringing in supplies. Suspending the act would not help and would probably only add to the confusion. Many of the ports are operating, but only at a limited capacity. Fixing things like ports takes more than a week.
Having heard from two separate friends in PR, all I can say is that what you hear on the media is very different from what's been going on there... which was totally predictable given today's politics.
Photographer
Jerry Nemeth
Posts: 33355
Dearborn, Michigan, US
Lightcraft Studio wrote:
You're talking about the Jones Act. It wasn't suspended in this case because the ports are too damaged at the moment and can't handle more than the numbers of ships already bringing in supplies. Suspending the act would not help and would probably only add to the confusion. Many of the ports are operating, but only at a limited capacity. Fixing things like ports takes more than a week.
Having heard from two separate friends in PR, all I can say is that what you hear on the media is very different from what's been going on there... which was totally predictable given today's politics. I agree!
Photographer
Frank Lewis Photography
Posts: 14492
Winter Park, Florida, US
Different how? The people are beyond desperate. We can't get enough supplies to them fast enough. This isn't Berlin in 1948. The air bridge between Savannah and Puerto Rico can't begin to supply the people with the emergency supplies they so desperately need. There just aren't enough C-130s to do the job.
Photographer
Lightcraft Studio
Posts: 13682
Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Frank Lewis Photography wrote:
The air bridge between Savannah and Puerto Rico can't begin to supply the people with the emergency supplies they so desperately need. There just aren't enough C-130s to do the job. The challenge isn't in getting supplies to the island, its in getting them from the ports to the remote areas of the island which are only accessible via washed-out and mud-slide blocked roads.
Photographer
Jerry Nemeth
Posts: 33355
Dearborn, Michigan, US
Lightcraft Studio wrote:
The challenge isn't in getting supplies to the island, its in getting them from the ports to the remote areas of the island which are only accessible via washed-out and mud-slide blocked roads. The truck drivers are not there to deliver the supplies. The Puerto Rican governor said that today.
Photographer
Lightcraft Studio
Posts: 13682
Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Jerry Nemeth wrote:
The truck drivers are not there to deliver the supplies. The Puerto Rican governor said that today. Can't we just send a whole bunch of C-130's to all the remove villages? Aren't they nimble enough to land on some muddy, 50 ft hillside somewhere?
Clothing Designer
Baanthai
Posts: 1218
Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
Sad. The hurricane has now become a shit storm.
Artist/Painter
Hunter GWPB
Posts: 8196
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, US
Lightcraft Studio wrote:
You're talking about the Jones Act. It wasn't suspended in this case because the ports are too damaged at the moment and can't handle more than the numbers of ships already bringing in supplies. Suspending the act would not help and would probably only add to the confusion. Many of the ports are operating, but only at a limited capacity. Fixing things like ports takes more than a week.
Having heard from two separate friends in PR, all I can say is that what you hear on the media is very different from what's been going on there... which was totally predictable given today's politics. What you are saying, isn't different than what I have been hearing on the news- except for some petulant tweets by people on many sides.
It would be great if you shared some of the first hand accounts that your friends are telling you.
Thanks for the photos!
Photographer
Kevin Fair
Posts: 2780
Palm Coast, Florida, US
Artist/Painter
Hunter GWPB
Posts: 8196
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, US
Lightcraft Studio wrote:
Not first hand... but interesting...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uc1pPs … e=youtu.be Hmm. Skeptical. Very serious charges and claims. I am curious why the person was video taping the radio prior to the start of the call. Can't verify that the people in the call are who they say (or don't say) they are. This would be easy to fake. I am sure if these claims are true, there will be a DOJ investigation and prosecution to bolster the standing of other people. The photos you posted are of a different tenor to the tape. The photos show government response.
I don't normally go to youtube for much of anything. However, I let subsequent videos play. Some were typical news reporting with redundant video. With the devastation that has occurred, it seems that they should be able to show conditions on the ground without repeating video.
There are facts that are unassailable: Twitter responses. Which I guess is about all I can say without getting my ass thrown in the slammer.
Thanks for posting the information!
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