# Hurricane Irma \[and Maria\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446 "2017-09-04T01:56:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/381 "2017-09-20T00:25:52Z")
we will be thinking of you. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/382 "2017-09-20T00:47:53Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Okay dudes sometime in the wee hours today I’ll be having [bigger things to worry about than keeping up with the SDMB](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#Maria). If I can send some report during the buildup I will, otherwise if when I come back up for air and the grid is back on line there’s a Maria-specific thread I’ll look for it, or else be back here. > > FEMA’s sure being given a good workout and it’s not even Fall yet… Be safe, Boricuas. We’re next. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/383 "2017-09-20T01:00:58Z")
Be as safe as you can JRDelirious. I’m so worried for you. ☹ You too, Mighty Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/384 "2017-09-20T01:16:41Z")
Hunker down. Please. Be safe. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/385 "2017-09-20T08:47:00Z")
Again, [stormcarib.com](http://stormcarib.com) is a good place for 1st person reporting PR: [Puerto Rico - Local Reports (Caribbean Hurricane Network)](http://stormcarib.com/reports/current/pr.shtml) Vieques: > **[Vieques (PR) - Local Reports (Caribbean Hurricane Network)](https://stormcarib.com/reports/current/vieques.shtml)** > > News updates by local hurricane correspondents reporting from Vieques (Puerto Rico) after a hurricane or storm has hit. Find out how your friends and family on Vieques are doing, and if you have vacation plans read how your hotel, villa or other... (yes, it is 3:45 AM my time as I post this) Brian ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/386 "2017-09-20T08:49:10Z")
About to enter full hurricane conditions. No power since a little before midnight. It’s going to be a long day and another long night. Most contacts report safe as of now - but here comes the big test. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/387 "2017-09-20T10:55:05Z")
Landfall near Yubucoa (southeast corner of PR) at 6:15 AST Brian ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/388 "2017-09-20T13:59:08Z")
I am checking stormcarib and the NHC sites hourly… > [@NHC](#): > > …1000 AM AST POSITION UPDATE… > …CENTER OF MARIA OVER NORTHERN PUERTO RICO… > > A weather station near Arecibo, Puerto Rico, recently reported a > sustained wind of 78 mph (126 km/h) and a wind gust of 108 mph (174 > km/h). Brian ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/389 "2017-09-20T17:57:37Z")
Some wind and moderate (by Caribbean standards) rain. Airport still working, a plane is taking off right now. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/390 "2017-09-20T18:00:58Z")
And another plane. For the low season, there seems to be unusual traffic today. I wonder if tourists are self-evacuating… ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/391 "2017-09-20T22:16:16Z")
Airport closed a few hours ago, storm winds and rain. All services working. We sprung a leak, so that will be a couple hundred bucks. The hurricane is as close to us now as it’ll ever get. People in flimsier, non-concrete homes may not be faring as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/392 "2017-09-20T22:38:21Z")
Maria has left Puerto Rico, left the entire island without power. > **[Hurricane Maria: Puerto Rico may be months without power](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41340392)** > > Hurricane Maria has knocked out electricity for the entire island, home to more than 3.5m people. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/393 "2017-09-20T23:19:08Z")
looks like a lot more rain to come yet ☹ ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/394 "2017-09-21T00:06:05Z")
PBS NewsHour had a segment on Maria. > [@Mayor of Fajardo](#): > > I’ve never seen my city so destroyed Fajardo is where the ferries to Vieques/Culebra depart Brian (this is an indirect quote, and I’m not 100% sure it the word is “destroyed”) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/395 "2017-09-21T01:19:02Z")
Wind has gotten worse, we sprung some leaks, lost some of the tool shed roof, and terrace trelice flew into the great beyond. But then I remember that this is nothing ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/396 "2017-09-21T02:14:01Z")
Holy Saffir-Simpson Scale, Batman, this sucked AND blew both physically and figuratively. They called this wind Maria and after this bitch they’ll retire the name from the rotation and good riddance. The mother first wrecked Dominica even blowing away the PM’s house then headed for us. By Tuesday it was impossible to buy a ticket out and the airline ticket pricing algorithms went nuts. As of elevenish in the morning everyone in the family seemed to be doing OK then the eyewall went over our hometown and along with a score other small towns they are cut off by every means except first responder radios. The cel network has gone down in most of the island and even here in SJ it’s iffy. The radio news stations succumbed to different calamities from building damage to network failures to the point there is a grand total of ONE news station conventionally on the air. Which is a problem because with no power and a failing network you can’t rely on the webcast. So a major part of the island is de facto in Schrodinger’s box. You may imagine how that has on people’s nerves. What IS in reach is a hot wet wreck – lots of property damage, severe flooding, thousands of displacees. Deluxe condos and hotels clobbered just as much as working class prefabs. Airport terminal a mess. Economic losses sure to be crippling. It will be tomorrow afternoon at the soonest that anyone takes a look at the big picture, but we are talking that whole chunks of the power grid are going to have to just be installed afresh. Of course I’m in the dark again and now with the bonus that because of the flooding the water is cut off too. For the first time dince maybe WW2 there’s a general curfew dusk-to-dawn. Fully expect the NG in the streets by the weekend. May I say these are in contention for the worst 24 hours I’ve had to deal with ever. Home damages seem minimal at least structurally but of course I do not yet know all places water may have got into and how much, and I need to wait for tomorrow daylight to examine wiring, AC units, etc. I gotta say, there were some times I was worried, though this house is built like a damn Maginot Line unit (\*), that there would be a failure at a door or window or where an extension joins the old construction, one could just feel the strain. Irma and Maria will be felt for a long time in the NE Caribbean. Here it’s looking to be one huge rebuild project. Just at the time we can least afford one, but we will get to it. That is, we will after I chop up this tree blocking my driveway. That’s tomorrow’s project if the rain allows it. (\*That part does differentiate us from the Leewards/Virgins - our housing stock is on average a lot sturdier. I have whole walls of poured reinforced concrete and I could kiss them. But many of our rural poor can be just as screwed as theirs when the winds blow.) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/397 "2017-09-21T02:36:04Z")
Two comforting things about my sister’s place on Vieques: It isn’t near the shore, so storm surge isn’t an issue (I don’t know the flooding possibilities) It is concrete block construction (I guess 3 is that she isn’t there. We know the renter survived Irma) I tried amateur radio (just listening as I’m not set up to transmit at the moment) but didn’t get anything useful during my brief check. Brian And thanks for the update ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/398 "2017-09-21T09:27:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Holy Saffir-Simpson Scale, Batman, this sucked AND blew both physically and figuratively. I am so glad to hear from you. I am being side-swiped by a faraway weakened cat 2, and holy hell, have I had enough of this shit. So far no services interrupted at any time. Our concrete bunker has held up, though we have a few more hours to go. Some soft damage, we calculate a couple of thousand dollars to fix them, which, after seeing the alternative, don’t bother us that much. I am not going to lie, this is scary, and we’re incredibly lucky, I know many around us won’t be so lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/399 "2017-09-21T10:51:58Z")
So glad you came through the storm and posted, JRD. I do not envy you a bit. The worst I’ve ever been through was a cat 2, and never want to experience either that or worse again. Good luck with the clearing and rebuilding. Does anyone know the best best organization for sending aid to Puerto Rico? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446/400 "2017-09-21T12:24:37Z")
Glad to see you checking in, **JR**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-irma-and-maria/795446.md?page=21)