Why It's So Hard To Get The Power Back On In Puerto Rico (HBO)
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- Опубликовано: 19 дек 2017
- On the three month anniversary of Hurricane María, Puerto Rico is still struggling to turn the lights on-at least a third of the island is still living in the dark. Initially, the hope was to restore power to 95% of the population by mid-December. Now, Army Corps say power won't be back until May.
Hurricane María destroyed 80% of the island’s electric grid. But the unprecedented blackout isn’t just due to the storm-human beings played a role here too.
VICE News traveled to Puerto Rico to figure out why it's taking so much longer than expected. We spoke to the new head of PREPA, the island's public utility company, embedded with the Army Corps of Engineers, and spent time with Puerto Ricans, who are starting to lose faith in the recovery.
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More than a third of Puerto Rico is still without power after Hurricane Maria.
WATCH NEXT: On the night watch in post-hurricane Puerto Rico - bit.ly/2DrZdRl
VICE News the USA needs to sell that Island. We can't afford it.
VICE News I just want to know if what my Brother says is true or is it fake news? Are they trying to sell all the cables and the huge power grid that was donated????
There are power supply ships available. I lived in a town in the Mideast that lost its main generator. Within ten days a Korean power supply ship arrived. It carried its own fuel and had a small power station on deck. These ships are available for hire in case of emergency.
70% of demand is on the north shore.
I am an electrician from Puerto Rico and believe me, that did not happened. If somebody saw you cutting a line that was ready to supply, power, you would've been shot right there. One poor trucker pull down a line by mistake and got his ass whooped at some neighborhood. Some lines had to be redone due to the terrain being unstable because of extreme rains that happened during the november - february season and poles started to get inclined to the sides.
I love how well dude took care of his wife.
As a pereon who works in service repair I have a great deal of respect for the people doing the repairs, if you have never worked 16 hour plus shift for weeks and months at a time it can really effect not only you but your family. The older gentleman is a survivor and has a great attitude, its that attitude that helps you in life make it through hard times. I wish you all the best.
We all could learn a lesson from the older man but you see he was already taught that as a kid it to live without power
The issue of utility pole scarcity is one I hadn't thought of!
And roads to clear and travel, power, water, diesel etc
Please provide a reference to this... I'd think if this were true you would hear of it on the "FAKE NEWS MEDIA" as some sort of a conspiracy theory.
@TheRetiredtrucker : Don't blame this on Trump. Their politicans haven't done anything for years.
@ 1:09 - how precious is she?! God bless Antonio for being there with her, and taking such loving care of her.
stay strong PR.
Don't worry we are the oldest settlers under the Old Glory. Thanks. Since 1493 and still here
basement borough tapes thanks
2020 i have live ever since born never have left its getting worse by the day It's just depressing my goal is to leave this hellhole hopefully nothing's happen till my ship day to basic training .
Not even the University are worth it
I live in the west side of the island, we are really fortunate to have power already. But still two months without electricity is the craziest shit i've seen here
Sebastian Alba excluding Puerto Ricans living off US economic crutches for years. Won't become a state, but has welfare and unemployment benefits.
@@RandomInternetUser22 but yet is the opposite it's a poor ports instead of rich
wow puerto rico is so beautiful
It really is a beautiful place. I have plenty of family there and for the most part they were ok. relative to what others have gone through and continue to see today its a blessing. I feel for the ppl of PR because most are caring, hardworking individuals who look to work and keep their island beautiful in all situations. The attitude is always positive. I think that is such an overlooked characteristic today in the mainland US. We need to be able to adapt and make the most of whatever we have. I pray for everyone affected by the storm in PR, Virgin Islands and throughout the Caribbean. 2 yrs. later almost and they are slowly getting back to being the jewel they were.
@yo dasxi and that's your fault they made that way they make you feel unwelcome and that's also due to the ruling family in that state I'm sorry Commonwealth
Much of this plant (transmission and distribution lines) could have been placed underground, especially in this hurricane zone.
If, in the final analysis, it turns out to not be worth the expense, the people of Puerto Rico would have to take a long hard look at that fact.
its been over 6 months since Maria...we still loose power once a week or two weeks for 12 to 24 hours...usually happens on thursdays or weekends which really affects business..
Thank you Vice for showing the difficulties and work involved in building and constructing a power grid. Most media outlets just yell about the slow pace as "racism" or "hate Trump" messages. This is a huge logistical task and Puerto Rico is nearly 70 billion in debt.
They took their sweet time. None of this is a revelation. People just wanted to be outraged.
What does Puerto rico's so called "DEBT" have to do with anything? Oh wait "ILLEGAL DEBT"
The wisdom of the old man at the end....That is Puerto Rico's can do attitude...bless them all...!!!
Sad to see the power situation in Puerto Rico. This just shows why a home solar power system with panels and energy storage is so important. It's expensive but can be helpful at these times. If it is not powerful enough to cater all the loads in the house, at least some basic loads like fridge, some lights, one/two plug points for laptop/phone charging can be kept functional.
After 97 days without power it was a crazy anxiety level that I never had
I went over there and worked for 3 moths helping put the lines back up. A big challenge over there is obviously the terrain, we used a lot of helicopters to fly in poles and set them. The biggest one though would have to be the material shortage. When we got our orders on what we were going to be fixing if they didn't have it at the lay over yards, we'd literally have to go around An take old material off poles laying on the ground or go An take transformers off poles were the people wouldn't be getting power for awhile and hang them on the poles that were going to get power to them. And not having the right material creates other problems you literally just have to make it work with what you got, literally just rigging shit up good enough to were it would flow current.
Not only that next summer will be a new hurricane season and the electricity infrastructure will fail again and again
This report seems quite objective and realistic. Like reporting of the past before all the modern editorial political spin. I have lived in places where 80% of the power lines were down, and it took months to restore emergency power and years to truly repair and harden the grid. That was on the Gulf Coast and all of North America was only a truck drive away.
This is why PR Electric hired Whitefish and why Whitefish had a LARGE fixed bid. They knew the transmission lines were not kept cleared, a jungle had grown up, even on the main trunk running South to North. Whitefish was willing to sign the risky contract directly with PR while all the other firms were waiting for Congress to agree that the US Federal funds would directly pay them, since PR had a history of bad credit on public projects. As I recall the contract was to replace the main trunk only, and if they'd been allowed to finish, PR would have secondary power by now.
However after Congress did act to pay US firms directly, PR and the other firms wanted Whitefish out of the picture so the treasury would pay. My guess is the transmission replacement will cost much much more than 300M when the USACE and new firms are done and is obviously taking much longer.
I feel for the people of PR. I have dealt with the same hardships, but only 8 hot weeks at the longest. Things in engineering are much more complicated than SJWs sitting at coffeeshops can even imagine. Engineering is hard.
When I lived there in the mid 80s in Mayagüez, It would simply rain and we would lose our power. Sometimes water. The electrical system was flawed then.
I was at San Juan back then and all they ever did was fight with each other like some kind of animal
Trump already told us why... Because "it's an island, surrounded by water, big water"
veltape yes and water is an electrical conductor. soo whats the quote supposed to mean? the connotation better be in par with what i just said otherwise our president is lacking elementary school science.
umm no i didn't my post was sarcasm.
"Ocean water"
So wise... HAIL TRUMP
@veltape Lol
An he still was making coffee in the night bless him
Heartbreaking. These are American people. We just need to do better. It's just not good enough.
Actually they are Puerto Rican
Deadloaf 847 they are Americans regardless of race. I get you were being a smart ass.... But you know what I mean :)
420 420 they are not a American state we don't need to do anything with them.but as you see the American army still helps them.
they are not a state. they are basically a colony. no voting rights on the US presidential elections.
They pay a shit ton of federal taxes, they provide an irreplaceable medical supply source to the mainland, and they are some of the most friendly people in the US; of course we are "still" helping them
Thanks for this saludos from PR
"Why not bury the lines?"
"It's too expensive"
"Why can't we fix their grid?"
"All we have is money, no supplies to string up the lines"
...
set up solar power, go off grid, they got tons of sun
KMike68Camaro - Because UV rays don't come from the sun, right? god I hate dumb people.
JogBird It's not just a matter of plopping some.solar panels on the ground. It's a massive infrastructure project that relies on battery storage technology that is still not ready.
"Solar Power is from UV rays which you don’t necessarily need the sun." -KMike68Camaro
Where are you getting all these UV rays without the sun?
Did you even saw how the biggest solar farm on the Caribbean got totally destroy?
R T - I will agree and disagree with you. The installation of solar power flowers for emergency use in these isolated villages/towns would absolutely help keep them surviving in times of disaster. The infrastructure changes would be massively expensive, but still doable over time. If you did not see it, there was ONE B & B that had solar panels on it's roof that was partially powering a whole neighborhood. I think that was very helpful, don't you?
Puerto Rico is a strong place and people. My heart goes out to this very special place. I wish more could have been done. Que dios bendiga la isla encantada
Puerto Rico sube!!!!!!
I lose power for about 3-10 hours 2-3 times a week and I live in mayaguez, on the west side and it’s almost september. My family didn’t receive ANY money from fema, even though I used to live in añasco and I lost EVERYTHING including bathroom doors. I really want more people to know about what happened here, not just in Texas or New Orleans. I’m not saying, “ pay no attention to the states, but we need more help here from the government and real people.
Glad my grandmother has power and hot water. Hopefully others have their utilities restored soon, but I have a feeling that might not be happening.
And the internet has been out for a while in Puerto rico
Texas- Underwater
Florida has no explanation, its frickin' Florida
California- On Fire
Florida: Florida
P Rico needs a new power grid . so this does not happen again when another hurricane hits. No one should have to be with out power that long geez
Poor lady. Who made stage Alzheimer's could be remedied by things that are attached to emotions and that is songs and I'm so happy to see that lady was able to sing and get some comfort I hope the best for the people of Puerto Rico
This is one of the better segments VICE has done in the last few months
7:11 very wise words ❤
I was watching on the news. Twice in the last 2 years. 80% of power went out twice in PR. Because of small part went bed and they did not have it. And a fire at a power plant knocked it out for another couple of days.
So what’s the cost difference between above ground power lines and burying them?
They should have invested into putting them underground. A power-line where I live keeps going down every time there is a severe storm. They have repaired and replaced the pole several times. If you go one street down the road from where I live, there are no poles above ground, so they DO put them underground, but they must really love repairing the pole that powers the houses on my street several times a year.
I went without electricity for almost seven months in Puerto Rico; I know what people that don't have power are going through. I got depressed and just couldn't interact with anybody. That hurricane devastated the whole island.
The Goal Was To cash Out The Island and steal the land, while seaming to lend a helping hand!! -D.T
It is amazing that they do not bury the power lines in such a hurricane prone place with that much vegetation growing around. It is already difficult to understand they still build lines like this in the US mainland, but in such a place like Puerto Rico... if they do not change they way to manage this problem, they will have the problem again and again. In Europe, more and more lines are geting buried because of lesser problems than storms of that magnitude. It cost a little more at first, but then you save money like crazy in the long term.
Manuel García Barbero They can't bury the poles because earthquakes and mudslides.
I don't get the whole repair and not upgrading thing. If the infrastructure is upgraded it lessens the chance of this happening again. Why not put in concrete poles or put cable underground where possible? Seems.spectacularly short sighted to me.
Funky Monkey1886 because that cost a lot of money they don't have.even in America we don't do that
Look at the mainland infrastructure. It's a mess. the US won't even invest in those... Just no one talking about it, but the US infrastructure is really really damaged.
T Mc That would help. Anything is better than just putting it back like it was so the same thing can happen again. That's what I find ridiculous.
There where some concrete poles, they were the first to crumble and fall.
T Mc in the footage they did show some solar panels but if i do say so myself they looked utterly shagged lol its a shame but pr is a poor part of the usa and it would seem trump hasnt said anything since it happened there is utter incompetence on both sides pr's and Washington
After 3 1/2 years I see this. It brings back memories of living in the dark after Hurricane Maria 😔
I grew up in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. You see, it's been 1 1/2 years after Hurricane Maria destroyed my beautiful hometown in Puerto Rico because Puerto Rico is my home and I'm NOT going to abandon my next visit to Puerto Rico for my next summer vacation this year. My relatives is still in Puerto Rico. By the way, the name is Jonathan, Jonathan Heredia. My birthday is December 11th, the year I was born is in late 1997.
Look I am going to say this, I was born in Puerto Rico and I grew up there. I remember before the hurricane came the problems that the grid had were rampant. And not just that I remember when there I had to go through a whole day or even weeks without running water or power only to get our electrical bill come sometimes as much as $700 for..."repairs and maintenance" now I know that at this point the missmanegement through out the years has caused something like that along with corruption, but it was ridiculous to think we would stay there hoping life will improve.
I was a lineman for the power company in the USA, this is not complicated, it's expensive and lot's of hard work. Who is going to pay for it and who is going to maintain it going forward? I worked on restoration of Guam and Kauai after major storms.
I got electricity 15 days after Maria... Im one of the really lucky ones
This breaks my heart. I have only been away for 2 years and my heart breaks for the lack of love and help shown to my homeland. We are a beautiful country that just needs good administration.
God bless the gentleman and he's wife! 🙏🙏🙏❤
My best friend is from around there we may not speak the same language but we are very close it is now getting better according to her aunt so she is now going back to Puerto Rico
Corruption is so lit.
US corruption has PR in shambles.
03Terrestre The corruption in Puerto Rico.
Exactly
@@03Terrestre How is that so? Please explain!!
@@03Terrestre : ! Where are those people responsible for the maintenance? Why weren't they fired? You blame the U.S. because your leaders don't do their jobs.
omg, i just survived this hurricane the power came back to my house about 3 weeks ago in Yabucoa Puerto Rico and the internet like 4 days ago. now im just here sitting on my couch in tears looking all these videos Hurricane marias was so devastating
line should be underground, and solar is a better solution
Did you not see all the destroyed solar panels at 2:37?
Lots of people here are investing in solar panels and batteries. Lesson learned, went off grid. Just make sure to take down the solar panels before a big storm. Sad that the biggest solar farm in the Caribbean was destroyed by the hurricane.
Vice news should do more these kinds of contents! the recent one which was in Afghanistan was so good.
A few weeks ago, an iguana that went to close to some electric converters or something caused a blackout throughout half of the west coast.
Almost all of the new electric grids in European countries are buried to avoid those type of disasters. Maybe it would be wise not to rebuild it like before...
Puerto Rico is nothing like Europe. It has very different weather
events including hurricanes. Those can flood and damage power cables
that are buried underground making it even harder to repair afterwards.
Well it turns out Puerto Rico isn't in Europe, but in the middle of the Caribbean.
Nor is Puerto Rico an independent country and the United States won't provide any feasible solution to the very same financial crisis which they helped create on the island, let alone fund the construction of a more advanced electric grid.
most european grids are run by socialized monopolies, they can spend as much as they want to, no public utility commission to worry about.
What?
Victor de Clermont-Tonnerre I’m from PR and think just that. But these idiots who run this place keep doing the same thing, so when another, stronger hurricane comes this will all happen again instead of doing it right in the first place .
I thought I had read that a large infrastructure corporation was going to put the electric cables underground. That seems to be the most sensible way to minimize damage from future hurricanes.
that will takes years...but iis not a bad idea
Quedo cabron el video! Saludos desde Yabucoa PR
God bless you people in Puerto Rico
Y’all don’t know how i feel watching this vid
Knowing what is like to be in that position
There's people making comments just to be on this forum without knowing what the hell is going on. I suggest that they should educated themselves before making any comments or suggestions.
20 de sep 2017 - 9 de feb 2018 aun sin electricidad 💔
Anyone know the song in the beginning?
Worked to startup a pharma plant there in 1998 . We could not complete validation in time because of almost daily brownouts.
The People were great but the infrastructure was crap.
Because Puerto Rico was already largely without power before the storm.
Also vegetation grows very fast, so fast you have to cut almost every week
I got the exact same stovetop coffee maker
Wow! It's awful that #Prepa did not maintain up keep on the grid n in general.
36 billion federal dollars was sent to Puerto Rico. Puerto rico's GDP is 101 billion. It's insane to me that the grid should cost more than 1/3 of their GDP!!
You have to adapt! Adjust to anything as fast as you can!
Hurricane Harvey was cat 4 and hit Texas,and Hurricane Irma was a cat 5 and hit Florida
DYI types could recover a lot of useable cells from all those busted solar panels. There a plenty of RUclips videos on making panels from loose cells. Even daily intermittent power without storage could provide power for refrigeration and comfort.
I met a couple linemen who work on this type of infrastructure. Apparently they pay over 200k a year down there. But it's so hard to find willing men. Even though they will fly you in. 1 of these guys I met made 230k one year and spent 2 months down there. Maybe he is lying. But that's what I heard. And that repairs of this level take so much time.
I feel back about everything that man is going through, but those chickens/rosters he has in those TINY absurdly tiny cage fences matter too. I wish people would be more considerate of animals, especially those under your care!
I live in Puerto Rico and this is 100% truth, I want my fucking power back! (+100 days without electricity)
Armando Otero elect some leaders who are not as corrupt as Mexican leaders ! and pay US taxes !
David Louis yeah let's follow advice from an american...
Armando Otero yeah maybe you all should start doing that eh ? guess what....I HAVE POWER AND WATER ! AND THE REST OF THE ISLAND IS COMING HERE TAKING OUR ADVICE BTW
I live in Illinois and was not affected by the hurricane!
It sounds like PR would be better off if they just built a new electrical plant up north, rather than trying to run lines through the heart of the island, through a somewhat remote looking and difficult to access mountain range. At least that way, when another hurricane comes along, repairs would be easier to do if the lines weren't so remote.
They should build the power lines like it is in The Netherlands. I can not imagine how you can maintenance that grid lines of power that are seen everywhere above the street.
My dad spent 115 days without light.. idc what they say about us.. Puertorican people are the most patient and resourceful people in the world.
Hank said “Propane”
And propane accessories
My family is from Lares Puerto Rico. Nos vamos a levantar con el favor de Dios.
I was 6 months with no electricity and I was ok...is all about customs!
Customs! You are just lucky your life didn't depend of an oxygen machine. The cost to buy a power generator and gas money to keep it running was unbelievable. I'm glad we could afford it.
It would seem like PR is a natural place for solar systems since it is tropical, i.e. no short days in winter, sun angles are high, and most homes don't have a boatload of power hungry appliances. A one 1kw solar grid would keep the lights on, run the fridge, the radio, charge the phones, a few hours of Tv, and even run the microwave occasionally. keep system off grid and store excess power for nights and rainy days.
Im in PR we good fam 🙏
my brother in law went down there with the company he works for, they are from Wisconsin, they went down there with 25 trucks and gear and supplies loaded up, then they worked 8 weeks straight 16 hour days. the biggest issue was they didn't have enough materials and connectors to run the cable everywhere. they ran out and spoke to locals asking where the power company is? the were shown the local power company garage, which was full of 40+ trucks and full of equipment and supplies and connectors needed to repair the lines! none of the trucks were working and they wouldn't give my brother and he coworkers any materials to repair the lines in the same town! They wont do it bc the USA is gonna rebuild their power system for free.. F them they are beyond corrupt.. 28 years of deferred maintenance.. wth?? we need to call out the Puerto Rican politicians who let this happen! they should go to prison
that trashed solar panel field, if every family just took one panel, and get a charge controller, battery and inverter they could have LED's and a laptop in their house maybe even a fridge
Unbelievable 😞
They should take the opportunity to bury the electric lines rather than build them up in the air. In the long run it will save them more money
This hurts. We have so much, and if made a priority this could be made better on a more appropriate timeline.
WE don't have shit, 21 trillion in debt. Thanks to Obama and company your about $165,000 in the hole tax wise! Better get yourself a second job!
Mayor arrested for stealing 8 million . CBS NEWS July 8, 2018 .
Yet real estate is expensive as hell down there.
And Puerto Rico got hit by 2 Hurricanes,Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria,Hurricane Irma was a cat 5,and Hurricane Maria was a cat 2 or 3
a beacon on the new self sufficient world_ puerto rico go wind power!
So sad see the island like that ;/
Sept 16 2018 and there’s still people without power.
I feel sorry for the people of puerto rico and many of the problems they faced were due to there own government , to many unions , to much corrupted officials , to many hand outs, to many promises in the form of pensions .
Yes. that is true but it doesn't stop there. They would put their family, friends, girlfriends or boyfriends to work in the electric company. To win elections they would put a small bill to the (caserio) projects and that includes the water too. Not caring what would happen in case of a hurricane. As long as they win. I personally always prepare as soon as summer comes with lots of water and can foods. It's going to be 1 year and I still have a tree on top of my raised bed. it needs a industrial chain saw and they always has an excuse when it comes to cut the tree.
WHAT???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
aaron hernandez; Exactly!!!!! Corruption on steroids!
nery colon 1; I hope the tree has been removed by now. If not, is it possible to cut it using a rented chain saw- power tool? Just wondering.
Show us Dominica and Barbuda if you can.
So many heartless comments 😢. Will continue to pray. Today you may be well but you never know when it could be your turn. Treat others as you would like to be treated, who would've thought it'd be so hard...
Ahhhh the wisdom of old people, irreplaceable.
I love PR❤
With the iron glut the world is experiencing, the grid could have been completed via hand painted iron frames, instead of using fancy wooden poles. This would be a recyclable stop gap until the wooden poles could be acquired or an alternative produced. Once no longer needed use the frames to build barns etc. Put old people to work, give them a paycheck. You know; act like you're rich; and have a real heart.
Maybe they should try concrete power lines.