Airmen along side Soldiers and FEMA employees load food and water onto a U.S. Navy HH-60 Seahawk helicopter at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, Oct. 13. Joint Task Force-Puerto Rico was established to provide FEMA with the unique capabilities that the Department of Defense can bring to the island following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Hicks)
On September 21, 1998, Hurricane Georges struck Puerto Rico. It was a category three storm, less intense than Hurricane Maria. The Centers for Disease Control state:
On September 23, all 78 civil divisions in Puerto Rico reported damage to homes, and 416 government-run shelters were housing approximately 28,000 persons. Approximately 700,000 persons were without water, and 1 million had no electricity.
Another site, titled the Puerto Rican Hurricane Center has this to say:
Puerto Rico was hard hit by Georges with up to 72,605 houses affected by the storm of which 28,005 houses were completely destroyed. More than 26,000 people took shelter during the storm and a very high number was still in shelters during the aftermath of the hurricane. A 95% of the banana crop was destroyed and 75% of the coffee crop was lost. The entire electric system of the island was shut down by the hurricane and nearly the entire island was also without water.
CNN has a moving piece by a woman who was 13 at the time Hurricane Georges struck. “We were cut off from the electric grid and water supply for over three weeks.”
Hurricane Maria was far more powerful than Georges and caused far more damage.
Highways
Puerto Rico Army National Guard Sgt. Marvin Santiago directs traffic Utuado, Puerto Rico, Oct. 12, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Joshua L. DeMotts)
Heavy rain brought by Hurricane Maria caused the Río Grande de Loíza to overflow and erode roads. Río Grande de Loíza is the largest river in Puerto Rico by volume. Yuisa Rios/FEMA
Airports and Seaports
The Canadian CC-130J Cargo Aircraft, Andrew Slaten and Shanna Reiley, a FEMA representative, after downloading 29,000 MRE’s to help communities while the Military continues to provide support for Puerto Rico after the devastation from Hurricane Maria, Ceiba Puerto Rico, Oct.12, 2017. (U.S. Army photo by: Staff Sgt. Lancelot Lokeni)
Search and Rescue
Ricardo I. Ortiz (left), a Ponce, Puerto Rico, native and an interpreter with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disability integration team, welcomes the Burgos-Rodriguez family during disaster relief assistance registration at San Gabriel School for the Deaf, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 14, 2017. FEMA assists civil authorities to provide disaster relief in Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Maria. (U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Alleea Oliver) (Portions of this image were obstructed for security reasons)
Water and Power
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been assigned a mission by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to lead the planning, coordination and integration efforts to execute electrical power grid repair in Puerto Rico due to impacts caused by Hurricane Maria. USACE awarded the first of a series of major contracts toward the repair of the power grid in Puerto Rico to provide 50 MW generation at the Palo Seco power plant in San Juan.
After power outages at two generating plants, the Government of Puerto Rico is reporting 14.6% of customers have electrical service.
US Army Corps of Engineers:
PREPA’s goal it to reach 25% restored by the end of the month. As of today, we are at 17%.
We believe that 80% of the system is affected, but that is only an estimate.
We know that it took five months to restore the majority of power following Hurricane Georges
… our team has already installed more generators in Puerto Rico than in Texas or Florida combined.
We are here until the job is done, and the people of Puerto Rico have a grid that can sustain them until permanent repairs can be made.
The Government of Puerto Rico reports the following status of the water supply:
Hospitals
Private First Class Leon Good, a Combat Aviation Brigade Medic from Carlsbad, N.M., tends to patients in Puerto Rico at FEMA’s National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), a mobile emergency and clinical care facility currently setup near the CAB in Fajardo, treating up to 150 patients a day, October 13, 2017. Those requiring more significant life-saving measures than available at the NDMS, the CAB air-transports to San Juan. The CAB brings a diverse set of capabilities to assist the local and federal responders in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and will continue assisting for as long as required.
Northern Command:
USNS Comfort is conducting logistics and medical support operations in Arecibo and Aguadilla. Future movements of USNS Comfort will be determined and coordinated with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Health and Human Services when new requirements are identified.
The 14th Combat Surgical Hospital is partially operational today and is projected to be fully operational by Sunday.
PR- 74.9% (down from 75.9% yesterday) of the cell sites are out of service.
PR- 12(same as yesterday) out of the 78 counties in Puerto Rico have 100% of their cell sites down.
USVI- On St Thomas, 34 of 66 cell sites remain out of service.
USVI- On St Croix, 24 of 46 cell sites are not functioning.
USVI- St. John has regained some cell service with one site in service.
Personnel
Northern Command: Currently, there are more than 8,100 active duty service members and 72 active duty helicopters operating in and around Puerto Rico.
New Deliveries
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Capestany, operations systems specialist, assigned to Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia speaks to Hurricane Maria survivors before distributing food throughout neighborhoods in Aibonito, Puerto Rico, October 13, 2017. The DoD is supporting FEMA in helping those affected by Hurricane Maria by distributing commodities where they are most needed as efficiently as possible. (Army photo by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Tarr, 24th Press Camp HQ)
FEMA:
To date [Oct 13], FEMA, working in coordination with federal partners, provided more than 8 million meals, and 6 million liters of water to Puerto Rico.
Additionally, FEMA is sending direct shipments of meals and water to municipalities designated by PREMA. This is the longest air support food-drop mission in the history of the Agency.
FEMA delivers roughly 200,000 meals a day. This is supplemented by the more than 300,000 additional meals distributed each day by organizations like the Salvation Army, Feeding America, the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, Convoy of Hope, World Vision, and Southern Baptist.
Northern Command:
October 11, 2017- To date, more than 7.6 million meals, 6.4 million liters of water, and 271 generators have been delivered to Puerto Rico in support of FEMA. Additionally, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Defense Logistics Agency continues to deliver 2.5 million meals per day.
October 12, 2017- Yesterday, DoD delivered approximately 4,608 meals and 5,760 liters of water to Lares, Coamo, San Lorenzo and Juana Diaz. To date, more than 7.8 million meals, 6.4 million liters of water, and 271 generators have been transported to Puerto Rico in support of FEMA to be further distributed to municipalities around the island.
October 13, 2017- Today, the Department of Defense has scheduled 11 airlift missions to Puerto Rico to continue the delivery of food and water; water pumps; sustainment brigade elements; medical supplies; disaster readiness beddown sets which include bedding, restroom facilities, kitchens, laundry and water purification capabilities; and additional CH-47 Chinooks.
Navy and Coast Guard Response
Members of the Coast Guard, FEMA, U.S. Army and Puerto Rico “Hacienda” deliver water and meals to local residents of Utuado, Puerto Rico, as part of ongoing Hurricane Maria relief efforts Oct. 12, 2017. Despite the land slides in the area and cut-off road ways, the joint team delivered FEMA relief supplies consisting of five pallets of food and three of water to local residents in the area. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jon-Paul Rios. U.S. Coast Guard
Oct. 10, 2017: A convoy comprised of CGIS, Coast Guard TACLET South, Army Reserve personnel and Hacienda law enforcement officers led a convoy to the mountainous region of Villalba, Puerto Rico, where they delivered FEMA relief supplies consisting of four pallets of food and four of water.
Oct. 11, 2017: A convoy comprised of CGIS, Coast Guard TACLET South, Army Reserve personnel and Hacienda law enforcement officers led a convoy to the eastern coastal town of Punta Santiago, Humacao, where they delivered FEMA relief supplies consisting of five pallets of food and three of water to local residents.
In a second mission to Utuado, a combined team of CGIS and Coast Guard Health Services personnel went to conduct an assessment for a potential medevac of a local citizen. After treating the patient on scene, the team was redirected to an area where the roads had been washed out and access for transportation vehicles had been cut off. The Coast Guard team hiked through the difficult terrain and gained access to an isolated community, where they were able to deliver water to over 70 families.
Oct. 12, 2017: A convoy comprised of Coast Guard Investigative Service, Coast Guard TACLET South, Army Reserve personnel and Hacienda law enforcement officers led a convoy to the municipality of Utuado, located in the central mountainous region of the island, which had been heavily impacted by Hurricane Maria. Despite the land slides in the area and cut-off road ways, the joint team delivered FEMA relief supplies consisting of five pallets of food and three of water to local residents in the area.