P.R. A.M. - P.M.

Maybe this will help those off the island eventually identify the state of their property:
https://www.meritalk.com/articles/crowd … re-damage/   
I can't find the actual map, but looks like they have data loggers on site.  I think this is actually being used in Santa Rosa to help evacuees identify whether their property is or isn't still standing.

By the way, how does anyone know that the water was safe, even before Irma?

Yes, I already got a denial, but I think you need to finish claims pending under homeowners insurance first.  Then submit a copy of the settlement document to FEMA in the appeal?  Not sure about this, it's my first time dealing with FEMA.  Any advise on this is welcome.

I did have a hassel with the homeowners insurance company following Ike.   Disputes with the inspectors, appeals, etc.  -  you gotta be persistent  - in the end they replaced the shingles on the roof. 

At least we have some coverage in this one.  But I am sure that the vast majority of damaged and destroyed homes in PR are uninsured.

Hey Sitka, what sort of damage your property has?
Yes majority of home in PR if they have no mortgage are likely uninsured

Rey,

We got hit with the eye wall, it went right over our town on the island .  It wiped the roof off my storage building, collapsed a wall on the street side drive way, lots of sand & wind driven rain came in thru various vents.   Various other damage to fences, patio stuff took flight.  Amazingly, glass doors and windows not broken, cement house is still standing, didn't get storm surge flooding.    So, all & all we are surprised that the house is still there.   Don't know about other possible damage until we get the roof inspected.  A big clean up job for sure, still no power or water.  My friend is living in the house in spite of the difficulties,  he says he likes it there. 

We had a large grove of coconut palms on the west end on the beach, from pictures, it looks like they are all gone or got a hair cut now.

I was able to get home owners insurance coverage just a couple days prior to Maria, so we will see if some damage is covered by ins.

https://www.apnews.com/aa160ece12fe4c97 … r-a-decade

AP Analysis item this morning re FEMA claims denial of more then $1.2 Big ones.  Article is focused on towns and institution's claims, but mind you those types of claimants no doubt had counsel assisting them--and still got hurt.

Mr Sitka was on the ball by getting his claims procedure going regardless of if his Homeowner's Policy is Primary. Because I noticed an issue in this article about waiving the 60 days cut off by not filing. I don't know didley about FEMA claims, but I understand statutory time lines.

Those on the board who may be affected by Maria or Irma whether in PR or stateside who read this will no doubt be diligent and apply, apply, apply until they get an actual claim # WITHIN the 60. And then heed the advice of those denied in this article about what to do about your claim.

A lot of variables in this situation.  Will the policy covering household goods only pay discounted cash value of my stuff, or will it pay replacement costs?  Will the ins co actually pay or try to evade?  We will see.  The agent told me in an email that my claim had been sent to the company, but still don't have a claim number from her.   

Good news from friends in Camuy, they now have water and power!

From another thing I read this a.m., deals with towns etc but these swords will be the same they will use to pierce an individual's claim: The 50% Rule, and the Pre-existing Condition Rule. Obviously both can be based on FEMA's subjective analysis and so ripe for arbitrary application:

"REPAIR OR REPLACE

FEMA also can face difficult calls on whether damaged buildings should be replaced or repaired. Its rules say they should be fixed if doing so would cost less than half of what it would cost to build new. But those calculations and decisions are often disputed, sometimes even within the agency.

The University of Iowa's recovery from a 2008 flood focused attention on the so-called 50 percent rule. FEMA initially promised $297 million to replace a flooded performing arts auditorium and a flooded art school building, but ruled that the school's damaged art museum should be repaired at its same location for $5.2 million.

The university had requested $40 million to rebuild the museum on higher ground, saying it could no longer find insurance for the $500 million fine art collection at the location on the banks of the Iowa River. But FEMA rejected its appeal in 2012, saying the university's inability to obtain coverage was a business decision by its insurer.

Two months later, an agency audit concluded that the auditorium and the art building also should not have qualified for replacements — only repairs — because staff erred in calculating the “50-percent rule.” The audit recommended suspending those projects and cutting $83.7 million in funding, outraging university officials and Iowa politicians. FEMA officials ultimately rejected the audit's findings and allowed the projects to go forward.

The school remains without an art museum, and its 12,400-piece collection has remained largely unavailable. In June, the university received permission to build a new museum outside the 500-year flood plain using donations and bonds, but the price tag has risen to $50 million.
___
PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS

FEMA often faces another question when deciding what infrastructure projects qualify for money: Was the damage caused by the disaster or prior neglect?

The Cromwell Recreation Center on Staten Island, a community hub since its opening on a pier in 1936, was set to get long-awaited repairs to stabilize its structure in 2010. Contractors for the New York City Parks Department were starting a $4 million project to retrofit the last 100 feet of the pier with concrete and steel.

But just before the work began in March 2010, a nor'easter pummeled the region with strong winds and heavy rains that knocked over and flooded buildings and homes. Two months later, the recreation center and pier partially collapsed into the water.

The city asked FEMA for $125 million to replace the landmark where residents had played basketball, boxed and held meetings, arguing the storm was to blame for the collapse. FEMA rejected the city's final appeal in 2013, saying the structure collapsed due to pre-existing decay.

“One thousand people a day would use the space, but where do they go now?” said Kelly Vilar, founder of a group pushing to rebuild Cromwell."

Too bad in PR you don't have Like a Good Neighbor State Farm or can't be in the Good Hands of Allstate 

Armed mercenaries in PR.

Anyone else aware of this?  Real or fake news?

https://boingboing.net/2017/10/15/katrina-rerun.html

Fair to say a majority of PR's are in for a long long ordeal as elsewhere. There is one constant in every natural disaster--those unable to fend for themselves suffer the worst and the longest.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat … 786634001/

Besides the news from the media, my sources for information are a few friends we have in the area where we live in PR.   We are able to communicate through text message and occasional cell phone connection.   They report that the water is still off as of today, electric power was on in a few places, back off again now.   Gas stations and a few grocery stores open.  No garbage pick up, and rats are a growing problem.  All and all, a pretty miserable situation.   

We are powerless to help them with the exception of being able to send some cash thru Banco Popular ATH movil.

CNN reported Friday that the Army Corp of Engineers predicts not 6 months for the juice back to all, rather more like 1 year. And similar to what Gov R said re: immediate plan of attack: SJ metro first because 70% of the population.

The trash issue Sitka reports, as did Tony in her farewell to PR post, and evident in every foto is an issue that my simple mind cannot process like with restoring electric and water.

What are they going to do with debris 100 x 35 miles by 10'? high if it were spread and piled?

With the EPA, can't bury it, can't burn it, can't bump it into the drink. Can recycle what it can eventually when PR gets equipped to do that but that doesn't make it go poof. And what about the other trillion cubic feet?

Very curios to see what the nuevos genios like Musk and the tree huggers come up with.

Whatever the course, possible that PR will look like London and Paris and Berlin did for years after
"The German Instrument of Surrender" relieved by the Marshall Plan.  I goggled 'its cost--$13B, $100B in 2013 dollars. And It didn't get going for 3 years, '48 to end in '52 but then a Hurricane named Korea came along and ended that end date.

I was wondering about the trash situation as well, and now all the plastic water bottles that will pile up. 

Schuttzie wrote:

I was wondering about the trash situation as well, and now all the plastic water bottles that will pile up. 

Got $350,000?  Turn all of those plastic bottles into "Cinder" blocks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNS3UhaDV5c

The trash situation has been a tough one. I live in a small community in Camuy close to the caves and i am happy to report that yesterday we had trash collected for the first time since the storm.  Before yesterday it was an exercise of creativity.  The best solution previously had  been loading up the jeep with full trash bags and heading to the main road in our area (Carr 129 about 10 mins away) and see if a truck was out collecting as they have been hitting businesses and neighborhoods right off the main roads  sporadically the past few weeks. The workers gladly stopped for a min to take my load.

Power has yet to hit many of the residential areas but  it is back now  in sections of both Camuy and Hatillo (areas that i often go to ) and Carr 2 as well as Carr 129 even have a few traffic lights working. Gas lines in this area have come to a halt and there are a few even excepting credit cards!!! (As are some of the grocery stores)  Water came back to this area yesterday  and an even bigger victory our internet provider (4net) came  to the house and was able to get our service back up so I've been catching up on posts you all have been writing and no longer have to drive 20 to 30 mins to call and text..

Little victories go a long way...never would I have ever imagined that one of them would be seeing a garbage truck but that truly was a close 2nd place to having running water this week.

There is still much to be done here on the island  and a long way to go for many as far as getting some of the basic essentials back, but I personally feel that each day things are getting a little better in this area along with a few others that I frequent.

Very good to see newbies to this forum with the interest of still moving here one day  as well!!

Well, we just got a call from some of our PR friends, they have a family BBQ restaurant business, which is open on limited basis.  They have electric power, but no water ( I don't know how you run a restaurant without water?).   Sometimes they have chicken and food to cook and serve, other days no supplies, so they close.  They tell me that garbage pick up has resumed, so that is a big improvement. 

They seem to be in good spirits, but the situation in general must be very difficult.   This will be a very slow recovery of the island.

So happy to hear that some areas are getting water, power and garbage pick up.  LarryJohnson, you must be elated to have internet as well!

This fairly lengthy article citing decision makers and also those who would know was one of the best I've read about P.M. power issues.

The first half is the misery individuals are enduring especially in remote areas.

The remainder is about the power restoration and options re: solar, wind, or existing grid. Don't miss the enlightening foto of what Maria did to a very large "solar grid" on the east side. On the other hand, a huge wind farm's turbines went unscathed but can't function because they need a certain amount of juice to get going.

I'd say forget about  "High Tech is coming to the rescue and problem solved forever".

Based on the sources quoted, looks like repairing the existing grid will be more then just the temporary plan.

https://www.vox.com/2017/10/23/16501164 … wage-trump

Good article!  Unfortunately, it is most likely to be the final outcome.   I am rather pessimistic about the future for the island.  Particularly the impact on familys with children and young adults.   

I have seen several folks, friends and their family members forced to exit the island due to the failed PR economy.  In order to work and thrive they ship out to the states for employment.  It's anecdotal, but in our small circle of PR friends and neighbors, over the past 2 years,I know of at least 10 people, adults with children and young adults who had to move to the states for work.  And that was before Maria. 

The impact of Maria on the demographics in PR should be a case study,  (a good topic for the academic doctorate types)  and it will not be good.   The middle class employable will be impacted and reduced, leaving the poor, old and least able to support themselves behind.   Very sad.

The Senate just passed $36.5 B in aid for PR.   Let's hope the president signs and we get to work on major repairs asap.   

Sitka wrote:

The Senate just passed $36.5 B in aid for PR.   Let's hope the president signs and we get to work on major repairs asap.   

If I'm reading news reports right, this sum is divided among FL, TX, western fires, USVI and, last, PR, so PR would only get a slice of this pie. And what's up with Whitewater Energy winning power grid contract and having a total of two employees in MT? Has anyone seen this outfit working?

Curious award of the contract.  I've seen the conspiracy theories masquerading as news suggesting nefarious dealings here, but I doubt that.  What is odd to me is that PREPA chose to go with a private business rather than the mutual aid agreements they had in place.  Wonder why that decision was made?  Is there some sense that the deal with Whitefish is more economical in the long run?  I'm genuinely curious here.

As far as Whitefish goes, they have been twice awarded federal contracts for repairs to electrical grids (though certainly nothing on this scale).  They also have experience in repairs where there are severe elevation changes and access difficulties.  Most linemen don't want to operate while dangling from a helicopter -- Whitefish seems to know folks who are happy doing just that.

Lastly, Whitefish is likely hungry, desirous of a big contract and reputation to be earned of making it happen.  You've got to be either desperate or crazy to take a contract from PREPA.  Whitefish may be both.

Although they only had 2 employees, that sort of thing is not uncommon in the industry.  Workers are hired on contract for the job.

My understanding of why Prepa and PR for other P.M. needs have not chosen to exercise their mutual aid agreements with power company's and state's National Guard is that there is a pay back required as part of those reliefs. And not cheap. The Emergency Management Assistance Compact, about 20 years old, which PR and all our Territories are members with the 50 states, governs such re: National Guards.

Another interstate power compact I do not know the name of governs power companies. I had read a few weeks ago that state utility power brigades weren't going "naked" if you will, and probably the same reason with the EMA Compact for the Guard. Another kick in the ass/repercussion of PR's broke financial status.

Sitka mentioned in another thread this evening that the Senate approved a spending bill for relief money for PR, so good news for PR. But the way it is being delivered is bad news for bondholders. A few weeks ago when we here were discussing on the board the bonds repayment issues, I read an article in WSJ by a bond watcher who mentioned the key to any hope for PR bond holders to recoup is to watch how the relief money will be tendered: as a loan, or as a grant.

The $6 billion coming to SJ is in the form of a loan. Uncle's loans trump other debts/loans. PR debt is a combined $90 and this loan is only for $6--that is for now.

On the other issue raised, I don't think Prepa/PR can pay the Montana electric company Whitefish $300,000,000 contract price, the feds will of course. That's why q's have been asked by the very eloquent PR Resident Commish in Congress, Nydia Velasquez. She raised the possibilty about Whitefish being a  homey of the ex Montana congressman, ex-Navy Seal Commander, and current Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, who is in the flow of the feds relief efforts.

Here is a new article on the contract awarded to the Whitefish Montana  company.  As usual, the clinton news network loves to imply negative stuff about the republicans.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/24/news/ec … index.html

I lived in Montana for many years, in fact, a couple of my elk hunting pals were linemen with the power company.   Those guys are right at home working high tension lines on top of power line towers.  No fear of heights.

I bet they get the job done.   

They are up to 700 staff hires as of yesterday. I hope Whitefish does a number on Maria just to show the US that we need not always turn to gouging goliaths. I read parts of the contract on line--they are capped per diem for each lineman and capped for every foreman. So I'm guessing the bean counters did their homework a tad and the rest of the contract will also have similar restraints. But 300 big ones is a big one.

The fly in the ointment is the appearances. Whitefish Inc is based in Whitefish, Montana, neat mountain tourist town, tiny pop of app 6k. But also the hometown of Sec Zinke.

Whitefish is a small town on the shores of Whitefish Lake, in NW Montana.   It is a beautiful area, they used to have a sail boat regatta there every summer.

If you ever get get in the area, I recommend a visit!  Also close to Glacier National Park.

New report - it appears the the feds have taken over control of the PR power authority.

http://www.prinforma.com/archives/334

I saw that this morning, Promesa hired a PRican US military man with a PhD from MIT (as does the Gov) not Harvard jjjj, with a solid career background in geographic electric powering to coordinate the grid rebuild. That was my read on it, but I don't know sxxx from Shinola, and that old saying probably dates me accurately.

Governor Broke was on it at a press conference and not a happy camper. "We built it, we broke it, Maria finished it, Uncle has to fix it, but it's ours and no statutory authority for Promesa to be buttin in".

The early line in Vegas was 90-1 Promesa.

Under the $300 million contract, the cost for subcontractors, which make up the bulk of Whitefish's workforce, is $462 per hour for a supervisor and $319.04 for a lineman.
Shortly before Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, Whitefish landed its largest federal contract, a $1.3 million deal to replace and upgrade parts of a 4.8-mile transmission line in Arizona.
Whitefish Energy is based in Whitefish, Mont., the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Its chief executive, Andy Techmanski, and Zinke acknowledge knowing one another — but only, Zinke's office said in an email, because Whitefish is a small town where “everybody knows everybody.”

So,they just happened to choose a tiny 2-person company from the Secretary of the Interior's home town that he happens to know personally and that just happened to be in the right place at the right time to accept the contract without even taking any other bids.
Plus the project contract is 300 times larger than their largest job, ever.

Sounds totally legit.  /s

Under the $300 million contract, the cost for subcontractors, which make up the bulk of Whitefish's workforce, is $462 per hour for a supervisor and $319.04 for a lineman.
Shortly before Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, Whitefish landed its largest federal contract, a $1.3 million deal to replace and upgrade parts of a 4.8-mile transmission line in Arizona.
Whitefish Energy is based in Whitefish, Mont., the home town of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Its chief executive, Andy Techmanski, and Zinke acknowledge knowing one another — but only, Zinke's office said in an email, because Whitefish is a small town where “everybody knows everybody.”
So,they just happened to choose a tiny 2-person company from the Secretary of the Interior's home town that he happens to know personally and that just happened to be in the right place at the right time to accept the contract without even taking any other bids. Plus the project contract is 300 times larger than their largest job, ever.
Sounds legit.

Keep in mind, only the Whitefish company was willing to take the job without a $25 million down payment.

Following the Whitefish story all day. Last report filed 46 minutes ago by NBC Gabe Gutierrez (Tucson time is Pacific, so that puts it at about 5PM on Monday, the 30th, indicating that it's done. NY Gov promised quite substantial help, as did FL Gov. As someone contemplating PR next summer, or later, I'm comfortable with this, as it seemed Whitefish (and as an aside, I've spent an entire winter in Whitefish, MT) offered nothing more than gouging, potential for more corruption and a threat of privatization. Apparently, NY "brigades" are ready to go. Of course, WF will sue for breach of contract.  But my point is this, how can you allocate $80.00 a day food for workers when locals have nothing? I don't even spend $120 a month on food.  What do others think?

Yes, I have seen other reports in the media.  unfortunately, for those without power on the island, the cancelation of the WF contract will mean that the power outage for many will be extended by 3-4 months.

Still no power and water at my house in Hatillo.

As I note above, I am curious why PREPA went with Whitefish rather than the mutual aid agreements already in place.  Dgdlaw suggested that the decision was financial.  I am willing to believe that, but I'd like to see the cost comparison.

I also note that much of the coverage has been what I consider "conspiracy theories masquerading as news."  Occam's razor suggests that Whitefish saw an opportunity and put itself in the right place at the right time, making the right pitch. It's hard to believe that the CEO of PREPA would somehow be coerced by the Secretary of the Interior to grant this contract to a company from his town.  Well, hard to believe unless you are fond of those conspiracy theories.

Regarding "price gouging" I don't see it.  In the first place, Whitefish must pay it's contractors well enough to get them to leave family and jobs and go work in PR.  Not an attractive prospect.  The figures quoted above ($319/hr for a lineman) I assume are paid by PREPA to Whitefish -- the contractors won't see that much money.  The meal expense likewise is the cost to Whitefish of feeding each of the contractors every day.  How much would it cost you to feed 700 people 3 meals a day in Puerto Rico right now, when power, food and water are in short supply and must be brought in?

I worked for a year as a contractor in Iraq.  Apart from my salary I was provided room and board as well as clothing.  It's expensive to get all of those things to me in the middle of the desert.  Massive diesel generators had to be installed to produce electricity, a huge reverse-osmosis water purification plant was installed to provide potable water, all fuel was trucked in, as well as food and shelter.  HVAC ran constantly (I lived in a tent with round-the-clock AC).  All of this is costly.

The "threat of privatization" if I understand you correctly is a reference to the privatization of PREPA.  If I do understand you correctly, Whitefish has nothing to do with that decision.  The Oversight Board has that authority, and I believe has been trying to move in that direction.  We can argue over whether privatization of the utilities is a good thing, but I'd suggest it is.  Don't confuse public utilities with privatization.  Here in Virginia, our public electricity company is a private corporation (publicly traded) which acts under very stringent government regulation and oversight.  I believe this is the case in most states.  Cost per KWh is about half of what is paid on the island, and service is orders of magnitude more reliable.

Lastly, in terms of a possible suit for breach of contract, that all depends on the text of the contract itself.  If there is some contract language for cancellation before the contract lapses, then there may be no breach.  Absent any contract provisions for early cancellation, Whitefish appears to have expended considerable sums performing the contractual obligations in good faith.  If Puerto Rico does default on the contract, Whitefish should sue for the breach and recover damages.

Respectable and respectful, clear-headed arguments, but then why this from this morning's NY Daily News:

"FBI agents from the San Juan field office are looking into the controversial deal, according to a Wall Street Journal report that emerged one day after Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello canceled the contract." ?

I find it a rather curious deal myself!  My post begins by wondering why contract with Whitefish (or any other private contractor for that matter) instead of executing the standing mutual aid agreements. 

I must confess that I also find the process disturbing.  While I understand the need to act quickly, who was involved within PREPA and the government of Puerto Rico in making this deal?  Was this simply a deal stuck by Exec. Dir. Ramos and Whitefish?  I would hope that the contract would have been vetted.  Was it?  What other companies were considered?  Ramos has said that Whitefish was the only company willing to take the deal without a significant deposit.  While this may prove to be a reasonable justification to go with Whitefish, it implies other companies were interested and consulted.  Who?  What kind of deal did they want, which Ramos rejected?

All of these, and I'm sure many other questions surround the deal.  The Department of Homeland Security (parent agency of FEMA) is investigating, and House and Senate committees have called for an investigation.  That the FBI is investigating as well is not surprising since they do a lot of work on financial crimes (consider the Manafort indictment).  But all of this is investigation, not evidence of wrongdoing.  None of it points to any of the baseless conspiracy theories constantly touted by much of the media, in their attempts to portray this as some sort of nefarious deal, crony capitalism orchestrated by the Trump administration. 

My suspicion is that the contract was not illegally produced, nor was there any pressure from the Trump administration to award the contract.  From an article published by TheHill:  "Whitefish and PREPA have consistently defended the deal and said there was nothing illegal or improper about it. “There's nothing illegal here ... Of that, we're sure,” PREPA CEO Ricardo Ramos said Sunday in announcing the end of the contract. “The process was done according to the law.”  It might have been unwise to enter into the deal, but it's not illegal to make bad decisions.  The only part of the contract likely to come under criticism is the clause which forbids auditing of the contract.  I don't see how that clause is enforceable.  I also wonder why it was included.  Who wanted it?  Why?  But even with that clause struck, the remainder of the contract seems proper, as far as I can tell.

Warner,   Good points.  The political overtones of all this BS is based on a lot of smoke and mirrors.  This has been pumped up to extract political retribution against the administration.   The mayor of SJ, and other democrates are attempting to use this issue as a tool of baiting and slander for political purpose.

That aside, if the canceling of the contract further delays the repair of the grid, the people of PR are the ones who suffer.   

I saw an article that suggested the subcontractors with WF, may get picked up by the FEMA teams, and that the WF company would finish the repairs started on two major transmission lines running across the island. 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- … to-restore

Personally, I don't care who does the work, it just needs to be completed ASAP.

Sitka wrote:

That aside, if the canceling of the contract further delays the repair of the grid, the people of PR are the ones who suffer.

Absolutely.  I understand PREPA's desire to get repairs underway as quickly as possible, but to do so in a non-transparent manner threatens to bring the process to a halt.  While Gov. Rossello has much on his plate at this time, had PREPA chief Ramos simply informed him of the deal before it went forward, I think much of this could have been avoided.  And now the people suffer. 

Make haste, but make haste wisely.

Maria, the perfect storm. This the perfect snafu.

(For the board members not from the States or PR, that's a WWII Army acronym for
Situation Normal All Fxxxxx Up)