Four months after Maria

mrtibbs wrote:

This is all very discouraging to read. It appears there are more setbacks than progress. We will most likely still go forward with purchasing a home in the Aguadilla/Isabela área but are going to stick to our plans with living there part time. I will remain hopeful that changes for the better are on its way.

Good desicion. I don't think it will get better. I lived there 9 years and things didn't get better...

Marion-Olga wrote:

Good desicion. I don't think it will get better. I lived there 9 years and things didn't get better...

It's all a matter of what you are willing to accept and balance it with why you want to live here  (or anywhere for that matter).
Everybody has different reasons to move here and everybody has different limits of what is acceptable. For some it's is good enough, for others it won't work. To each his own.

For me the main reason to live here is because my wife is from Puerto Rico and she would like to stay. Me, I like the climate, the people, the food, the beaches. All I need in this phase of my life is a decent roof over my head, food on the table, a sixpack once or twice per month. To make a couple of bucks I need power and internet.

I'm seriously looking into solar. A guy in the neighborhood installed a system with batteries that generates the bare minimum of power for fridge, freezer, a washing machine, some lights and a couple of fans for around 10 Grand. That's something I would want to have. Add a generator for when more power is needed and I don't need PREPA.

When there's water service one or two days per week I can fill the cisterns and that works for me, too.

I think I'm staying. (for now.. )

Here's the latest in the power soap opera.

While it's tempting to point fingers (and PREPA certainly succumbed to that temptation in it's statement), I'd rather focus on the conditions as they are, and the conditions in the likely future.  So, regardless of how the public utilities on the island got to the condition they are at present, I think anyone considering a move to PR, and anyone with the means who is presently on the island, should consider alternative sources of power and water.  For the former, this means solar, wind and generators (probably in that order).  For water, this means cisterns, which can be filled when public water is available or filled from rainwater, or both.

When I first started looking at buying property and moving to PR, it was my intention to invest in power generation and water collection.  My thinking was not that the public utilities were unreliable.  Rather, the rates were already astronomical and the government is deep in debt.  I figured that if you relied on the public utilities, you were at their mercy, and the government knows this.  For me, power generation and water collection were insurance against rate hikes to pay that enormous debt.

But prior to Maria, and certainly post-Maria, the dilapidated condition of electric generation and transmission as well as water treatment and distribution has become obvious to any with eyes to see.  Now, I'm motivated to generate my own power and collect my own water not merely to protect against rate hikes, but because the provision of public utilities is unreliable -- hurricane or no.

Given the bankruptcy of the island, I see no improvement in public utilities in the near future, with one possible exception.  President Trump focused on the failing infrastructure in the U.S, during his campaign, and it appears to remain an issue of some importance for his administration.  As I see it, the only chance for improvement in PR's infrastructure is if it is part of a broader national initiative.  However, I'm not certain that the Congress shares the President's desire to spend even more money on infrastructure projects, so I don't have much hope for an improvement in PR utilities in the next ten years or so.

The more I look into power generation and water collection, the more of these "prepper" sites I encounter.  I'm not anticipating the breakdown of the social order, of riot and rebellion, and of the collapse of the American regime.  These folks need a prescription for Prozac.  Nevertheless, I was once a Boy Scout, and when my wife and I make the move to PR, given conditions as they are today, we will "be prepared."

Europe Marshall plan was about 13.5 billion dollars or about 135 billion in current dollars. PR asked for 95 billion for reconstruction of Puerto Rico, not counting the 70 billion in debt and the 40 billion in the government employees retirement plans.

There are over 300 bridges in the US that are falling apart and many roads need major reconstruction. Infractructure work is going to go into the trillions of dollars and Congress does not have the stomach for it. It does not have the stomach to provide 95 billions for PR either.

I feel for the people in PR.

But given the PR government corruption and incompetence, if I was congress, I would allocate 25 billion to be released over 10 years and call it done.

Corruption is rampart in the island and it makes little financial sense for the US to fix the financial situation in PR.

But that is just me, yes I am a native and will soon live there.
Rey

My wife and I live in Isabela (Bo. Arenales Bajos), and we've had power since Oct. 15. Power has gone out briefly, as other sectors had to be added to the grid, which is understandable. Water went out, when the dam at Guajataca was in danger of breaking; that lake is a source of drinking water, to the North West of PR.

As far as power, in Rincon, goes; I know that there are still some, up in the hills (Cruces area) that do not have power, although it's been a couple weeks since I have spoken to my former neighbors. The Church Without Walls, in Puntas now has power, (a few weeks now).

Still no power or water in the Las Piñas section of Barrio Beatriz. I have seen work being done on the lines. We still have a high tension wire going through our property, down the mountain that has several large branches resting on it, bending the wire down considerably.

We are not at the property as we are living with family in Humacao. We have been here since Maria. I know they would never tell us this but I'm sure they want their own life back. I don't blame them. I would as well.

We have started working on our roof and hopefully our home will be habitable by May. We need to get back to some semblance of normalcy. Our family here, aside from having us living at their house, have returned to normalcy for the most part. I think it's tough for them to see us depressed at times as they have moved on for the most part and we haven't been able to yet.

Hopefully, in a few years we can look back on this time as just a terrible blip in the radar of our overall life.

Hey Rich,
Given that your roof is missing, what is that doing to your floors and interior walls?

Got to Aguadilla this week, life seems mostly back to normal here with businesses opens , streets cleaned, etc..
Driving through the area you'll see the ocassional damaged building or dangling power pole.

Crashboat beach is about half the size due to erosion.

My friends here tell me that Fema did not help much in cleaning up, it was locals just pitching in trying to get back to normal..
My friend said the locals cleaned up crash boat , and received almost no help from local government or fema.
They said the debris pile was overwhelming all over the city.
As been said several times, the Puerto Rican people deserve credit for their ingenuity and perseverance in surving this crisis and doing what they could to recover from this catastrophe with limited support from fema and the federal government.
Most solid houses fared well on my street.

Life goes on west side of the island.

Thank you so much Elcalipocho for the update. That is the area we are definitely hoping to buy in. My wife is Puerto Rican and has this sense of urgency to purchase property now more than ever. We are planning to live there part time and once we get settled in move there permanently. I agree whole heartedly with you Gary. We love Puerto Rico and are committed to the making a home there as well as be a part of the recovery. So there's pretty much nothing anyone can say from their bad or not so good experiences to disway us from making a home there.

mrtibbs wrote:

Thank you so much Elcalipocho for the update. That is the area we are definitely hoping to buy in. My wife is Puerto Rican and has this sense of urgency to purchase property now more than ever. We are planning to live there part time and once we get settled in move there permanently. I agree whole heartedly with you Gary. We love Puerto Rico and are committed to the making a home there as well as be a part of the recovery. So there's pretty much nothing anyone can say from their bad or not so good experiences to disway us from making a home there.

*dissuade*

That's why I don't get solar .it's not cost effective at 30k half the price of my home just for solar. Nobody will pay 30000 more for a home because of solar and pay 8000 dollars for batteries every ten years
.waste of money.its just a gimic.you saving nothing.your preparing your electric bill for 40 years.i paid 70k for my home. O what it would cost half the price of a house.thats ridious

Tibbs,
I have two groups of  friends from California that spend 6 months out of the year in Aguadilla.
They are retired and love being here.

As far as buying a house, get a lawyer to represent your side, and pay a contractor or professional to do an inspection.

Well made concrete houses with solid concrete roofs fared ok during Maria.

In my opinion after seeing Maria, look for property on higher stable ground.

Elcalipocho wrote:

In my opinion after seeing Maria, look for property on higher stable ground.

Also, make sure that:
- the house is hurricane proof
- you have an alternative to generate electricity
- there are cisterns

Up unti now we've been making weekly visits and taking out the water. I'm just going to have to pressure wash the walls and floors when ready. Not much else we can do at this point.

richvide0 wrote:

Up unti now we've been making weekly visits and taking out the water. I'm just going to have to pressure wash the walls and floors when ready. Not much else we can do at this point.

You saw my posts in FB group about IRA loan?