re: Hurricane Maria - Visiting the Outer Banks before Moving OTS

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That picture is Roseau which is the capital of Dominica. That country is totally screwed because they are an independent nation = no foreign support by the Western countries forthcoming to help them out

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Nahh, Clinton foundation is gonna save them like they did Haiti

TxWadingFool how is that area coming along for those who lived there hear round?? Do they have water and electricity??

And I hear nothing about Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Orange/Bridge City. Just curious.

Even before the storm, Puerto Rico was quickly losing people, many to Florida. This storm is only going to accelerate the diaspora. Sure they will have to get to the airport, and it will take months, but that island is about to see a greater exodus. It happened after Katrina. The island was in financial ruin before the storm.

No air conditioning/electricity for 6 months? What about food? Clean water? Hot weather year round? I don't see how the US government can avoid sending in the military to handle this humanitarian disaster.

Most of Aransas County which is where Rockport / Fulton is at and where Harvey came ashore has had power for about two weeks now thanks to about 6000 linemen who were deployed to the area (was out 15 days in most areas), boil advisory for water was lifted this past week. The schools took a lot of damage and may not be open for another couple months so folks with kids are spread out all over the place, a lot of them are going to the next town over about 25 miles and others are in relocated areas all over the state. Football is big there like most places in Texas and the team is playing out their season and holding voluntary practices in the evenings. All their games are either away or at neutral sites and the games is where a lot of displaced folks are able to come back together as a community. Several restaurants are open again in town, contractor traffic in the area is nuts, forget about trying to find a room or place to rent, the city puts out updates daily and as of yesterday they had picked up and removed 280,000 cubic yards of debris from the road sides and are doing up to 22,000 yards a day now. Yesterday the Governor, a couple of state officials who will oversee the funding for rebuilding the area, the FEMA Secretary, and George Strait were in town to hold a little rally, theme seemed to be that the Rockport area won't be be forgotten given most of the press seems to be about the Houston area. George has had a home on the water in Rockport for a long time which took quite a bit of damage I hear, he is around town quite a bit during the year, they said yesterday the fundraising event he had last week in San Antonio has passed the 40 million dollar mark, where that's going I have no idea. So the Rockport area is doing about as well as can be expected I think and better than I would have thought right after the storm for sure, out on the island where Port Aransas is located it sounds like it's still bad out there, parts are still without power or water and a lot more clean up to be done. As far as the other areas to the east around Houston and beyond I haven't heard a lot, my BIL is a first responder and was deployed to those areas for the first 2 weeks after the storm, lets just say they are dealing a lot with different demographics over there and his stories piss you off more than uplift you, lots of folks gaming the system so to say. Tomorrow is the first off day I'm not headed south at daylight to work all day so I may sleep in and go dove hunting and drink a few cold ones, then it's back to work Sunday at the in laws place. Have a good weekend

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Heard in the radio that there are many pharma manufacturing plants in PR. Google it. I was amazed.

Surely they have alternate sites, but wonder what effect if any this will have.

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That is/was a big part of their economy. But I think that trend is going downhill, and for some companies this may be the final straw. It could impact some drugs...not like you can qualify a second site for a product overnight with the FDA.

Enjoy your hunt and the cold ones. My brother is a lineman but wasn't deployed anywhere.

Best of luck to your entire area.

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I know for sure there are more on the US mainland than on the island for sure

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thats always been the case

Flyover of Levitown

Pretty bad dmg

I have a buddy from Tampa that has an ex and two kids in Puerto Rico. He tried getting them out but could not find a flight. Many of you looked up flights for him . I passed the information to him but they were gone like a fart in a hurricane. He said to say thanks to those that offered help to a stranger.

He has had no communication with any family or friends there. He booked a flight for them on Sunday but has no way to let them know. He took off this morning to go find his people. He should have landed this afternoon.

He still has a house in San Juan but his ex and kids live east of San Juan. The airport is a little ESE so I was hopeful they would be close. I have since learned they were about 50 miles from the airport. He is hoping for a cab, Uber, any help from friendly military, or just a ride from anybody wanting to earn some money.

He feels he may have to walk it and can do so in 10-12 hours. He will get there one way or another.

He was raised in San Juan. He was a little a-hole and became a gang member. He wanted better for himself and joined the U.S. Army. He is a decorated veteran. He went to school on the GI bill and just passed the bar a little over a year ago. He seems soft but is tough as nails and on a mission.

If any of you have time, say a prayer for him and his little ones. It sure can't hurt.

TL,DR: Sometimes you have to go the extra mile for your kids.