93 Days Later, Puerto Rico Can't Get Supplies to Turn on the Power

Source: The Daily Beast


The goal was power by Christmas. Now it’s been pushed to March, because even the Army can’t get what it needs.

PABLO VENES
12.22.17 5:00 AM ET

MOROVIS, Puerto Rico—The loud buzzing of portable gasoline electric generators has become the norm in the central mountainous region of Puerto Rico.

It’s been that way for more than three months, ever since Hurricane Maria knocked out 100 percent of electricity on the island of 3.4 million people. Today almost half the island is without power. It’s the longest blackout in American history and will not be over soon because of a shortage of supplies to fix the electrical grid.

“The materials are arriving but at a really slow pace. Sadly, we are hardly working,” said a lineman who preferred not to be identified. “In the meantime, we try to reuse whatever materials that can be found onsite which are rusty and unreliable.”

The lineman is one of about 27,000 other workers who were brought in from the mainland to help restore the power grid. Without supplies though, repair brigades are seen roaming the streets without much to do.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/93-days-later-puerto-rico-cant-get-supplies-to-turn-on-the-power?ref=home