In a transparent attempt to politicize tragedy, and simultaneously retain some kind of relevance, Hillary Clinton just tweeted this out:

The reality of Clinton’s disconnect is only exceeded by her jawdroppingly ridiculous undertones of division.  Obviously Hillary Clinton has no idea what is going on in Puerto Rico.  The U.S. military have been leading FEMA rescue, relief and recovery efforts from the first moment the winds died down. (See video below)
Even before Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico the U.S. military, including the Navy, were mobilized in advanced preparation for what was predicted –SEE HERE– We have personally spoken to on-the-ground units from the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marines.   For this disaster FEMA knew the logistical ability of the U.S. military was going to lead the response.
The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard is working to open ports. There are hundreds of sunken vessels impeding navigation. The Navy and Coast Guard led recon missions to determine clear entry paths (rapid recon) and are RIGHT NOW guiding in relief ships through the waters surrounding the island.
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Earlier today multiple power companies and tree clearing organizations were rallying in South Florida to begin the long convoy back home.  Our CERT team knew we could not thank them all, there were/are over 60,000 people in the Florida power recovery effort, but we darned sure were going to try and thank as many as possible.

~”The Largest Power Restoration Effort in U.S. History”~

There are still areas in Florida where the power grid is being rebuilt and restored, however the vast majority of the work in SWFL (Marco Island, Naples, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Sanibel, Cape Coral, Collier and Lee Counties) is finished.  At this stage of completion the power and tree crews who came to assist head back to their home state and region.   Many of them began that trek home today.
There is no way to adequately outline the dedication we have witnessed in the impact zone from these incredible men and women and their traveling support groups.  Unless you actually witness them in action it’s indescribable.  Working 24/7 for two straight weeks, through intense blistering heat, through storms and sheet-rain, through the darkest nights, these crews were jaw-droppingly dedicated to the recovery effort; and this was no-where near home for them.
When I think of them leaving their families for weeks… of them wading through filth and muck to reach the hardest of areas… of the saltwater marsh up to their necks with equipment held over their heads… of the grit and determination…. of the callouses in every handshake and hug… of the colors of every helmet…. day-after-day, night-after-night no quit… well, I ain’t a tender person but damn if their sheer effort just doesn’t drop me to tears of appreciation.
Blazin’ chainsaws… solutions on the fly… engineering stuff and building it with a level of calloused ingenuity that would strike fear into any adversary questioning the strength and backbone of America.
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Puerto Rico has been devastated by Hurricane Maria.  CTH can confirm there is almost no communication with the majority of those impacted by the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria.   Local officials are using satellite phones to gain residents the ability to contact their friends and family in the U.S. mainland. Critical infrastructure has been severely compromised.  Cell phone service is sporadic to non-existent.
Adding to and amplifying the problem was a general dependency on government assistance, by a large portion of the population, for basic needs prior to the storm.  The comfort of dependency has now worsened the desperation of the people on the island.

(Via Fox News) A humanitarian crisis grew Saturday in Puerto Rico as towns were left without fresh water, fuel, power or phone service following Hurricane Maria’s devastating passage across the island.

A group of anxious mayors arrived in the capital to meet with Gov. Ricardo Rossello to present a long list of items they urgently need. The north coastal town of Manati had run out of fuel and fresh water, Mayor Jose Sanchez Gonzalez said.

“Hysteria is starting to spread. The hospital is about to collapse. It’s at capacity,” he said, crying. “We need someone to help us immediately.”
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Prayers for Puerto Rico as Hurricane Maria slams into the island.  Maria made landfall in the area around Yabucoa with 155 MPH winds.  Maris is the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico since 1928, when the San Felipe Segundo hurricane slammed the island and killed about 300 people, the National Weather Service said.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) – Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the strongest storm to hit the U.S. territory in nearly 90 years, turning streets into debris-laden rivers, damaging buildings and cutting power, after killing at least nine people in the Caribbean.

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Sunday (Day #7) was mostly a day of church, fellowship, thankfulness and recharging.  There’s still so much to be done.  We were also able to get 5 new generators delivered to a few homes in inland Lee and Collier counties along with five window AC units. (Yea, Home Depot.)  We also found a great auto-shop allowing us to use a bay, lift and tools to put some much needed maintenance time into our two primary high access trucks which have taken a serious pounding for a week.
Today (Day #8), we’re working on oil changes and repairs to some transmission and undercarriage (linkage) work before heading back in to eastern Lee and Collier counties.
♦ Flooded roads remain an issue. ♦ The hurricane curfew has been lifted.  ♦ Schools remain closed.
♦ The primary power issues are in Monroe county (FL Keys), Collier county (Naples, Marco Island), and Lee county (Lehigh, Fort Myers) areas. –SEE HERE–  Obviously the recovery efforts in Monroe county are going to be months long, if not years.  In Southwest Florida (Collier, Lee) hopefully the power can be returned to the most seriously affected within two weeks.
Lehigh Acres (eastern Lee County) and Golden Gate (eastern Collier county, Naples) are where most of the blue-collar working class live.  Unfortunately those areas also got the worst part of the storm.  The inland power infrastructure was seriously damaged by the eye-wall winds of Hurricane Irma.  That’s where we’ve been focusing on trying to do what we can.  These folks have to keep working regardless of how much damage and chaos personally surrounds them.
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Many Treepers have been providing support to Samaritans Purse; and we can confirm the faith-based recovery workers are all over southwest Florida. We’ve shook hands with many of the Baptist Men from all over the Southern U.S. that have traveled into the state to assist in the region.  They are great people who are especially important as they go into some of the areas often forgotten as the media focus is on the immediate coast.

♦ A Poke in The Ribs – yesterday, as we were exiting a convenience store, AJ poked me in the ribs and nodded toward a guy at the gas pump leaning on the edge of his truck bed in a praying position.  The truck was towing a trailer with the traditional gear of a pool service, yellow chlorine containers, skimmer poles and vacuum hoses etc.
No words needed between us, we’ve seen that stance a hundred times. “Hey, brother, you ok?”  “How ya making out?”  In the seconds between the next word, you know… you just know… it’s something about the eyes.
Pool-man Mike lives in an inland area, south Lehigh Acres, and services customers in Bonita Springs.  We never thought about pool-man stress til that moment. Family ok, but house is wrecked, no power, and can’t quit working because he can’t lose his accounts.  Many of his customers are without power, and he’s trying to keep their pools from turning into fancy concrete ponds.  Many are a mess with debris.  Strong work ethic.
“No power?” … “You got a generator?”… “etc.”?
Nope, and pool-man Mike has no time to focus on his own needs because he’s got to keep the business afloat.  Kids at home, school is cancelled next week too; momma stressed and also working.  They need to work, everyone does.
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When dealing with crisis there’s a delicate space between between joy (celebration) and guilt perhaps never more understandable than the moment when power is restored to your home, yet you are thinking of those still waiting; those still suffering.
Power returned today to casa del Sundance thanks to assistance from three Michiganders, two West Virginians, one Pennsylvanian, and a salty fellow from Gainesville Florida -super smart starfish thrower- with a seriously well designed, and custom engineered, narrow profile track and bucket lift.
Darn I wish I had taken a picture of that gear (phone was dead). It looks a little like this, but is smaller (about size of mini-bobcat); compact and seriously purposeful.  Incredible build and functionality with terrain tracks, generator and a narrow profile; super maneuverable.
With this gear we’re able to squeeze down the easement space between rows of powerless houses, and put the bucket operator into tight spaces clearing fallen trees from under, around, and over the space were power line crews need to travel.  Effectiveness is quadrupled.
♦More fuel is now available.  This is a major improvement. Approximately 50 to 75% of gas stations now seem generally well supplied and it doesn’t take more than a few drive-bys to find fuel.  Stores beginning to resupply, and more people returning to SWFL.
I’m actually amazed at how many residents evacuated, then stayed away for so long.  The neighbor to neighbor communication seems to be the contact to bring them back; with many choosing to stay out until power is restored.  This is significantly different from prior Hurricane impact events.  Usually people return quickly (48-72 hrs); this time a much larger percentage of the population choose to remain in a holding pattern (wherever they evacuated to) awaiting information.
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As I shared yesterday:

[…] With most hurricane power outages you can find something, usually a tree, that has actually severed the top power line on a neighborhood grid. If the tree is massive, with or without taking down the pole, the tree has to be removed first. If the power company has to remove a tree before they can restore power to an ordinary residential neighborhood, they drop the priority to “some later time”, and move on to quicker repairs… Ergo most of those without power, end Day #3 (September 13), will not see power until their rotation on the tree removal list comes up; sometime around the end of the month (two weeks away), or later.

A case in point.  Check this one out:

You can click on that image to make it massive.
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This is a great picture:

Heck, that’s a blessed picture.  Bigly.

If anyone with with an analysis background has the time to run some stats, I’d love to see what your results would be to overcoming this fuel problem and the duration of it.
teekay has some initial thoughts:
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Did you ever read that little story about the kid walking down the beach throwing starfish in the water, when the old man says he can’t save all of them, so why bother?  Well, that a parable for Day #2 in Irma’s impact zones.  That parable also explains why this follow-up is reaching y’all well after midnight on Sept. 13th.
[Hurricane relief work is a little like keeping a farmers schedule. As I understand it, the work schedule of a farmer extends the necessary shift until the job is done, which has entirely nothing to do with a clock…]
I said yesterday I thought that 50% of the residents of South Florida might be home.  I was wrong.  That estimation was overstated. Maybe a third of the regular residents were home on Day #1 – a few more showed up today (Day #2)…. and based on south-bound traffic observed, a whole bunch more are in in route tonight.
They ain’t going to like what awaits.
First things first.  Yes, we found fuel – it took driving past 47 empty gas stations to find one open with fuel.   More than 100 cars (easily) were around the block for this station at 8am.  We dispatched a volunteer to wait in line, and went about doing what we could w/out fuel, SCOUT.  Three hours later 40 ten gal cans caught up with us.  Oh, and another station opened around noon.
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