Hurricanes, Dams and Earthquakes oh my! Some things you probably know, some you may not. Does solar fit in?

   The people of Puerto Rico are facing an impossible chain of events, multiple hurricanes, flooding and complete destruction of the entire infrastructure. If that is not enough now an impending dam failure is certain, 70,000 people in the path of a great wall of water. Putting matters in an even more dire picture, the shipping ports are shut down due to damage from the two storms, They must be repaired before they can receive shipments of fuel, water, and food. One catastrophic event after another, unfortunately, it is not unique to them.

This is how it begins prior to landfall, some brave souls surf in it, not me.

  Mexico has suffered their third earthquake within the past 3 weeks, one offshore and two in approximately the same location, the one this morning was a 6.1, preceded by a 7.1 and an 8.2 that began this chain of events. It is unknown if they are related, it will be determined over the next year or so. There have been over 1,000 aftershocks, with people still trapped in some of the crumbled structures, there would have been more damage had the Mexican Government not made stricter zoning laws. After 10,000 people lost their lives in the 1985 earthquake which devastated Mexico City, the earthquake construction requirements were upgraded to the same level as Japan and the United States. In the midst of the swarm of earthquake activity a hurricane blew in from the Caribbean Sea, water adds an entirely new level to any disaster.
  This year of record-breaking storms sure puts reality in its place, earlier in the year during the snow melt the concern was overflowing dams and rivers going over their banks. Oroville Dam, still an issue, however, it is being repaired with completion estimated for fall 2018. The California Department of Water Resources reports they are on target for a good temporary fix by the end of November 2017.
  The Anderson Dam in San Jose is undergoing repairs as well, the channel (Coyote Creek) is being deepened, widened and the levees are being improved. The Mayor was on TV last week accepting full responsibility for the entire mess, it's rare for a politician to make a statement such as that. They do have the resources to repair the damage.
  Houston's Dam failure was much bigger than the Anderson Dam, however, they shared just about the same characteristics. Both released water during an extremely high rain event, (let's not forget Houston's was much larger) and the water ended up in residential areas. Houston got 4 feet of rain whereas San Jose gained water from rain but mostly snow runoff. I am hoping the Texan's are planning repairs to all of the critical infrastructures that were destroyed, they are such a resilient people I cannot imagine them not making improvements. The news is hard to come by concerning Houston right now, which is understandable, they are cleaning up and drying out.
  Florida is up to their eyebrows in cleanup as well, they did not have any dam issues, but man do they have water. Cleanup is going full steam ahead as it appears from afar, I imagine things are much better when the water is drained and gone. They have high humidity there and when combined with the 80-90+ degree temperatures it is unbearable especially when there is no relief to be found anywhere. The CDC has advise on dealing with the heat. (link)
  The disasters sure put a new perspective on life from my viewpoint, the disasters I thought were nearly unbearable earlier in the year, now seems not so after Houston, Florida, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The wildfires in the west were outrageously horrible as well, loss of life, property, and livestock, yes it will take a long time to recover fully, but at least they can start now. It is my experience that it takes two years for a house that suffers total destruction from a fire to go through the insurance requirements and the actual rebuild. In comparison, it will take six months for the Houston and Florida areas impacted just to dig out and clean up enough to start rebuilding. Depending on the structure, repairs can not begin until engineering, design, and acceptance of plans is achieved. It takes weeks to modify a blueprint, just one part of it, most large projects (Dams, Bridges, and waterways) have hundreds of blueprints, all must be drawn, checked and approved prior to the first shovel of dirt being turned over. A question some of us may have is "why don't they just use the old drawings?" The answer is simple, that design failed, it has to be done correctly from the ground up.

Big projects need big equipment and lots of manpower.

  It will take Mexico and Puerto Rico, on the other hand, a year just to dig out and clean up, unbelievably Mexico will most likely recover quicker than Puerto Rico. Mexico is a step ahead, they have upgraded their building codes years ago, one less hurdle, they do know what they are doing. Unfortunately, when the codes are re-written they can only be imposed on new construction, regular homeowners and landlords generally do not have the funds to comply. Eventually, all of the pre-1985 buildings will be gone, I hope not with the price of loss of life.
  Suffering the most is Puerto Rico, two huge earthquakes, dam failure most likely, complete loss of all utilities and the infrastructure destroyed. The entire country needs to be rebuilt, everything is gone. The electric generating plants have been reported to be an operative condition with little or damage, however, the delivery system is gone. All of the switchyards, power poles and lines are above ground, and as most of the power lines in the U.S. in need of repairs. I'm sure this is jumping the gun a bit, I hope it's not callous of me but I will say it anyway. Is this a golden opportunity to energize all of the houses, restaurants and other small to medium users with solar? If it's so profitable for the solar companies in California (I don't know if the companies are doing the same in every state) to install panels "free", why can't it be done in P.R.? For larger establishments small generating plants (gas turbines) could be built at all of the critical establishments, Hospitals, Police and Government offices, they are available in deliverable "skids" producing as much as 20 megawatts. The excess electricity could be injected into the "grid" and sold to other users. Would it be faster, easier and cheaper to energize each entity on its own rather than take on restoring power to 3 million people? If small gas turbine plants were installed throughout the country the only hardcore infrastructure that would be needed is a high-pressure natural gas line supplying them. The Government spoke's person this morning stated the main focus is on restoring power and water, she also said that all areas of the country have not been heard from.
  What about the houses and other structures? It sure looks like a shortage of building materials is coming, cement, wood, bricks, and steel, needed for a million homes or more. Florida upgraded the building codes there as well, after reading about the changes that were made the people that did not evacuate made more sense. A lot of the homes, new construction, are built to withstand a Catagory 3 hurricane, that explains why people kept saying on TV (Weather channel) they do not evacuate unless the storm exceeds Category 3. I still question the people choosing to "ride it out" on their boats, how did they end up, I have never heard. Have you ever thought of how fast a lot of people could be evacuated if we had a healthy railroad system? A state like Florida could run a line from Miami north and serve the entire state moving thousands of people out of harm's way days before landfall, just another pipe dream I have.

It could work, if we took train travel seriously. 

  The Dams, it is so easy to sit back on my chair and criticize Dams, however, it would not be as easy to explain away devastating floods if we did not have them. I have studied Dams just enough to be dangerous, I studied the Dam building era. The engineering can be criticized, the materials and locations can be as well, I won't do that, they are built and now we have to accept whatever they offer. I do question if repairs and modifications are enough in light of what appears to be ever increasing the intensity of these storms. All records are breakable, if predictions are accurate the rainfall and storms will increase in intensity and rain volume. Maybe the Dams all need to be examined, California has over 2,000 operating Dams, Texas has in excess of 3300, that's a lot of work. Information concerning the era of the Dam Builders click here.
  A lot of jobs will be available in construction over the next decade, that is how long it will take to rebuild and redesign completely. There will be more storms, more powerful is yet to be known for sure but it cannot be ignored, the Dams must be able to hold back the predictable amount of water, with a way to release the overage in a safe way and not into housing sub-divisions.
  Thanks for reading and sharing my blog, leave a comment or question.

jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com