Miscellaneous News

Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Tuesday at 7:08 AM
Jura said:
Sep 9, 2017

and another ...
Hurricane Maria hits Dominica with Category 5 punch

Updated 0432 GMT (1232 HKT) September 19, 2017
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...
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frightful vid inside
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shows also forests were taken down there:
Dominica.md.jpg

:-(
 
D

delft

Brigadier
Jura said:
Yesterday at 8:26 PM

gosh
Puerto Rico governor: Power could be out for months
Updated 1:01 AM ET, Thu September 21, 2017
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Puerto Rico is broke ( the name means Rich Port! ), its power company is broke, most people are poor. As a self governing colony of US it cannot claim support from the federal government as, in principle, a US state can, so no wonder that power might be out for months.
 
Quickie

Quickie

Colonel
Thought of posting this under "What the heck..." thread, but then again this is a serious enough matter.

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North Korean Foreign Minister Says Trump Has ‘Declared War’
North Korea's foreign minister said Monday that President Donald Trump has "declared war" on his country and that Kim Jong Un's regime would consider shooting down American bombers.

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North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
"Since the U.S. declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down the U.S. bombers even when they are not yet inside the airspace border of our country," Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in New York.

"Last weekend, Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer and he declared a war on our country," he added. "Even the fact that this comes from someone who is currently holding the seat of the U.S. presidency is clearly a declaration of war."

The foreign minister appeared to be referring to a tweet that Trump sent Sunday, which referenced "Rocket Man" — the president's nickname for Kim.

Kim and his officials are no stranger to fiery, war-like rhetoric, often threatening to immolate the U.S. in "a sea of fire" and to reduce "the whole of the U.S. mainland to ruins."

Since assuming office, Trump has also joined in with bold language of his own, warning North Korea that he could visit "fire" and "fury" on the authoritarian regime if it threatened the U.S.

Many analysts agree that while the North’s apocalyptic statements may sound crazy, the country is actually building its missile and nuclear program according to a rational set of goals.

Key among its aims is self-preservation. It saw that regimes in Iraq and Libya fell to Western-backed regime change after they gave up their nuclear programs, and has vowed not to suffer a similar fate.

tdy_news_neely_north_korea_170925_1920x1080.nbcnews-ux-1080-600.jpg


Trump's war of words with North Korea continues to increase tensions 2:06
Despite months of fierce words, a military solution to the standoff would result in a conflict that some North Korea-watchers predict could cause more than 1 million deaths.

Even without nuclear weapons, North Korea has plenty of conventional weapons pointed at South Korea and its capital Seoul, which is just 30 miles from the border.

North Korea has said in public statements that it wants an official end to the Korean War. The conflict was halted by a 1953 armistice but no peace treaty has been signed. It also wants nothing short of full normalization of relations with the U.S. and to be treated with respect and as an equal in the global arena.

The foreign minister made the remarks near the United Nations headquarters in New York, where he attended last week’s General Assembly.

After leaving the crowd of reporters in the street, he walked back moments later and added: "In light of the declaration of war by Trump, all options will be on the operations table of the supreme leadership."
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
delft said:
Puerto Rico is broke ( the name means Rich Port! ), its power company is broke, most people are poor. As a self governing colony of US it cannot claim support from the federal government as, in principle, a US state can, so no wonder that power might be out for months.
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I now read two stories:
  1. Questions mount on size of Puerto Rico relief mission, hospital ship’s inaction
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  2. Puerto Rico's main airport is barely functioning
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Yesterday at 8:35 PM
Jura said:
...
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and
Pentagon: Hospital Ship USNS Comfort Prepares to Depart for Puerto Rico
Responding to the need for humanitarian aid in Puerto Rico, hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) is now preparing to get underway within 96 hours, according to a Department of Defense spokesperson.

According to news reports, while speaking at the White House Tuesday afternoon, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long said Comfort would soon be traveling to Puerto Rico. Later in the day, a Department of Defense spokesperson confirmed Comfort was preparing to leave its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

Comfort is an afloat, mobile, acute surgical facility, providing the same level of medical care found at a major shore medical hospital such as Naval Medical Center Portsmouth or the Maryland Trauma Center in Baltimore.

During normal pier side operations, Comfort has approximately 50 personnel who crew the ship, keeping it ready to quickly deploy. When activated, according to the Navy, Comfort’s crew grows to approximately 1,200 personnel.
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it's USNI News
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
now watched the report, read
Puerto Rico's aid is trapped in thousands of shipping containers
Updated 1:48 PM ET, Thu September 28, 2017
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A mountain of food, water and other vital supplies has arrived in Puerto Rico's main Port of San Juan.

But a shortage of truckers and the island's devastated infrastructure are making it tough to move aid to where it's needed most,officials say.

At least 10,000 containers of supplies -- including food, water and medicine -- were sitting Thursday at the San Juan port, said Jose Ayala, the
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shipping company's vice president in Puerto Rico.

Part of the reason for the distribution backlog is that only 20% of truck drivers have reported back to work
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according to a representative for Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

On top of that, a diesel fuel shortage and a tangle of blocked roads mean the distribution of supplies is extremely challenging. Even contacting drivers is a problem because cell towers are still down.

"When we say we that we don't have truck drivers, we mean that we have not been able to contact them," Rosselló said.

On Thursday the White House authorized
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, a federal law that limits shipping to US ports by foreign vessels. Puerto Rico's governor and other US officials had argued that a waiver would expedite supplies to the island.

But as Ayala has indicated, shipping companies already have aid and supplies either waiting at the port to be delivered -- or held up at ports on the US mainland.

Of the 3,000 containers that Crowley alone had sent to San Juan's port as of Wednesday, only 4% had been dispatched from there, Ayala said.

On Thursday the White House authorized
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, a federal law that limits shipping to US ports by foreign vessels. Puerto Rico's governor and other US officials had argued that a waiver would expedite supplies to the island.

But as Ayala has indicated, shipping companies already have aid and supplies either waiting at the port to be delivered -- or held up at ports on the US mainland.

Of the 3,000 containers that Crowley alone had sent to San Juan's port as of Wednesday, only 4% had been dispatched from there, Ayala said.

'This hurricane was catastrophic'
Ayala said the company can't get enough truck drivers or trucks filled up with diesel to pick up supplies for distribution across the island.

"The problem has been with the logistics, the parts of the supply chain that move the cargo from our terminal to the shelves or to the tables of the people in Puerto Rico," Ayala said Wednesday. "This hurricane was catastrophic."

Meanwhile, Puerto Ricans are waiting hours in line to get gas, food and cash. Gas stations and supermarkets are rationing supplies, while banks are running low on cash.

Natalia Manteiga waited outside a supermarket Wednesday in Old San Juan that was letting in a few people at a time. She wanted to get water, tuna, and Chef Boyardee for her two children and her husband -- who had waited for hours Tuesday to get $20 worth of gas.

With stifling humidity and temperatures in the high 90s, it started to rain on Mantiega and dozens of other hopeful shoppers trying to get food.

Manteiga, who works for a tourism firm, said she's running low on cash, too.

"It's difficult when you have kids. You want to make sure they have enough food," said Manteiga. "They told me the banks are refilling, but we don't know and the lines are very long."
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Yesterday at 8:03 PM
Jura said:
now watched the report, read
Puerto Rico's aid is trapped in thousands of shipping containers
Updated 1:48 PM ET, Thu September 28, 2017
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and finally US troops deliver food, supplies to devastated Puerto Rico during round-the-clock operations
The U.S. military kept up round-the-clock missions on Thursday to send aircraft, troops, food and supplies to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as the devastated region struggles to recover after Hurricanes Maria and Irma slammed the islands.

Eight flights were scheduled Thursday as part of 24-hour operations to deliver food, water, medical supplies, communications support and power-generating equipment, officials with U.S. Northern Command said in a release.

The operations include search-and-rescue efforts, distribution of supplies and bringing power back up at hospitals, airports, ports and other facilities.

Brig. Gen. Rich Kim, deputy commander of U.S. Army North, arrived in Puerto Rico on Wednesday to set up a forward headquarters to manage response efforts, according to Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis.

NORTHCOM is deploying medical capabilities and ambulances, and U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort was expected to leave from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday and arrive in Puerto Rico in a few days.

C-17 and C-5 cargo aircraft were arriving Thursday in Puerto Rico, laden with supplies such as an FAA generator to support radar control operations, a Coast Guard Mobile Medical unit and heavy-duty trucks.

"You have effectively a series of islands that are over 1,000 miles away from the continental United States. Your only fast method to resupply them is by air, because all the ships that you want to supply with are trying to get out of the way of that same hurricane rolling up to Florida," said Brig. Gen. Keith Wark, director of operations for the National Guard Bureau.

Since Hurricane Maria, Air Mobility Command has flown nearly 200 sorties, delivering about 1,500 short tons of critical equipment and supplies, such as fuel, communications equipment, generators, medical equipment, food and water, said Col. Patrick Ryder, an Air Force spokesman.

AMC air medical evacuation teams have moved a total of 104 patients from St Croix, including one mission on Sept. 24 that moved 34 patients. The medical team said that was the biggest mission they’ve had since during Katrina. The largest they had then was 23 patients on one flight.

The Air National Guard has also flown 213 sorties to date, delivering about 1000 short tons of cargo, and 1200 personnel, flying C-130s, KC-135s, C-17s, HH-60s, RC-26s, C-40s. Personnel include aerial port, medical personnel, and communications personnel needed to help with relief operations.

As more ports and airfields and roads open, more resources will flow, Ryder said.

The Guard’s initial task was to get airfields open so they could deploy in. One of the key combat capabilities the ANG has are special tactics squadrons that go in and open up the air field and begin to control traffic with nothing but a radio.

“We can set up that field on land with night vision goggles and start to bring in initial capability,” Wark said. They did that in St. Thomas and St. Croix within 12 hours of the storm’s passage. Then they start to do airfield assessment analysis in difficult portions down there, he said.

“It may seem the response was slow for the air, but I would tell you that’s not. We had a critical enabler, a radar system that was knocked out in San Juan, so that had to get reestablished,” Wark said. That meant they were essentially back to the 1930s or ‘40s method of trying to sequence airplanes that were 40 or 50 miles apart to be able to get in. That limited the amount of traffic each hour they could get in safely.

U.S. Marines worked on clearing routes, distributing supplies and fuel and providing helicopter support to assist U.S. officials assessing Puerto Rican hospitals.

As of Wednesday, the U.S. Army had deployed more than 4,000 soldiers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civilians, 15 aircraft and more than 500 trucks as part of the response and relief efforts in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Army officials said in a release.

The Puerto Rico Army National Guard was working to restore lines of communication and provide engineer support to clear routes for humanitarian assistance missions, Army officials said.

U.S Army Reserve units involved in the relief efforts on the ground, according to the Army release:

The 597th Quartermaster Company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico was providing laundry and shower support for evacuees.

The 602nd Area Support Medical Command was treating sick and injured patients in the Virgin Islands.

The 166th Regional Support Group was delivering commodities, medical supplies and fuel to distribution points in Puerto Rico.

The 448th Engineer Battalion was clearing routes in the western region of Puerto Rico.
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