Another Massive Blackout Struck Puerto Rico Last Night

This report was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper

Last night, an explosion at a San Juan power plant regressed Puerto Rico’s efforts to restore power to the island five months after Hurricane Maria struck a massive blow. Much of Northern Puerto Rico has suffered another blackout, including the capital city.

The island’s Electric Power Authority said several municipalities were without power, including parts of the capital, San Juan, but they were optimistic it could be restored within a day as they worked to repair a substation that controls voltage…

…It was not immediately known what caused Sunday’s fire, which was quickly extinguished. Officials said the explosion knocked two other substations offline and caused a total loss of 400 megawatts worth of generation. (source)

And we aren’t getting the whole story about these outages. A reader named Jennifer from Manati told me:

What the news ain’t saying is that we actually had three power grids down. The first one was the Cambalache power station in Arecibo. This left the whole north area without power. Then Palo Second station went down. This second power station connects power from the north to the capital. Afterwards, we had an explosion in Monacillos. This one effected mayor hospitals, airport and capital. For some reason the government and news want people to believe that everything is well and running that things are almost back to normal when that ain’t the truth. All you have to do is visit cities outside from the metropolitan area to see the reality we are living.

And even worse, before this explosion, more than a million people were still without power from the Category 4 hurricane that struck the island on Sept. 20, 2017. They’ve been thrown back in time by a hundred years, with no power, no running water, and damaged homes.

This is a prime example of how disasters aren’t just one-time occurrences. They’re very often followed by subsequent disasters.

Think about it. Fires are often followed by floods which are followed by mudslides and sinkholes. (See California for reference.) The tsunami in Japan was followed by a nuclear plant disaster. Hurricane Harvey in Texas had storm surges and floods that caused a chemical plant to explode a few days later. Now, this already-stressed infrastructure has crumbled again under it’s increasing demand.

Power has been restored to a few critical locations.

This is one situation in which living in a more populated area can benefit you. After last night’s explosion, workers were quick to restore power to specific locations.

By late Sunday, electricity workers had been able to restore power to key locations, including the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, as well as the Medical Center. (source)

As well, after Hurricane Maria, the first areas to resume some form of normalcy were the ones with higher population. San Juan saw it’s power restored immediately but people in more remote areas are still waiting. And not just a few people.

Vox estimated that 1.36 million Americans are still without electricity. You’ll see other numbers that say 400,000, but that is counting households, not individuals.

The US Army Corps of Engineers… estimated that Puerto Rico would need 50,000 utility poles and 6,500 miles of cable to restore its power system…

…When an electrical circuit is open or broken, the power doesn’t flow, whether that’s a flashlight or a phone.

It’s a simple concept, but when it happens in the electricity grid — what engineers say is the largest, most complex machine ever built — it quickly becomes a byzantine problem.

With thousands of miles of transmission lines, gigawatts of generation, computers that route power, frequency regulators, and transformers that all serve the constantly fluctuating needs of millions of people, lots of things can go wrong. Generators can shut down. Transformers can explode. Power demand and supply can fall out of balance.

By far the most common cause of blackouts is damage to power lines, which are the most vulnerable part of the electrical grid to storms.

“In a disruption like this, it’s transmission and distribution,” Marsters said. “Damage does occur to generation assets, but those are point specific and you can get those back online in a reasonable time.”

…Puerto Ricans are now desperately trying to connect the main power arteries to individual homes, and some have resorted to their own makeshift repairs, mounting their own utility poles and stringing up low-voltage transmission lines. (source)

But even before Hurricane Maria made landfall, things with the infrastructure were dire.

The power grid in Puerto Rico was in rough shape BEFORE Maria

Even before the hurricane devastated the island, the infrastructure was in terrible shape, a fact underlined by last night’s explosion.

The blast illustrated the challenges of restoring a power grid that was already crumbling before it was devastated by the Category 4 hurricane.

In many cases, power workers are repairing equipment that should have long been replaced but remained online due to the power authority’s yearslong financial crisis. PREPA is worth roughly $4 billion, carries $9 billion in debt and has long been criticized for political patronage and inefficiency. It also struggled with frequent blackouts, including an island-wide outage in September 2016.  (source)

Before Maria made landfall, I wrote an article that predicted a long haul to get power restored.

It’s entirely possible that Hurricane Maria will put the island in the dark for quite some time to come, completely changing their way of life. 70,000 people are still without power from their bout with Irma, and much more damage to the utility system is expected. Gov. Rossello said:

“We will not have sustainable electric infrastructure in the near future. We will be bringing in crews from outside of Puerto Rico to attend to these measures.” (source)

Philipe Schoene Roura, the editor of a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based newspaper, Caribbean Business, wrote:

Prepa Executive Director Ricardo Ramos Rodríguez recently said the powerlines carrying electricity in the public corporation’s system are in such a deteriorated state that a strong storm could leave the island without power for weeks.

“To give you a number, if during Hurricane Georges 100 lines went down in 1998, today the same [kind of ] hurricane would bring down 1,000,” the official candidly told Caribbean Business when asked about the possibility of Prepa’s system effectively withstanding the onslaught of a similar storm.

“The lifespan of most of Prepa’s equipment has expired. There is a risk that in light of this dismal infrastructure situation, a large atmospheric event hitting Puerto Rico could wreak havoc because we are talking about a very vulnerable and fragile system at the moment,” Ramos added…

…Francisco Guerrero (a fictitious name to protect his identity), a Prepa field worker for 23 years, said it would take months for Prepa to bring up Puerto Rico’s power system should a hurricane like Harvey strike the island.

The lack of linemen and other technical personnel, as well as a lack of equipment—including replacement utility poles for powerlines and replacement parts—are the issues of greatest concern among public corporation employees, who say they risk their lives working with equipment in poor condition that provides them with little safety.

Guerrero said that today only 580 linemen remain out of the 1,300 who were part of the workforce in previous years—and that’s not counting the upcoming retirement of another 90 linemen. Likewise, he said there are only 300 electrical line testers to serve the entire island.

The source also said that much of Prepa’s equipment dates back to the 1950s—and the more “modern” equipment that is still functional dates from the 1990s; in other words, it’s from the past century.

“If a hurricane like this one [Harvey] hits us, the system is not going to come online, I’d say, in over six months. Right now, the warehouses don’t even have materials. I’m talking about utility poles and other stuff,” Guerrero explained.

“How can you say that you have equipment that dates back to the 1950s and you are not buying parts to repair them? When it’s time for maintenance work, you don’t have the part and you leave things as they are, but there is an entry in the log saying maintenance was done. And yes, it was done, but the most important thing was not done, which was to replace that part,” he added.

Although he did not assign the debacle to former Prepa Chief Restructuring Officer Lisa Donahue’s order to stop buying supplies as the main cause for the lack of materials, he is certain the order was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” (source)

Many people thought it was a ridiculous premise and that power would be up and running within a couple of weeks. But it turns out, that was cognitive dissonance. This situation is all the proof you need to see that things can change overnight.

Go watch this video to see what everyday life is like in Puerto Rico for nearly half a million people.

Do you think things will ever be the same in Puerto Rico?

Have the residents of the island been permanently thrown back into Third World status? Will the power ever be fully restored? And considering they’re Americans too, isn’t it rather embarrassing that we aren’t doing more to aid in the recovery?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

More information about the Puerto Rican crisis:

• Hurricane Maria Could Take Out Power in Puerto Rico Indefinitely and It’s Too Late to Prepare


• The SHTF in Puerto Rico Last Night


• Puerto Rico: What It’s Really Like After the SHTF


• What Life Is Like for a Million People in Puerto Rico Who STILL Don’t Have Power


• VIDEO: What Everyday Life Is Like in Puerto Rico Now

Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.

Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget.  Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

Wisconsin National Guard Plan Power-Grid Collapse Drill

According to the Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office, a two-day military drill will take place in Columbia County and at Wisconsin’s Emergency Operation Center in Madison simulating a total power grid collapse on November 15-16.

As the press release states “the public should not be alarmed or concerned if they notice an increased law enforcement presence and military personnel, as well as vehicles and equipment, including non-military unmanned aerial vehicles” in the drilling region.

The drill is in conjunction with a national-level exercise, known as GridEx, which is an exercise to simulate a cyber/physical attack on electric and other critical infrastructures across North America. Wisconsin’s drill will involve county and state law enforcements and first responders, including the Wisconsin National Guard.

Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, Wisconsin’s adjutant general said “GridEx is a great opportunity for our emergency management officials, the National Guard, local first responders and our private industry partners to train together so we are ready to respond if a threat impacted our power grid. While we simply can’t train for every possible scenario, building relationships now makes us all better prepared if we had to respond to a real-world situation.”

The article describes how Wisconsin is preparing for a total grid collapse and warns the preparation has already started. In addition, the report gives timing of the next major ‘full-scale’ drill expected in spring 2018 coined “Dark Sky”.

Over the past several years, Wisconsin has placed an emphasis on the importance of preparing for a long-term power outage and developing capabilities to respond to a cyber incident.

 

As a result, the state began developing new partnerships, policies and plans as well as a strategy that culminates in a full-scale exercise in spring 2018 called Dark Sky, which will simulate a power outage caused by a combination of cyber and physical threats. GridEx will help all participants continue to build and refine processes to better prepare for the Dark Sky exercise as well as real-world scenarios.  

Here is the list of participants who will be drilling on Nov 15-16 in Wisconsin:

• State Emergency Operations Center


• Business Emergency Operations Center


• Utilities and transmission providers


• 65 Soldiers from the National Guard Reaction Force


• FBI


• FEMA Region V


• other Federal agencies

In July, we warned about the US government quietly preparing for a total grid collapse with the passage of an Executive Order – “Coordinating Efforts to Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events”.

Here is snippet of section 1 of the executive order:

Space weather events, in the form of solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances, occur regularly, some with measurable effects on critical infrastructure systems and technologies, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite operations and communication, aviation, and the electrical power grid.

 

Extreme space weather events — those that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure — could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, resulting in cascading failures that would affect key services such as water supply, healthcare, and transportation. Space weather has the potential to simultaneously affect and disrupt health and safety across entire continents. Successfully preparing for space weather events is an all-of-nation endeavor that requires partnerships across governments, emergency managers, academia, the media, the insurance industry, non-profits, and the private sector.

Just days ago, the Department of Defense wrapped up a national drill from November 04-06 simulating a total grid collapse across the United States.

The bottom line: The United States government is quietly preparing for a major power grid collapse. At this point there are many conflicting sources of what could cause such of an event, such as aging infrastructure, cyber or physical attack, EMP, and or a geomagnetic storm. As a citizen, you’re not allowed to know this knowledge and frankly you will not be prepared- only the government will be. The writing is on the wall, as the government continues to drill for the big day, coined in the report: “Dark Sky”.

New Obama Executive Order hints at devastating space event: “could disable large portions of the electrical power grid… cause cascading failures”

Once considered a fringe conspiracy theory, it appears that the Obama administration is now actively preparing for a massive solar event that could wipe out life as we have come to know it. Space weather events such as solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances have long been believed to pose a significant threat to our technologically advanced society with the ability to not only affect global positioning satellites, but on-earth electronics that include the entire domestic (and global) power grid.

In the latest Executive Order signed by Barack Obama, the President calls for coordination between various government agencies including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland security should a major “space weather event” come to pass.

Via WhiteHouse.Gov

Executive Order — Coordinating Efforts to Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to prepare the Nation for space weather events, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Space weather events, in the form of solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances, occur regularly, some with measurable effects on critical infrastructure systems and technologies, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite operations and communication, aviation, and the electrical power grid. Extreme space weather events — those that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure — could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, resulting in cascading failures that would affect key services such as water supply, healthcare, and transportation. Space weather has the potential to simultaneously affect and disrupt health and safety across entire continents. Successfully preparing for space weather events is an all-of-nation endeavor that requires partnerships across governments, emergency managers, academia, the media, the insurance industry, non-profits, and the private sector.

Though often dismissed as nothing more than fear mongering, the threat of space weather events is not only possible, it is quite probable, as evidenced  by a massive solar flare which narrowly missed earth in 2012.

“The speed of this event was as fast or faster than anything that has been seen in the modern space age,” said Baker.

…

Had it hit Earth, the July 2012 event likely would have created a technological disaster by short-circuiting satellites, power grids, ground communication equipment and even threatening the health of astronauts and aircraft crews.

…

We have proposed that the 2012 event be adopted as the best estimate of the worst case space weather scenario…

Is it possible that the Obama administration has scientific evidence supporting the fact that a space weather event is imminent? One Congresswoman thinks so, having claimed that there is a 100% chance of a crippling event.

The Executive Order signed by Obama on October 13, 2016 certainly suggests this may be the case:

It is the policy of the United States to prepare for space weather events to minimize the extent of economic loss and human hardship. The Federal Government must have (1) the capability to predict and detect a space weather event, (2) the plans and programs necessary to alert the public and private sectors to enable mitigating actions for an impending space weather event, (3) the protection and mitigation plans, protocols, and standards required to reduce risks to critical infrastructure prior to and during a credible threat, and (4) the ability to respond to and recover from the effects of space weather. Executive departments and agencies (agencies) must coordinate their efforts to prepare for the effects of space weather events.

Coupled with a previous Executive Doomsday Order signed by the President in March of 2012, the federal government now has the ability to take full control of all critical national infrastructure elements including food resources, energy resources, farms, health facilities, water resources and even the nation’s workforce.

While millions of people have been preparing for the possibility of a catastrophic event by relocating to rural homesteads or farms, as well as stockpiling food, water, personal defense armaments and other essential supplies with the intention of utilizing these preparations if the worst happens, the latest executive order signed by President Obama on March 16, 2012 makes clear that in the event of a nationally deemed emergency all of these resources will fall under the authority of the United States government. 

Full report: Executive Doomsday Order: Obama Authorizes Gov to Seize Farms, Food, Processing Plants, Energy Resources, Transportation, Skilled Laborers During National Emergency

Recent projections from a secret Homeland Security report suggest that as many as 100 million Americans could be left without power should a powerful enough solar storm strike earth. Another report paints an even more terrifying picture, indicating that without access to power via our grid, America would literally come to a standstill. Critical supplies including medicine, gas, and food would be undeliverable and within one year as many as 90% of Americans would be dead if the grid were not restored.

The problem, according to The Prepper’s Blueprint author Tess Pennington is that over 90% of Americans are not only lacking any preparation for such a catastrophic scenario, but even if advance warning was sent to the population 12 hours ahead of time, it would simply be too late:

Unfortunately, that “12 hours” number doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s probably true that during a worst case scenario, it would take 12 hours for a solar storm to reach Earth. The only question is, can our scientific instruments detect a solar storm in that time frame?

Currently, our planet’s early warning system consists of a satellite called DSCOVR, which launched in February of this year, and reached its destination between the Earth and the Sun last June. The satellite it replaced could give us a 15 minute warning, but the DSCOVR satellite isn’t much of an improvement. It only gives us a 30-45 minute warning.

Pennington warns that a breakdown could happen very quickly and catch most people by surprise:

This is the point in this cycle where herds of people go to the grocery stores frantically grabbing supplies. Most grocery stores will not be able to meet the demand of the people’s need for supplies, and many could go home empty handed.

Bracing for the disaster, the prepared and unprepared will be hoping for the best outcome. What many do not realize is the hardest part of this event is soon to be upon them. Within days, the descent into the breakdown will begin.

Source: The Anatomy of a Breakdown

And it is this very descent into breakdown that will require an unprecedented government response and Obama’s Doomsday Executive Order has given them the pretext to do so.

Do government officials know that a life-threatening solar event is becoming increasingly more probable?

Or is the Obama administration simply taking proactive steps to prepare?

Whatever the case, it is important to note that Americans are not prepared to deal with the aftermath of such a scenario.

Millions will die. This is a fact.

Perhaps the actions being implemented on the federal level should be a wake up call to all Americans to prepare for disaster now. 

Via SHTF PLAN

Image NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr

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