Still fighting on the front lines: Puerto Rico’s energy warriors

It’s been five months since Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean. The rest of the world may have moved on to other news, but Puerto Ricans are still battling mudslides and eroded trees, garbage in the sewers, contaminated water, and limited electricity.

The Sonnen battery at Iglesia Bautista Mediania Alta.

Although there’s plenty of destruction to see this article won’t focus on the destruction. This is a story of problem-solvers.

In November 2017, I went with my team of renewable energy explorers at Vittoria Energy Expedition to visit Puerto Rico. We discovered some truly inspiring stories–individuals and groups fighting for energy independence and security. They are rebuilding an island 1,100 miles off of the mainland United States with limited resources and exceptional fortitude. They are finding new ways to recharge their phones, TVs, washers and dryers, streetlights, and hospitals.

They are Puerto Rico’s Energy warriors and here are some of their stories.

Read the Impakter story by Andrew Polich - “Still fighting on the front lines: Puerto Rico’s energy warriors.”

Southern California Mudslides: Death Toll Rises to 15, With Dozens More Missing

Rescue crews waded through thick mud in Southern California on Wednesday to extricate stranded residents and clear roads made impassable by mudslides that have left at least 15 people dead and destroyed around 100 homes.

Emergency workers carrying a woman rescued in Montecito, Calif., on Tuesday.

Two dozen people were missing and 28 people were injured after the mudslides struck on Tuesday in an area northwest of Los Angeles that was recently scorched in the state’s largest wildfire on record. The authorities were working to reach 300 people stuck in their homes Wednesday and declared a “public safety exclusion zone,” barring all but emergency crews from the area.

Amber Anderson, a spokeswoman for the joint recovery effort, which involves helicopters, firefighters and emergency workers from several counties, said the affected area was nearly 20,000 acres.

Read the New York Times story - “Southern California Mudslides: Death Toll Rises to 15, With Dozens More Missing.”

Death toll hits 72 as Peru's floods confirmed the worst for two decades

Authorities in Peru have declared that the intense rains, overflowing rivers, mudslides and flooding being experienced in the country are the worst seen in two decades, with the death toll since the beginning of the year having hit 72.

Residents salvage belongings from
 their destroyed home in Huachipa
in the capital Lima.

The highly unusual rains follow a series of storms that have struck hard along Peru's northern coast, with voracious waters inundating hospitals and leaving some small villages isolated.

The storms are being caused by a warming of the surface waters in the Pacific Ocean and are expected to continue for another two weeks, with the disaster affecting more than half the nation.

The Peruvian Government said that 374 people were killed in 1998 during a similar period of massive rains and flooding blamed on the El Nino climate pattern.

Read the ABC story - “Death toll hits 72 as Peru's floods confirmed the worst for two decades.”

Hurricane Alex blasts into the record books

Hurricane Alex blasted into the record books on Thursday as the first Atlantic hurricane to form during the month of January in more than three-quarters of a century, U.S. weather forecasters said.

The storm, with wind gusts up to 85 miles an hour (137 kph), was expected to bear down on the Azores islands off the coast of Portugal on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It did not pose a threat to the United States.

Local authorities issued a hurricane warning for five islands in the central Azores, which could see flash flooding, mudslides and storm surge, said NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen.

Read the Huffington Post story -   “January Hurricane Forms In Atlantic For First Time In 78 Years.”