I have visited there several times and always really liked it. The Old Town of San Juan is gorgeous and out in the countryside, the people are areally open and friendly. I have thought from time to time that it might be a nice place to retire to - much cheaper to live and the majority of people speak English.
And then there is this - from Dr. Jeff Masters writing at the Weather Undergound:
Maria Back Over Water After Devastating Hit to Puerto Rico
After making landfall in southeast Puerto Rico near 6:15 am Wednesday as a top-end Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds, Hurricane Maria finished a devastating pummeling of the island near 1:30 pm, when its eye emerged over the ocean off the northwest coast. An Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft found that Maria’s 70-mile traverse of Puerto Rico had knocked the top winds of the storm down to 110 mph by 5 pm Wednesday, making it a high-end Category 2 hurricane.
The entire island is without electrical power (3.4 million people) - they had one hurricane (San Felipe Segundo in 1928) that exceeded Maria's strength and violence but the island had not been built up as much back then.
Space has an article on the Arecibo Observatory - it has been sheltered from much of the wind and it is far enough above sea level that the storm surges have no effect but there is still the matter of the 25+ inches of rainfall. The crew was planning to return to the site today to begin evaluations. No news as yet.
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