Earthquakes and Hurricanes: What will happen next in Puerto Rico?

Question

A series of earthquakes, largest one so far happened early morning on Jan 7th 2020, magnitude 6.6M in the Richter scale in Puerto Rico just 8 miles from the south coast.  Some areas in the south have suffered the worst impact and collapsed structures (houses, schools, churches), along with other infrastructure damage such as bridges, buildings, streets, etc.

I have properties in PR, and I'm somewhat familiar with the economy, and I wander how this will impact the economy and the REI in Puerto Rico moving forward.  We had a pretty bad hit in 2017 with Hurricane Maria, and the infrastructure have been decaying even before the hurricane.  No with this series of earthquakes on top of the fragile infrastructure is something that really worries me.

What is next for Puerto Rico?  What are the ramifications of REI in the beautiful Island but yet devastated by natural events?

Josue Vargas · Answer

Their devastating condition is a direct result of the corruption of the government of PR. DIdn't you watch the news after the hurricane? They need to clean house and spend the money we give them on shoring up the infrastructure instead of padding their pockets. Investing in a place like that is like investing in Detroit. Silliness at best.

I respect your opinion.  I'm not going to divert the big issue in hand because your thoughts of what an ideal government should run/do or how the money is distributed.  While I recognize is an issue and unacceptable, I don't believe is the cause for the devastation of natural disaster (in terms of %).  By the way I'm in favor to put in jail any individual that steal a penny from public funds.

Aaron T. · Answer

Their devastating condition is a direct result of the corruption of the government of PR. DIdn't you watch the news after the hurricane? They need to clean house and spend the money we give them on shoring up the infrastructure instead of padding their pockets. Investing in a place like that is like investing in Detroit. Silliness at best.

Mike,

apples and oranges. The political environment has nothing to do with residential housing. Housing crumbling is for a couple reasons. 1. they are made of concrete to include the roof. This is great for hurricanes, and not so great for lateral movement of the ground shaking. 2. some of the places were built, but did not take any codes into consideration, so they ended up crumbling as a result.

Yes, the political situation needs improving. Yes, the people need to get back to work again to pay taxes to fund the programs, but that is a whole other issue.

Josue Vargas · Answer

Account Closed

I think at least we should show a little bit of humanity and respect for US citizens suffering from such natural devastating events like a 6.6M earthquake.  I was referring of what to expect next in regards to REI in Puerto Rico.

Thank you.

Account Closed · Answer

1. Right. FEMA had to step in (Federal Government) because the locals we too busy draining the treasury to do anything about putting place what the West Coast has for earthquake construction.

I bounced through a 6.4 in Seattle and a 6.6 in Seattle. I know what an earthquake can do. They did very little damage in Seattle (it was a fun ride and very dramatic, but little damage) because building codes were retroactively enforced. PR could do the same.

2. When I lived in New Orleans in 1973 it was said that the money that should have been used to update the levies and the pumps was spent on "other" things. They did nothing until Katrina 42 years later and in all those years they never properly updated or maintained the pump houses or the levies. And look at the disaster it created. It was a ticking time bomb that went off. I was there over Christmas and the streets are still 3rd world country. They put up signs (sometimes) that a pot hole exists and those signs have been there for years. Look up Huey P. Long and read the bios of the mayors of New Orleans. You really need to do better research. Ever hear of Ray Nagin and what he did? Gracious me!

3. If Big cities have more engineers it's because they need more. You have to look at police staffing, firemen, teachers, SAT scores and on and on. And I can give song and verse about the differences spent per child for public schools in liberal cities and moderate cities and the differences in performance. More money doesn't equate to better results. More money equates to more bloat.

LA, Baltimore, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, etc (where do I stop) all have animosity toward the police by their respective city councils. That is no way to provide for the safety of investors and their tenants.

Account Closed · Answer

Nonsense. Look at any other American city and see the same democratic political corruption and decaying cities. Detroit, St Louis, Philadelphia. When you make excuses for poorly run cities (and PR) you only make matters worse and never improve the living conditions of the people.

Snyder: Poverty, Crime, & Human Feces - The Worst Cities In America Are Being Run By Democrats

"Is it just a coincidence that many of the greatest cities in America became poverty-infested hellholes once the Democrats took charge of things?  Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Oakland and Memphis were all once great cities.  But after an extended period of control by the Democratic Party, each one of them has become a festering crisis that never seems to end.  I thought that I was going to do an article about Baltimore today, but it occurred to me that the exact same things that are happening in Baltimore are also happening in a multitude of other major cities, and the common theme among all of them is that the Democrats are in control.  But even though this is the case, voters in those cities just keep choosing Democrats election after election anyway."

Account Closed · Answer

Agreed.

Account Closed · Answer

Their devastating condition is a direct result of the corruption of the government of PR. DIdn't you watch the news after the hurricane? They need to clean house and spend the money we give them on shoring up the infrastructure instead of padding their pockets. Investing in a place like that is like investing in Detroit. Silliness at best.

Account Closed · Answer

I think Locusts and Frogs are next on the list then Lice and Boils.

Josue Vargas · Answer

Interesting how people feels about earthquakes in different regions.  A $1 to 4 billion damage infrastructure in their city due to a earthquake (2001 I assume), but a fun ride and very dramatic for others with very little damage (I assume in their property).

Josue Vargas · Answer

@Jose Diaz

I'm not selling my two properties in PR and not investing in the near future in the Island.  My properties didn't suffer damages.  I can see where there will be an increase of properties for rent and surplus of properties for sale.  I wouldn't invest on anything built prior 2000's.

Earthquakes and Hurricanes: What will happen next in Puerto Rico?

Most Popular Reply