Unforeseen Casualties Of Hurricane Irma
Our main local radio station was able to broadcast BBC for the first time since the hurricane, thus making the long dark nights more bearable; but the news was not so comforting.
There was a shortage of generators after the spate of hurricanes; on our little Island alone there must have been over 2000 in use. According to the BBC report about 40.000 people in the UK died from carbon dioxide emissions last year.
There are other reported health risks, associated with lung disease and dementia. Another report suggested a danger to all marine life.
There is a movement to develop clean and renewable energy, Anguilla invested in a few solar projects, one by the local power company, one by a leading hotel, and one by a private health clinic; they were all destroyed by hurricane Irma.
It would appear there was not enough thought given to the protection of these plants from category 5 hurricanes. I was reliably informed that the St Thomas plant, the largest that I have ever seen was also destroyed.
We now have to go back to the drawing board to formulate building codes for category 5 hurricanes; the protection of solar and wind plants must be included.
The world is facing so many new challenges; we must have creative thinkers in high places.
I am still borrowing Internet services, which limits my activities here at WA.
Recent Comments
9
Courtney, You mentioned wind plants along with solar. Can you build a wind-charger where you are at? My Dad designed a vertical wind-charger years ago that would operate in as little as 5 mph wind. We were going to use the old used Bell Helicopter rotor blades from his friend at Bell.
Remember, that was back in the '70s. We were going to use old generators off of automobiles. Today, electrical circuit boards are cheap and much more efficient. But when you don't have the luxury of electrical components, you make do with what you have.
We are all praying for you.
To Your Success.
Ken
Anguilla is taking a serious look at both wind and solar energy but hurricane Irma has presented a new challenge as to the design in order to withstand a category 5 hurricane
I remember after high school my brother-in-law had the idea of building geodesic domes as little greenhouses. The idea is that no wind is strong enough to blow them away, but the great thing about them since they are just a bunch of triangles screwed together, they required no frame.
We experimented with materials like ABS plastic, fiberglass, etc, to form each triangle, then take them out to the site to put together. Once built, they didn't leak, let the sunshine in, kept bad weather out. Great idea for a greenhouse.
Fast forward to 2017. Use silicon covered triangles to absorb sunlight to produce electricity. If dome was to rotate, each triangle would not build up heat that robs efficiency of solar cells. Just a thought.
Ken
Progress is borne out of necessity. As horrific as a Cat 5 Irma was, I am still hopeful and optimistic something good will come out of this. Such as better building codes for safety of inhabitants in the red zone, and protections for solar power and plants.
Nature is more wonderful than we think, the trees are fine and even more beautiful;
The world now have to think of how to cope with natural disasters, in a recent discussion with an engineer we discussed the issue of hurricanes as opposed to earthquakes;What will work for one might not work for both.The discussion goes on.
Hi Courtney, good to hear from you! Thoughts and best wishes and I hope that some of those creative thinkers get going asap! Take care, Sue :)
Thank you, I feel sorry for those companies that invested in solar energy and have to see their investment go up in smoke, I hope there was some insurance to cover the damage.
See more comments
I hate you are going through so much. Stuff the rest of us take for granted, you are struggling with. I wish I could wire it up for you. I have a back up for the snow storms here.
I was lucky, a lady friend lent me one that was the correct length needed.