U.S. Army Corps of Engineers PR Update

SAN JUAN, PR – Brigadier General Diana Holland, Commander of the South Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided a status update on USACE’s efforts in Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria. The video message was posted on the Facebook page of USACE Headquarters Sunday. The message says:

“We currently have over 3,000 people on the ground (Corps employees plus contractors) continuing to work hard, seven days a week, doing everything possible to make a difference in Puerto Rico.

I’ll begin with the status of the Guajataca Dam. Following Hurricane Maria, our team, along with our PREPA and Department of Defense partners, undertook emergency measures to reinforce the dam and prevent further flooding downstream. The next phase for the Corps of Engineers will be to assess the durability of the dam and what can be done in the future to ensure its resilience.

We have removed a quarter million cubic yards of debris across 21 municipalities.

This past week the Corps installed the 500th generator of the post-hurricane Maria response mission. That milestone was achieved at the Castañer General Hospital in Lares. This brings us to 154 megawatts of power across 49 hospitals, 44 waste water facilities, 242 water pumps, 30 emergency services facilities and 10 airports.

We have installed 8,000 “Blue Roofs” across Puerto Rico – that’s an increase of 3,000 since last week.

We continue to work hard to repair the electric grid. Just yesterday, we doubled the value of one of our line repair contracts, which will bring additional personnel to work transmission and distribution lines in San Juan, Mayaguez, Ponce, Bayamon and Arecibo.

We continue to support the local economy. By far, most of our contracted forces are hired here in Puerto Rico. And, we are purchasing materials, including power poles, from local vendors. In closing, there is a lot of work left to do—we remain committed to this important mission and completing it as quickly as possible.