HURRICANE MARIA
"Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, pounding the U.S. territory with huge waves, massive rain and fierce winds and shutting down the power grid across the entire island of 3.4 million people. Maria made landfall on the island’s southeast section early Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles an hour, the most powerful hurricane to hit Puerto Rico since a 1928 storm that killed more than 300 people."
From the Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2017
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hurricane-maria-slams-into-puerto-rico-1505907575
Pike is called upon to help
A month after the hurricane struck, approximately 80% of Puerto Rico residents remained without power, and the situation was becoming a humanitarian crisis.
It was at this time that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers engaged Fluor Corporation, with Pike as its prime contractor, to restore Puerto Rico’s power grid.
we deployed our equipment expeditiously
October 23rd, 2017. We began sending equipment to support Puerto Rico restoration efforts, the first of which were delivered by Russian and Ukranian Antonovs to arrive immediately.
and our team mobilized quickly
Pike's damage assessors mobilized quickly, and were in Puerto Rico within five days of contract award.
With much of the region's infrastructure still in a non-operational state, the first challenge was to assess the damage as effectively and as efficiently as possible.
puerto rico's infrastructure was still damaged when we arrived
"The storm devastated Puerto Rico’s water system, power grid, road network and cellphone infrastructure... Highways and bridges suffered heavy damage, cutting off some towns and hampering delivery of relief supplies such as food and water. Of Puerto Rico’s 5,073 miles of road, 392 were open earlier this week, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency."
From the Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2017.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-puerto-ricos-struggle-to-recover-a-month-after-hurricane-1508491811
“With the lack of electricity, everything gets more complicated.”
Ismael Pagan Trinidad, the director of the civil engineering and surveying department at University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. - From the Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2017.
“We’re more vulnerable now because our infrastructure is very fragile.”
Ismael Pagan Trinidad, the director of the civil engineering and surveying department at University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. - From the Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2017.
Once the grid damage was properly assessed, we started our restoration efforts in early november
we stay organized
Pike's mobile command center is in our laydown yard and helps to coordinate all activity on the island.
so that we can systematically restore power
We have been stationed on Puerto Rico for over three months. We are also the only contractor on the island of Vienques.
as safely and quickly as possible
Our crews work seven days a week from 6am to 6pm, through all holidays.
we are making progress
We have completed work on multiple transmission and distribution feeders so far.
but we know there is still much work to be done
Our crews are committed to helping the people of Puerto Rico return to normal daily life, through the restoration of power.
sometimes, we Restore more than power lines
In early December, Adam Pelham, Andrew Smith and their Puerto Rico crew went the extra mile. After seeing a boy on a bicycle without tires in the Rio Grande Estates area, the Pike crew was inspired to buy him a new bicycle. With a brand-new kid’s bike in hand, they approached the boy with the offer, “Do you want to trade bicycles?”
Stunned at first, the boy happily accepted.
pike linemen became santa this past christmas
Puerto Rico's local news station also covered this story, referring to the Pike crew as Santa Claus.
PIKE iS THE ONLY CONTRACTOR ON THE ISLAND OF VIEQUES
WE get the job done
January 20th. Today, our crews managed to install numerous utility poles using a helicopter, because we couldn't get equipment to the site in any other way.
a work in progress
We are proud to be working with Fluor to restore power to Puerto Rico. Our current focus is on rebuilding large sections of the Puerto Rican grid near San Juan and the eastern part of the island, as part of what is expected to be a six to twelve month deployment.
We will continue to update this page as our work in Puerto Rico progresses. We thank our team for their hard work and dedication.
Pike Corporation | 100 Pike Way, Mt. Airy, NC 27030 | info@pike.com | 336.789.2171