I read in another article the max gust at the town of Arecibo was 110 mph compared to the 108 quoted above. That should not be much of a problem if normal wind mitigation efforts were completed. Gusts at the observatory might have been higher but I am curious about how water runoff is handled at the center of that huge reflector / rain capture device.
OK, I read about the sump pump on the other thread. But like the wind gusts, the rain accumulation probably was within design limits (might not be in the case of a stalled hurricane).
I do not know the specific design details of the receiver, but understand that microwave/radar waves are “physically” much longer than light waves. A mirror (reflecting starlight) MUST be perfectly curved and smooth to the sub-micron level. A radar dish - search radar or ground control airport radar - is actually a “weave” of crossing metal bars, sometimes a mesh. You get more detail from a smaller wavelength, but more search capacity from a longer wave. It is very likely the “dish” is actually not really there, but is series of panels of wires or steel bars.