My sister-in-law in Houston just said she's still got no power in Houston after 13 days! Shit.

[codjh9]

Can you imagine?

[RoyGBiv]

1. Unfortunately, I don't have to ...

I actually have power and somehow got it back very, very quickly due to underground lines serving my apartment.

But, my workplace is on half-power, meaning some buildings have no power at all and others have a lot of things turned off, and most of the people I work with have no power. A lot in this area have been told they should be turned on today or tomorrow.

[lpbk2713]

2. BushCo is doin' a heckuva job.

If Smirky needed power for a photo op (remember NOLA?) he'd have it in a matter of minutes.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

5. Bushco does not repair power lines.

The utility companies do that. And unfortunately many utility companies are relatively useless at this sort of thing.

[lpbk2713]

14. This is what I was referring to ...

The BushCo Spinmeister Team had power restored to one of the areas of NOLA that suffered a lot of damage so that Shit-for-Brains could have a photo-op. After he was done speaking in front of the cameras the power was removed from the area and anyone who might have needed it had to do without.

[Justyce]

16. There are a lot more serious problems than utilities going on that the media

just isn't bothering to report that BushCo is responsible for. (Please read my post below.)

[merh]

34. You cannot be that stupid, can you?

The power companies are better organized than our government could ever hope to be. They have systems in place and recruit from all over the nation, they don't plan on this being a quick fix because there is no way it can be. The magnitude of the loss, the extent of the destruction. I wish our government was as well prepared and equipped as the utility companies. Having observed their efforts and organization after Katrina it is clear to me that you are totally clueless and would prefer to absolve GWB than to post honestly.

GWB's failings relative to the response to this storm have nothing to do with utilities and everything to do with providing much needed support and supplies to the communities in need.

[holybarcode]

40. Useless? Gee, that's about a dumbfuck statement.

:eyes:

[The Stranger]

42. It is a problem arising out of BUSHCO'S DEREGULATION AND PRIVATIZATION OF UTILITIES.

[codjh9]

9. Good reply, and I like your photos/illustrations & shithead Limbaugh...

[lpbk2713]

20. Thanks

:thumbsup: :hi: :thumbsup:

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. My mom's power was out for almost a week.

In Pennsylvania. She lives with my grandmother who is 91 years old.

[onenote]

4. I can only imagine to a certain degree -- was without power for a week once

A few years ago, after Hurricane Isabel, i was without power for a week. While for me it was mostly a giant inconvenience, for a lot of people it can be life threatening. BTW, there also were people in Baton Rouge without power for two weeks after Gustav.

[readmoreoften]

6. There is no fresh food whatsoever in many areas. People surviving on uncooked hotdogs and coldbeans.

[peace13]

7. We felt the effects of this hurricane in Ohio as well.

Most people up here waited up to eight days to get their power back. In addition there was very little if nothing on the National news to tell people that we had been hit hard. We have to accept the fact that from time to time we will be without power or services and that help is not 'on the way'. A fact of life I fear. peace, Kim

[countryjake]

46. Nothing was shown on National News, save for one house with one big tree...

and the state is still dealing with power outages, tho it's now much smaller in magnitude and found in isolated pockets.

Here's a report from just one area, today:

DP&L: Outage to continue for up to 3,000
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/24/ddn092408dplweb.html


Preliminary estimates on damage by Ike in Ohio are now at $30.2 million!

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/24/ddn092408damageweb.html

[jpak]

8. That's not unusual after a hurricane

Many folks won't have their juice back for a long time to come.

Time to invest in underground power lines...

[marshall]

11. It's also time to invest in a generator and propane power

I have a gasoline generator and a solar power generator ans also have propane powered heat and one propane powered cooking stove. Each of us needs to plan ahead as much as we can for a disaster.

[jpak]

18. I have a friend in AL who used his FEMA money to by a gas generator after Katrina

Trouble was - there was no gasoline (or diesel) on the Gulf Coast from Panama City to Port Arthur for nealy 3 weeks after the storm.

He used up all the gas in his car trying to find gas fro his generator.

If he had to evacuate prior to Rita - he would have been stuck.

Solar lanterns and battery chargers are cheap (as are rechargeable battery fans).

[Captain Hilts]

17. Underground power lines are just too expensive. They've been promising them...

in Va. Beach for decades. Not going to happen.

I remember after Hurricane Bob in New England see Virginia Power trucks all over the roads. Kind of like how power teams from the Northeast went up to Quebec after that ice storm.

Does the South not have such agreements in play?

[hedgehog]

27. I think the days of mutual help are long gone. Most companies

operate with skeleton crews now and hire contractors as needed. There are no extra people to send to help other regions.

[Feron]

41. When I was coming home from my Gustav evac,

We ran into convoys of power trucks and some were from as far away as Massachusetts.

Help is there, but the scale of the damage means that it will take time to fix. And power crews work on restoring hospitals, police stations, and other emergency service places first, everyone else second.

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. Here in the South power companies from other states

would be lining up ready to go in almost before the storm was over.
I have watched local power companies hooking up lines during a Cat. One.
It had always been done, we sent power crews into Ga or Ms or N. fla. if needed.

During Bush regime, here in Al. during Ivan, ( 2004) power was out for up to 3 weeks.
Then again, Ivan was a huge bad storm.

[Thothmes]

35. When a hurricane hit the tidewater area

of Virgina and Eastern NC 8 or 10 years ago I remember seen a Quebec Electrical repair crew in Newport News, VA.

[conscious evolution]

43. Yes they do.

Most of the south is powered by the Southern Company.If a Ga Power crew is sent to Miss. they are still working for the same company.
Not sure about Texas though.

[Catherine Vincent]

37. Underground power lines was no help.

The flooding caused most of them to go out.

[conscious evolution]

44. Underground utilities have pros and cons.

When underground systems are shorted out usually all they have to do is wait for the lines to dry out and then replace the transformers.
Overhead systems usually require replacement of poles,lines,switches and transformers.That requires a LOT more time and effort to replace.
No power grid is immune to damage from hurricanes.Hell,I am surprised there are notmore major blackouts occuring without storms.

[tpsbmam]

10. Two weeks without power after Gloria -- I don't have to imagine! n/t

[NNN0LHI]

12. I went ten days with no metered power after an ice storm here once

I bought a generator after the first day.

Don

[Justyce]

13. We just now got our power back. There are towns near us

that may never recover. (I'm near Port Arthur.) Bridge City was nearly wiped out, High Island, Gilchrist, Orange, LaBelle, etc. The flooding was unbelievable here in SE Texas, on the bad side of the storm. There were people trapped on top of their homes in Bridge City and Orange, people missing and unaccounted for, and they won't even release a number of how many died. I don't think FEMA is going to help, other than to offer small business loans, and the Red Cross said they're out of money & only able to offer some donated clothing, etc. They said at this point, there won't even be any FEMA trailers. I just don't know what to think. Churches are setting up shelters to help all the people who lost their homes at least have a place to sleep. Businesses are destroyed & won't re-open, so now many will be unemployed. Even people with flood insurance were told that it wasn't covered because the fine print said it only covered rising fresh water, not saltwater surges.

I truly believe it's not getting any media attention because we're just not going to get any help.

[tammywammy]

29. Most of my family lives in Bridge City

[Justyce]

33. How are they? How are their homes? Most of our friends

and family in Bridge City, Orange, Kemah, and Crystal Beach lost everything, but at least they're all safe. The damage around here is unbelievable. It just makes me furious how little nat'l attention this is getting, and how little help.

[slackmaster]

15. Not only can I imagine it, I am prepared for it

:hi:

[mikeytherat]

19. Did 22 days without power after Gaston a few years back.

Thank goodness for generators and gas hot water!

mikey_the_rat

[dkofos]

21. Talked to my nephew yesterday and he said he finally got power back on.

He is located in the west side of Houston.

[pnwmom]

22. Yes. We went for 9 days without power after a winter storm last year.

I feel for your sister.

[seabeyond]

25. we had an ice storm, ..... went four days and i called friend inside the company to have someone

come out and fix our line. others went longer. i felt for the workers. they were working around the clock. winter, cold and no heat.... not fun

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. Here in South Florida some people didn't have power for almost a month after Wilma in 2005

[seabeyond]

24. bummer. my niece in houston is in area they immediately had power. i guess

it is where you live. she told me that her school, that is close to the ocean has been shut down without power and this is the first day back, today

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. At least its not the dead of winter.

It is just awful to be without water and electricity. But its even worse when its 15 degrees outside and the temperature in the house just keeps dropping.

I just keep telling people that I will take our midwestern tornadoes anyday over those hurricanes.

[codjh9]

30. In Houston the 'dead of winter' doesn't amount to much, but yeah, in much of

the country it would be worse.

[hedgehog]

28. Word of advice to anyone who ever finds themself in this situation:

Check the condition of the connections on your house. Most utilities will only make repairs up to where they plug into your connection. Around here, you typically have a meter down near ground level that connects to a cable that runs up the side of your house to a group of 3 wires which plug into the utility's lines. If that house cable is damaged, you need to get it repaired before the utility crews come around or else they will just cut the lines to your house and re-connect the rest of the neighborhood and come back for you later.

[Lars39]

36. Yep! That's what happened in our neighborhood after a tornado.

Except the utility crews didn't want to even enter the neighborhood until everybody's house cable was connected.

[rvablue]

32. I went without power for 11 days after Isabel in 2003?

Anyway, I think it was 2003 -- or 2004?

It was a living hell after about a week.

The nerves just start to fray. Everything is dirty, including yourself.

Does she have kids -- that only makes it more difficult because they get so bored and restless.

Don't know if she sees lights going on around her, but in my case that happened and on about day 9 I started to call my local elected officials and say that if my lights didn't come on in 48 hours, I would do everything in my physical, intellectual and financial power to see to it that they never held office again!

Two days later, the power guys showed up!

Hope it works out well for her soon!

[holybarcode]

38. Our area was without power for 22 days after an ice storm.

When the weather breaks a lot of electrical shit it takes a while to fix it all.
-)

[Feron]

39. That's par for the course after a hurricane.

I lost power for two weeks after Katrina hit and I was lucky. Some of my friends didn't have power for a month.

And underground lines, which I have, help, but only work to an extent. It all depends on how much infastructure was damaged during the hurricane.

[LiberalEsto]

45. Electric deregulation

Texas power companies are among the most deregulated in the country, I believe. That means they can get rid of whatever "excess" they want, like repair crews.

[cobalt1999]

47. Not unexpected; I'd be surprised if all the power was back on.

I read there were something like 270+ substations damaged/destroyed.

Long term power outages are to be expected after a large hurricane.

[onetiredmom]

48. Out of power for a week.

We lost power Friday nite of the storm, re-powered the next Friday nite. That was a happy day. There was much rejoicing at our house last Friday nite! We had a nice cool front the week after Ike. It started heating up this past Saturday, but they are predicting another cool front to come through this evening, so hopefully that will give some respite to those without power.

My boss and her husband live in Bellaire and still don't have power. I called Centerpoint for them, and the customer rep said that the repairs are now more going street by street, house by house to find specific problems. One news report here said there were over 700 transformers blown. That's alot of replacing.

Poor folks in Galveston....

[Catherine Vincent]

49. Welcome to DU, onetiredmom!

:hi:

[onetiredmom]

50. Thank you. n/t