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CT, NJ, NY power loss

NutmegCT

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As others have said, Isaias is a disaster for hundreds of thousands of people. It caused more power losses in this area than Hurricane Sandy or the Blizzard of 2011. Over 700K homes without power in Connecticut - no power, no internet, no phone. Thousands of trees across the state fell, blocking roads. What a mess. Power company had just raised its raised, then Isaias hit. Lots of anger from customers, lots of embarrassment and excuses from power companies.

People in rural areas can't use well pumps w/o power; 100s of gas stations closed due to no power. Many shopping centers and stores closed also.

I'm in Staples parking lot in Willimantic CT using their wifi. We don't expect power back on for at least five, maybe ten days.

Be well all.
Tom M.
 

AngliaGT

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Thanks for the update.
The linemen that work for the power companies really earn
their money under conditions like this.
 

pdplot

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One March storm - not even a hurricane - and we were out for over a week. Had to throw out food, wear a wool hat to bed, cook on a portable Coleman stove, take a pee in the woods, #2 downtown in my office (lucky I had it them), etc. Too many old trees up here.
 

Gliderman8

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One March storm - not even a hurricane - and we were out for over a week. Had to throw out food, wear a wool hat to bed, cook on a portable Coleman stove, take a pee in the woods, #2 downtown in my office (lucky I had it them), etc. Too many old trees up here.

info-meter.png
:cheers:
 

pdplot

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Just wanted to let people know what "country life" is all about. 700,000 folks in CT without power and what it means if you don't have city water or gas heat. Some New Yorkers who moved out here to get away from the pandemic got a huge surprise. You should hear some of them crying on local social media.
 

DavidApp

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If you are on well water losing power sucks. You need to be prepared with a suitable size generator and a stock of fuel.

Here in Georgia we have lost power twice in the last few years for more than 4 days. We are on natural gas and plenty of fire wood. The generator will power the well, fridge and freezer, some lights and outlets to charge phones etc. I found the fridge needs to be powered a lot more than I had thought to keep it cold. we have a Gas fired water heater so several neighbors came over for showers as we still had hot and cold water.

Stay safe in Connecticut.

David
 

bobhustead

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The morning after Hurricane Andrew, I was at Northern Hardware in Opa Locka (North Dade) when it opened and bought 3 generators (two for friends). FPL did not restore power to us for well over a month (my wife recalls about 60 days, which is probably right, but I don't remember). Homestead, where my office was, was not restored for 3 months. You'll get used to it.
Bob
 

vette

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DrEntropy

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Friends north of Allentown had 13" of water in their 2500 Sq ft basement, sump pump failure. Still cleaning up & fans to force drying. Lost electric service for a day, too.
 

pdplot

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Insurance? $1K limit, $500 per tree down. But - catch 22 - $2K deductible! Adjustor said they could probably send us a couple hundred dollars. Still waiting for power company to come and free up wires. No contractor is allowed to touch it.
 

Gliderman8

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Friends north of Allentown had 13" of water in their 2500 Sq ft basement, sump pump failure. Still cleaning up & fans to force drying. Lost electric service for a day, too.
Lots of rain from the storm in eastern PA. We had 4-5 inches come down in a matter of hours.
 

vette

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The morning after Hurricane Andrew, I was at Northern Hardware in Opa Locka (North Dade) when it opened and bought 3 generators (two for friends). FPL did not restore power to us for well over a month (my wife recalls about 60 days, which is probably right, but I don't remember). Homestead, where my office was, was not restored for 3 months. You'll get used to it.
Bob

One of the casualties of austerity programs of the '70s was that the power companies downsized their work forces to the bare minimum. This caused more delays in restoration efforts during storm emergencies. One of the things that people not associated with the industry don't understand is that before the efficiency efforts of the '70s the power companies operated allot like the military in that they keep large amounts of reserves available for emergencies. This also meant manpower. When storms hit they had the crews available to send out right away. But with all that manpower what do you do with them when you aren't in emergency repair status? So they were an easy target for downsizing. After about ten years of completely confusing planning and direction from everybody from locals, management, polititians and the PUCs they finally started to get something together that worked reasonably well. The answer would be to enhance developement of Non-Utility Contractor Work Force. This then is much the same as in any construction environment where individual contractors are employed (hired) as needed to get the power line work done. But for one thing because this work entails High Voltage, Community Security and working under energized conditions at times the work force although independent now had to be trained to similar standards and skill level. So everyone came together to develope standardized practices. It works pretty well. But when there is no work the crews are let go and they move around to where ever the next job is. The big point here is that when you need them they may not be close or available.
Some companies have written agreements with some of their contactors that when the call comes they drop everything else and come. In some storms it can take a day or two for travel to get them to you service area. Then a day to prep them usually a rest period because they have been on the road for an average of 24 hours. Then the next day to get out to the jobs. In the old days when the power companies had all the manpower they needed, the crews were sent out from the local depos the minute after the first lightening hit. Oh yeh another human side of the "new normal"
these guys many times didn't get home near as often as I did.
During hurricane Andrew we had 25 bucket trucks in Florida for 6 weeks. At the 3 week mark we left the trucks in Florida and flew the crews home and sent down another group of lineman who brought the trucks home after their 3 week stint. There were contractor and utility lineman there from all over the country working together.
 

John Turney

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I've heard that many times those crews are from other utilities. I know PG&E sent some crews back East after recent hurricanes. In response, other utilities sent crews out after our wildfires.
 

JPSmit

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I've heard that many times those crews are from other utilities. I know PG&E sent some crews back East after recent hurricanes. In response, other utilities sent crews out after our wildfires.

Indeed, after Charlie, Francis and Jeanne we had crews from all over the USA. They staged just up the street from the church. People cried when they left. In 2011 Mrs JP & I got off a cruise ship in New York City a day early as Hurricane Irene was coming. We chose not to stay so headed straight home. we passed crews heading into NYC. Not going to lie, just seeing them and knowing where they were going and why had us choked up. Very special people!
 

pdplot

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Bunch of Asplundh Tree trucks arrived today. Haven't seen them since Sandy. People here are furious at Eversource, especially when they saw the multi-million dollar salaries the top execs took and the record return for stockholders. CT has the highest rates in the continental US. Only Hawaii and Alaska pay more. Meanwhile some streets are still blocked off with no way out. And my telephone line still lies buried under two huge limbs.
 

vette

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Hey, I need those dividends. ������������
Those question marks were suppose to be smilie faces.
 

pdplot

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Every time I left a light on when leaving a room, my mother would say "Do you own stock in the power company?" Later on - I did. But not this one.
 
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