Irene Damage Thread............Oh Yeah!

[CT Rain]

Looks like some progress was made in the eastern part of CT overnight. A lot of towns that were 95-100% without power last night have seen 10-30% of their power restored. CL&P saying by Saturday total outages should be down to 100k...I wouldn't be surprised if they beat that number.

Yeah it depends how bad the shoreline and eastern CT towns are. At this point they're restoring large chunks of the grid at a time. There are some roads in Guilford/Branford that still have multiple trees down on roads wrapped in wires and broken utility poles. Getting those small sections back is going to be extremely time consuming I think.

[CT Rain]

I dunno looking at the CL&P map it looks like the money towns have a heckuva lot less black and dark purple shading than say from Guilford east which is almost all black denoting nearly a complete blackout.

Well the worst of the storm was to the east... even during the storm the greater outages were east. I don't think it's a money issue... more a suburban vs rural issue. Those eastern CT towns that are in the dark are very rural. It's just time consuming to get power back for a handful of people.

[Mr. Windcredible!]

Editorial in the Courant about lackluster response

http://www.courant.c...,0,105837.story

I'm on the side that response has been a bit slow in parts of the state and that CT is probably horribly unprepared for an even bigger storm...but that article did very little to make its case.

The numbers...

CT...800k without power at peak...all but 300k restored by Tuesday...that's 62.5% restored

MA...700k without power at peak...all but 220k restored by Tuesday...that's 68.6% restored

I wouldn't say that's a huge difference...especially considering the damage to lines was probably more extreme in CT than MA.

Then the kicker...75% of VA/NC to be restored by Wednesday. CT won't hit that mark today...but considering the storm hit a day later...that 75% should really be the benchmark by end of day Thursday. So that means they need to have outages down to 200k by end of day tomorrow...which I don't see any reason to think that number can't be reached.

Then the article argues there clearly aren't as many crews per capita working in CT. Honestly...considering the above numbers, I'd say their doing a pretty good job keeping up with other states that have had more crews available.

[CT Rain]

I'm on the side that response has been a bit slow in parts of the state and that CT is probably horribly unprepared for an even bigger storm...but that article did very little to make its case.

The numbers...

CT...800k without power at peak...all but 300k restored by Tuesday...that's 62.5% restored

MA...700k without power at peak...all but 220k restored by Tuesday...that's 68.6% restored

I wouldn't say that's a huge difference...especially considering the damage to lines was probably more extreme in CT than MA.

Then the kicker...75% of VA/NC to be restored by Wednesday. CT won't hit that mark today...but considering the storm hit a day later...that 75% should really be the benchmark by end of day Thursday. So that means they need to have outages down to 200k by end of day tomorrow...which I don't see any reason to think that number can't be reached.

Then the article argues there clearly aren't as many crews per capita working in CT. Honestly...considering the above numbers, I'd say their doing a pretty good job keeping up with other states that have had more crews available.

Yeah I think for their numbers they're doing a good job but unfortunately their crews per capita will be the problem here.

[Damage In Tolland]

I still have not seen one power truck anywhere in town. I know the whole northwestern part of town is still in the dark. So our trunk lines must have been in some other neighboring town or something. They def. fixed the bigger areas first and the smaller neighborhoods are still going to take days to fix

[Ginx snewx]

I still have not seen one power truck anywhere in town. I know the whole northwestern part of town is still in the dark. So our trunk lines must have been in some other neighboring town or something. They def. fixed the bigger areas first and the smaller neighborhoods are still going to take days to fix

Day 4 of me travelling from Plainfield to Ledyard, have not seen one truck, very odd. This is the main artery from 395 to the casinos, RT 164 in Preston, yesterday the state cut up the tree, now this remains.

[Ginx snewx]

Looks like some progress was made in the eastern part of CT overnight. A lot of towns that were 95-100% without power last night have seen 10-30% of their power restored. CL&P saying by Saturday total outages should be down to 100k...I wouldn't be surprised if they beat that number. I think what was frustrating yesterday...was it simply looked like no progress was being made out east. Combine that with the reports from some saying they haven't even seen a utility truck since the end of the storm painted a grim picture of the response out that way. Obviously things are moving slower than they are out west...but I think several have already commented why that's likely the case.

Believe what you read and not what we see? the towns that got some power back were switch related, no trucks anywhere bro.

[Ginx snewx]

They are our sister station and do a great job......but are clearly taking it a little less seriously than we are....it's not a joke, some people have lost a lot and are really struggling - a lot of people in our neck of the woods live paycheck to paycheck, and not going to work is killing them right now.

I feel bad for you, man....seeing what some of these families, including yours, are going through because of this - and getting no answers from their towns, the state, CL&P, anyone.....had a woman call tonight from Franklin who has 2 trees blocking her road. Town has given her no answers, she still hasn't talked to a live person at CL&P, called her state rep who said "we'll get to you soon"....very frustrated people out there. She said she didn't care so much that she didn't have power, but that nobody was responding to her phone calls, nobody was taking any action. Hasn't left her house or had power since Sunday and can't get out except via vehicle....and since there's nothing in Franklin it's difficult to walk anywhere. A lot of folks feel like third class citizens right now.

The entire disaster response has been just that - a disaster - at least in Eastern Connecticut - imagine if this was a hurricane?

Windham is the place to be these past few days - we have power - as a matter of fact, the main line in town (Hospital/ECSU/Main Street/radio station/radio towers) never lost hard power - not sure how as everywhere around it did....but the stores can not keep food on the shelves, gas at the gas stations, etc....since it's the closest town for a lot of people right now that has gas and food of any kind. Saw a gas truck at Cumby's on Main Street making a delivery tonight, so hopefully that will get folks through tomorrow. Valero, Stop and Shop were both out when I drove by on the way into work.

I hope things get better for you guys, Steve. Let me know if I can help.

Thanks Adam, we are doing what we have to do. Our neighbors are pulling together to help each other out. I switched to your station to find out and spread the word the Red Cross set up at Plainfield High. A lot of folks have no transportation though, can you guys see if Plainfield can set up bus routes through areas to get people to the Red Cross shelters. There are multiple elderly complexes in Plainfield, we are doing what we can to help but the fact the town waited so long is perplexing.

[Cold Miser]

. . . On board with the generator - day 4. Wife and kids went to the beach to take a break from the madness. Yesterday morning while cars were stacked deep at one of the local gas stations, people watched as one of the station employees came out and rose the price up 15 cents per gallon just as the cars were starting to roll in.

When the big, local news of the day is, "Hey, the next town up has Dunkin Donuts up and running, everybody head there!", that's when I realize where priorities are in this era.

[Mr. Windcredible!]

Believe what you read and not what we see? the towns that got some power back were switch related, no trucks anywhere bro.

Not questioning the lack of trucks...I'm not there...I don't know. Just saying...some places did get things restored...so work must be going on somewhere, after a lot of questioning whether anything was getting done at all.

But overall I'm with you though man...I think the coordination between local towns, the state, and the utilities should be questioned after this. I felt like there was no coordination beforehand between towns and the state regarding preparations...I would've expected much more considering how powerful this storm could of been. But seeing the lack of coordination beforehand...I can only imagine how much a disconnect there is with cleanup efforts. Most of the information I've read regarding recovery efforts in the east has all been stuff set up by towns. Between water filling stations, generators to run gas pumps, to where to get ice or other emergency services...all seems to be provided and coordinated by towns...which is a real problem for the smaller towns out east who just don't have the manpower to handle everything. Yesterday evening was the first I had heard about some state aid arriving to southern and eastern areas....a good 60 hours after the worst of the storm.

[adamrivers]

Thanks Adam, we are doing what we have to do. Our neighbors are pulling together to help each other out. I switched to your station to find out and spread the word the Red Cross set up at Plainfield High. A lot of folks have no transportation though, can you guys see if Plainfield can set up bus routes through areas to get people to the Red Cross shelters. There are multiple elderly complexes in Plainfield, we are doing what we can to help but the fact the town waited so long is perplexing.

Griswold HS is open again today as well.....they had a similar thing to Plainfield HS yesterday afternoon. RE: Transportation, I have sent the message down to the news department (I'm not in until 2pm) to relay to the folks in Plainfield about the buses to see if there is anything they can do - Plainfield has been pretty good relatively speaking getting the information out there, so they'll give it a shot next time they talk to the contact person (who I believe is an emergency director...either that or the first selectman, it's different for so many different towns and I don't have the list in front of me).

I agree with a few assessments in this thread - on the whole, statewide, the response has been average to an event of this magnitude. But it's lacked in quite a few communities in Eastern Connecticut that I've seen and heard from folks that I've talked to, and there are a lot of frustrated people. Of course it's frustrating not to have power, but I think a lot of folks feel like they've been slighted by the government/CL&P/whoever, not seeing power trucks, not seeing an active response, etc. You're always going to have that.....but from what I've personally witnessed, a decent percentage of the complaints are legitimate.

[HarveyLeonardFan]

Well the state doesn't regulate power restoration like they do land-line phone restoration. That's something they can attempt to regulate. You can be assured they'll hold hearings on it.

The fact that CL&P has cut 10-15 percent of their linesmen since Gloria and the state's population has increased 15% is cause for concern, especially when you see how quick the response has been in neighboring states and towns.

This morning CL&P said the restoration effort will cost 75M and they're going to try to raise rates to pay for it.

I'm pretty confident the damage was far worse in Connecticut, therefore I can't lavish praise on Rhode Island...because the "damage" here, was minimal....at least in the part of the state I live in and other areas I have traveled to this week. It's a lot easier to restore power when there aren't any big trees and power lines down..Irene was close to a non-event in Newport....except for all the horrible seaweed it left on the beaches...but for some reason her winds were stronger north of me in areas like Warwick RI and in these areas power outages remain. Power was restore with 32 hours in Newport....in part because there are a lot of wealthy people who live in Newport, and because it's the last lucrative week of the summer tourist season.

[Mr. Windcredible!]

. . . On board with the generator - day 4. Wife and kids went to the beach to take a break from the madness. Yesterday morning while cars were stacked deep at one of the local gas stations, people watched as one of the station employees came out and rose the price up 15 cents per gallon just as the cars were starting to roll in.

When the big, local news of the day is, "Hey, the next town up has Dunkin Donuts up and running, everybody head there!", that's when I realize where priorities are in this era.

On Monday...one of my friends had posted a picture to Facebook of a huge line at the Starbucks in Old Saybrook...one of the few places with power on the shoreline...with the tongue-in-cheek caption "PEOPLE NEED THEIR COFFEE!!"

[Cold Miser]

Well the worst of the storm was to the east... even during the storm the greater outages were east. I don't think it's a money issue... more a suburban vs rural issue. Those eastern CT towns that are in the dark are very rural. It's just time consuming to get power back for a handful of people.

Yes. I am in one of those towns. I can tell you from driving around, there are some crazy situations out there with regard to wires being wrapped around down trees, downed poles, etc. - pretty much on most of the one lane dirt roads. I am not sure how the logistics work with regard to trees and wires, but I imagine there has to be some type of coordination, in a certain order on the tree being cut - the wire being removed, etc. Meaning the power guys can't just start messing with the wire wrapped around a tree without the tree guy being there and vice versa. I imagine that the power company can do some minor tree clearing but not extensive large limb removal which is what we have much of here.

From what I understand where it seems as though there are "no trucks in sight", crews come by (maybe in a pick-up truck, etc) to assess the area prior to just hacking away. I feel there is some order to the chaos of the power restoration, and when dealing with this many downed trees it is quite the tall order (no pun intended).

[MJHUB]

National Grid pulled a fast one on me. Had an estimate of midnight last night for restoring power, woke up in the dark. now they say 6 tonight, but there are trees on the lines still. looks like a Saturday night is the next window for restoration. Some traffic lights still out around RI making rush hour much much longer. All that being said, its really not that bad with no lights or AC wake up early and what not, I could go without the freezing water for the shower in the morning tho. lol

[Cold Miser]

On Monday...one of my friends had posted a picture to Facebook of a huge line at the Starbucks in Old Saybrook...one of the few places with power on the shoreline...with the tongue-in-cheek caption "PEOPLE NEED THEIR COFFEE!!"

I don't drink the stuff so I am really unclear on the allure, effects, etc. of the whole caffine fix.

[Tstorm723]

. . . On board with the generator - day 4. Wife and kids went to the beach to take a break from the madness. Yesterday morning while cars were stacked deep at one of the local gas stations, people watched as one of the station employees came out and rose the price up 15 cents per gallon just as the cars were starting to roll in.

When the big, local news of the day is, "Hey, the next town up has Dunkin Donuts up and running, everybody head there!", that's when I realize where priorities are in this era.

I wonder why more people do not have a generator? We got one after the ice storm up here two years ago. The cost at the time seemed unnecessary...but not anymore. My family lives in Salem and Ledyard in CT....2 hard hit towns. They have one as well. This is not an unprecedented storm for us locally. Bob and Gloria caused power outages for 5 to 6 days back then. This will happen again. People can be better prepared if they so choose. NECN did a poll and only 33% of households have any sort of disaster preparation kit. In this day and age? CL&P is certainly not perfect and a review of this outage problem should certainly be addressed. However, the individual response to ones own needs needs to be looked at as well. Irene will not be the last storm to hit us...and we all know this.

Anyone else still want to realize a Cat 2 now? Not me.

[snowman21]

I wonder why more people do not have a generator? We got one after the ice storm up here two years ago. The cost at the time seemed unnecessary...but not anymore. My family lives in Salem and Ledyard in CT....2 hard hit towns. They have one as well. This is not an unprecedented storm for us locally. Bob and Gloria caused power outages for 5 to 6 days back then. This will happen again. People can be better prepared if they so choose. NECN did a poll and only 33% of households have any sort of disaster preparation kit. In this day and age? CL&P is certainly not perfect and a review of this outage problem should certainly be addressed. However, the individual response to ones own needs needs to be looked at as well. Irene will not be the last storm to hit us...and we all know this.

Anyone else still want to realize a Cat 2 now? Not me.

Well generators aren't cheap first of all. Secondly what are you going to run that generator on? It needs some kind of readily accessible fuel source.

[CT Rain]

Yes. I am in one of those towns. I can tell you from driving around, there are some crazy situations out there with regard to wires being wrapped around down trees, downed poles, etc. - pretty much on most of the one lane dirt roads. I am not sure how the logistics work with regard to trees and wires, but I imagine there has to be some type of coordination, in a certain order on the tree being cut - the wire being removed, etc. Meaning the power guys can't just start messing with the wire wrapped around a tree without the tree guy being there and vice versa. I imagine that the power company can do some minor tree clearing but not extensive large limb removal which is what we have much of here.

From what I understand where it seems as though there are "no trucks in sight", crews come by (maybe in a pick-up truck, etc) to assess the area prior to just hacking away. I feel there is some order to the chaos of the power restoration, and when dealing with this many downed trees it is quite the tall order (no pun intended).

I will say a lot of towns and tree crews subcontracted by towns are sitting in parking lots waiting for the power company before they can start working. I can see cooperation coordination between towns/CL&P being a problem but I have to say I think the state and towns did a phenomenal job preparing and responding to the storm.

[CT Rain]

How long to restore power if 1938 happened today?

My guess would be December.

[Tstorm723]

Well generators aren't cheap first of all. Secondly what are you going to run that generator on? It needs some kind of readily accessible fuel source.

No they aren't cheap...as I have said. It really is tough to make that call...up to each person to weigh the benefits of having one. They may never pay for themselves or they can be a life saver. As for fuel...gas can easily be stored at home in plastic fuel canisters which can easily be filled prior to loosing power.

[Cold Miser]

Well generators aren't cheap first of all. Secondly what are you going to run that generator on? It needs some kind of readily accessible fuel source.

I always have 3-5 days of fuel in storage (with fuel stabilizer). Every 6-9 months I rotate this fuel into our vehicles and fill the storage cans again. After 5 days it does become and issue, but I was in Mass last night and had my cans with me and filled them up again. So I am good for another 3-5 days.

There's only so much prep one can do that is within thier means. I suppose if I could afford some crazy undeground disaster bunker that runs on geothermal, solar, etc., and a good year's supply of freeze dried food I'd be THE MAN. Unfortunately that is just not the case so I make the preps the way I can. We have not had to dig into our storage food yet, but only have enough for 2 weeks or so. The generator and fresh food has made the difference.

[bobbutts]

I wonder why more people do not have a generator? We got one after the ice storm up here two years ago. The cost at the time seemed unnecessary...but not anymore. My family lives in Salem and Ledyard in CT....2 hard hit towns. They have one as well. This is not an unprecedented storm for us locally. Bob and Gloria caused power outages for 5 to 6 days back then. This will happen again. People can be better prepared if they so choose. NECN did a poll and only 33% of households have any sort of disaster preparation kit. In this day and age? CL&P is certainly not perfect and a review of this outage problem should certainly be addressed. However, the individual response to ones own needs needs to be looked at as well. Irene will not be the last storm to hit us...and we all know this.

Anyone else still want to realize a Cat 2 now? Not me.

You're right, and after a larger disaster, relief could take much much longer. Just getting crews to a disaster area can be a challenge let alone reaching and helping all of those in need. A generator may not be a survival essential at least in the warm season, but it certainly makes waiting for relief easier. The money argument is indisputable in cases where it's true, but not so much for people that live in 1/2 mil houses.

[Cold Miser]

I will say a lot of towns and tree crews subcontracted by towns are sitting in parking lots waiting for the power company before they can start working. I can see cooperation coordination between towns/CL&P being a problem but I have to say I think the state and towns did a phenomenal job preparing and responding to the storm.

I can't say phenomenal yet, but I do agree that the post storm response has been good. Unfortunately in this day and age of instant gratification and people's "hurry up and give me results" attitude, folks just don't have patience. They see no truck(s) or whatever in a few areas and assume that nothing is being done. This kind of tunnel vision thinking is unfortunate as there is so much more out there that that individual(s) are not seeing with regard to what needs to be repaired.

Big picture.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

Well generators aren't cheap first of all. Secondly what are you going to run that generator on? It needs some kind of readily accessible fuel source.

If you have and oil furnace buy a diesel generator, they can easily run of home heating oil. Keep your oil tank 3/4 full or more. That should keep you running through all but an apocalypse.

I currently have a gas powered with a Subaru engine but would love to have diesel and some solar some day.

Instructions for building a simple solar back-up. For informational purposes only.

http://www.rain.org/~philfear/how2solar.html

[CapturedNature]

How long to restore power if 1938 happened today?

My guess would be December.

Not sure if you remember, but in January 1998 there was a HUGE ice storm in Quebec and northern New England. It was so bad in Canada that almost all the massive high-tension/voltage lines collapsed. One large area was so bad there was 4-6" of ice covering everything. That area was known as the "triangle of darkness" and they said because they had to rebuild the entire infrastructure it would take 30 days to restore power to those towns. I think they did it in 28 days or just under the wire....it can be done.

I'm not faulting CL&P entirely in the recovery (yet, but I'm getting close!) but I'd like to echo what other posters have said...I have yet to see a single utility truck! I think visibility would probably help their publicity. I still stand by my stance that the percentage of outages compared to neighboring towns in Mass. with the same damage is appalling.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

How long to restore power if 1938 happened today?

My guess would be December.

Since 1938 took out 2.5 - 3 million trees in New England and there was a much smaller population with way less power infrastructure I would think your December guess is pretty close to reality if that magnitude storm hit again.

[Cold Miser]

If you have and oil furnace buy a diesel generator, they can easily run of home heating oil. Keep your oil tank 3/4 full or more. That should keep you running through all but an apocalypse.

I currently have a gas powered with a Subaru engine but would love to have diesel and some solar some day.

Instructions for building a simple solar back-up. For informational purposes only.

Why do you have to keep the oil tank at 3/4 or more?

How do you you siphon the oil out of the tank to get it to the generator? Or do you access it via the line right before it enters the boiler through special valve connection that allows you to fill up a tank?

[CoastalWx]

No they aren't cheap...as I have said. It really is tough to make that call...up to each person to weigh the benefits of having one. They may never pay for themselves or they can be a life saver. As for fuel...gas can easily be stored at home in plastic fuel canisters which can easily be filled prior to loosing power.

You can get smaller, portable generators at Lowes or Home Depot, instead of the very expensive generator that powers an entire home. My parents got one after the Dec '03 snowstorm and they have it hooked up so that it can power the basics....furnace, refrigerator, and some lights. If you can get those running...your all set for extended outages. Just make sure you know someone who is knowledgeable in rigging it up..preferably an electrician. Otherwise when the power finally does come back on, you can cause a surge..either into the house, or back onto the transformer on the street. They are still costly, but it's probably worth the expense if you live in an area that is prone to losing power.

[CT Rain]

I can't say phenomenal yet, but I do agree that the post storm response has been good. Unfortunately in this day and age of instant gratification and people's "hurry up and give me results" attitude, folks just don't have patience. They see no truck(s) or whatever in a few areas and assume that nothing is being done. This kind of tunnel vision thinking is unfortunate as there is so much more out there that that individual(s) are not seeing with regard to what needs to be repaired.

Big picture.

Most towns seem to have done a good job getting supplies out to people that need them and getting people out of stranded neighborhoods. In terms of inconvenience I think that blame lies with the power company. It's a business decision for them... do they want to employ 200 or 300 extra linesmen at all times? It's a lot of money.

I guess in terms or surge and evacuations and shelters I thought they did a really nice job. In terms of immediate protection for life and property I thought the state and municipalities did a really good job.