What's taking so long to restore power

[RadioNate]

Perhaps in the midwest, in tornado alley, you are allowed to stockpile the gas necessary to run your generators in case of these emergencies. Here on Long Island, we don't have that luxury. If we could, believe me, we would. Don't call us "cheeky". We can deal with what is handed to us. 9/11 is a perfect example. The population of LI is probably larger than half of your state.

Our concern is for the safety of the people on LI that need help. We're not looking for "something for nothing". We have thick skin, but some of need help.

And help IS there. Why the nasty attitude?

No one stockpiles gas. I don't even know anyone with a generator. I lived on the coast in SC and in Florida too. Other parts of the country deal with this stuff too. People ARE there helping. 2 weeks without power when something as devastating as this happens IS common and to be expected. Frustrating? Absolutely! I don't know why just because it is NY it should somehow be restored faster or ?????

 

[RadioNate]

Sorry, I was responding to distinkt's post about our being "cheeky" about the power issue and how the Midwest just lets these things roll off their backs. As I said in previous posts, no one is blaming the crews. They are doing amazing work. The issue is with the power companies not maintaining lines & equipment like they should have and not assigning work crews as efficiently as they could.

I see what you are saying. I've lived in a lot of states and I don't think it is less frustrating for people in other areas. I think sometimes it is coming across as "but we are NY, WE shouldn't have to wait 2 weeks" as if geography somehow makes a difference in how fast power can be restored.

I actually see places like LI taking longer. I haven't been there in years but I remember a lot of mature trees and overhead power lines. I grew up in an area like that. Beautiful but a mess to fix. Hopefully now they are restoring more carefully, burying lines while they can, upgrading infrastructure, etc.

Areas that deal with this stuff often have changed to buried lines, etc and it still can take weeks.

I know people are frustrated. It IS a frustrating situation but I do think crews are working as quickly as possible.

I'm not even sure what was cheeky so I'm confused on that too. Maybe it's me?

 

[eisforpants]

My question is why you weren't allowed to prepare for this? Is it against the law there? Not being snarky but the comment of not being able to stockpile "gas" confused me. Are you not allowed to have propane heaters, small propane containers and cooking vessels that run on propane? Were you not able to fill your car up with gas before the storm hit then conserve that gas as much as possible?

Now, I've never been in a hurricane so I don't know what it's like to have a weeks notice of a pending disaster but I do live in tornado alley where we get 5 minutes tops, so maybe we are more prepared than our northeastern neighbors. Of course if you are hit by a tornado you have to find your provisions that have been blown all over town but that's another problem to discuss at a later date.

 

[sadiras]

And help IS there. Why the nasty attitude?

No one stockpiles gas. I don't even know anyone with a generator. I lived on the coast in SC and in Florida too. Other parts of the country deal with this stuff too. People ARE there helping. 2 weeks without power when something as devastating as this happens IS common and to be expected. Frustrating? Absolutely! I don't know why just because it is NY it should somehow be restored faster or ?????

Nasty attitude? Sorry you took it that way. We're all in this together, right?
Not asking to have the power restored faster, everyone is working hard.

Just asking for the assistance that you would ask for if you were in the same situation as many people on the south shore of LI are in. The news isn't covering it.

 

[RadioNate]

Nasty attitude? Sorry you took it that way. We're all in this together, right?
Not asking to have the power restored faster, everyone is working hard.

Just asking for the assistance that you would ask for if you were in the same situation as many people on the south shore of LI are in. The news isn't covering it.

I've been in the situation. More than once.

"The population of LI is probably larger than half of your state." comes across pretty insulting. The news doesn't cover everything. We had that whole "east coast media bias" thread. Trust me, I didn't love that we went more than 2 weeks w/out power in Memphis and there was only 1 national news story. Which happened more than a week into it. I get that. It is frustrating.

I'm not sure what assistance that you are looking for that isn't in place. Crews are working hard. A lot of stuff is at the mercy of the individual insurance companies. Red Cross is there. FEMA is there, though they are never easy to deal with.

Is there something specific we can help with. I think everyone is willing to do what they can from afar. The situation is bad. The rest of the country knows that. We just can't make things go faster than they go.

 

[amg35]

Nasty attitude? Sorry you took it that way. We're all in this together, right?
Not asking to have the power restored faster, everyone is working hard.

Just asking for the assistance that you would ask for if you were in the same situation as many people on the south shore of LI are in. The news isn't covering it.

Seriously? I feel bad for you guys, but please don't say the news isn't covering it....

 

[low-key]

the problem is there 12 pendulums that are stopping the power and they are hid thru out the United States

 

[Distinkt]

Just to clarify, my husband and I were listening to news feeds that indicated that folks in the NY area were protesting at the power companies to show their displeasure with the time it was taking to restore power. My term "cheeky" was actually maybe not the correct term, but I think that what I am trying to say is that it just takes time and I wonder what protesting is helping right now. Later after the event has been rectified, work to change your area's emergency preparedness plans, but it has to be disheartening for workers trying to help to hear that there are people who aren't happy they aren't moving fast enough. I will probably get flamed.

I get the emotion, truly I do, but you don't understand exactly what its like to live in tornado alley either. You never know which storm cell will hit where and watch the tv until there the winds come and knock out your power and then you go to the weather radio, but we don't stockpile things like we are waiting for the apocalypse. I live in an area that is right on the border of areas that either get rain or snow, and we almost always get ice. No power, no heat, can't drive even with gas in car (nothing is good on a half inch of ice), no food. Would I ever go protest our emergency services, no, never.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that those affected by Sandy do have my sympathies, because I understand, but I don't have much sympathy for protesters, and am hoping that they are just distraught.

Like I said, I have lived in NJ and my child went to school and then stayed in NYC, so its not a diatribe against the area, I just agree that it takes time, and that those workers who are out there should be commended. I also feel so sorry for those who have so much damage. For those who have just lost power but still have their homes and families safe, I say be thankful. For those who have lost homes, or whose homes are damaged, or whose families are injured it will much longer before normalcy is possible and we need to worry most about those people.

 

[tvguy]

Tust me, no one is blaming the crews. All of heard is heartfelt thanks for their hardwork, especially the out of town crews. The frustration is with certain power company management. Jcp&l let equipment go into disservice before the storm & now they aren't managing crew efficiently. There have been multiple 1st hand reports of crews waiting hours for assignments.

And sorry, maybe it's an east coast thing, but waiting 2 weeks or more for power to be restored is frustrating and unacceptable.

I really don't have a handle of how bad the damage is being here on the west coast, but I know after Rita hit Texas my FIL waited 2 1/2 months for power to be restored, so 2 weeks certainly may be frustrating, but it isn't unreasonable if Sandy was as bad as it was reported to be. Although, the 150 line men from our area who were sent to work on Sandy repairs have all been sent back because they....allegedly...weren't needed anymore.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Seriously? I feel bad for you guys, but please don't say the news isn't covering it....

Agreed! I've seen quite a bit on the news about the south shore of Long Island.

 

[Poohforyou]

So a few people were protesting some power company, that isn't representative of those impacted. Estimates place the number of people impacted by sandy in Ny/Nj at 15 million. I doubt the number of protesters were even a blip of the total affected.

 

[SaraJayne]

Nasty attitude? Sorry you took it that way. We're all in this together, right?
Not asking to have the power restored faster, everyone is working hard.

Just asking for the assistance that you would ask for if you were in the same situation as many people on the south shore of LI are in. The news isn't covering it.

The news is covering it.

Every. Single. Day.

 

[SaraJayne]

So a few people were protesting some power company, that isn't representative of those impacted. Estimates place the number of people impacted by sandy in Ny/Nj at 15 million. I doubt the number of protesters were even a blip of the total affected.

According to what I'm reading, NJ has 57,000 without power. Long Island has 127,000 still without power.

That is down from 2.4 million that were affected across 10 states. About 225,000 people in the region are still without power. Considering the nor'easter hampered efforts, I'd say that's pretty dang good.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Granted I'm in NH, and we were only without power for 8 hours from Sandy, so I'm not looking at this from the frustration lens, but I'll be honest I'm downright IMPRESSED with power restoration. There were MILLIONS without power when Sandy blew threw. Then the nor'easter came threw. It's down to less than 200,000 without power less than 2 weeks later. Yes, it's still a lot but that's a SIGNIFICANT drop. To put it into perspective, in 2008, NH was hit by a nasty ice storm. Totally destroyed a bunch of power infrastructure and left 500,000 without power in the state. This was December 12. The last people in the state got their power back more after Christmas. More than 2 weeks later. Similar timeframe, and 1/4 of the restoration that had to be done with Sandy.

Is it frustrating to be without power for a long time? Absolutely. But this is a monumental task. There was a lot of failure to prepare from everyone's standpoint (power companies, local government, individuals), but it's still a monumental task.

 

[msjprincess]

According to what I'm reading, NJ has 57,000 without power. Long Island has 127,000 still without power.

That is down from 2.4 million that were affected across 10 states. About 225,000 people in the region are still without power. Considering the nor'easter hampered efforts, I'd say that's pretty dang good.

I think that's the point that people are trying to make. the other power companies are doing a better job than LIPA. NJ originally had 1.3 million people without power and are down to 57,000. LI had 945,000 and they still have 127,000 without power.

 

[eliza61]

According to what I'm reading, NJ has 57,000 without power. Long Island has 127,000 still without power.

That is down from 2.4 million that were affected across 10 states. About 225,000 people in the region are still without power. Considering the nor'easter hampered efforts, I'd say that's pretty dang good.

let's remember folks when power goes out after a disaster there is a whole host of issues that have to be in place, it's not like the movies where the hero simply throws the switch in the up position.

Fixing hundreds of miles, underwater generators, submerge powerstations all take a minute. Not to mention getting to the disaster, making sure its safe for the workers and throw in the Nor'easter we had wednesday adn thursday of last week.

Long beach Island NJ has just lifted the evacuation!! Those folks are just now being allowed back into their houses

 

[eliza61]

I think that's the point that people are trying to make. the other power companies are doing a better job than LIPA. NJ originally had 1.3 million people without power and are down to 57,000. LI had 945,000 and they still have 127,000 without power.

So that's less then a 1/3 without power from 945,000. you have a limited amount of resources (can't simply slap anyone out there to be line men) and only so many hours of day light

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I think that's the point that people are trying to make. the other power companies are doing a better job than LIPA. NJ originally had 1.3 million people without power and are down to 57,000. LI had 945,000 and they still have 127,000 without power.

There are ALL kinds of reasons that power may be restored more quickly in one place than another and usually those reasons have more to do with things that are out of the control of humans. If you want to take it up with God and Mother Nature, you are certainly welcome to do so, but the people restoring the power can only do what is humanly possible.

 

[SaraJayne]

I think that's the point that people are trying to make. the other power companies are doing a better job than LIPA. NJ originally had 1.3 million people without power and are down to 57,000. LI had 945,000 and they still have 127,000 without power.

So over 800,000 people have had their power restored, but that is somehow not good enough?

 

[msjprincess]

So that's less then a 1/3 without power from 945,000. you have a limited amount of resources (can't simply slap anyone out there to be line men) and only so many hours of day light

PSE&G and Con Ed managed to get a lot more done than LIPA with the same resources and amount of daylight.