Record outages in Conn. as Irene affects 728,000

Forbes.com ^

[matt04]

The number of power outages in Connecticut keeps climbing, affecting more than 700,000 utility customers.

Connecticut Light & Power, a unit of Northeast Utilities System and the state's largest utility, says Tropical Storm Irene knocked out power to about 621,000 customers as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday. That's about half of its customers.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep. A generator is on the short list for me, too. ‘Til then, empty milk jugs filled and stored, rotated and used as water for the garden and houseplants or flushin’ the toilet until it’s ‘Go Time.’ :)

[Huck]

I know, I know. You have a need to stick with the narrative that the storm was over-hyped. Don't let the facts get in the way.

Here in NJ, and elsewhere, we had the worst flooding we've had in a long, long time. This storm caused a lot of damage. But stick with the template if it makes you feel good.

I thought it was overhyped too. Until it hit. Then I discovered it was the worst flooding I've seen ever. But sssshhhh, the template says it was over-hyped, so go with that anyway.

[tongue-tied]

No way nobody could live without water pumps and refrigerators.

Well, living in a desert sort of cramps your water style, if you know what I mean. I know in the 1800's folks dug wells to get to the water. Here in the 21st century we generally have pumps to do the work.

My well is 100 feet deep, so can't just do that on a whim or just some weekend project.

[rjeffries]

Life will be harder than usual for a few days or a week or two. Suck it up and stop whining.

[cripplecreek]

My great grandmother told me some stories about growing up in northern Michigan.

She said the whole family got caught in a blizzard one time and spent the whole night trying to survive the trip home. She said her father would walk out 100 yards in front of one horse and walk back in front of the other then lead the horses up and do it all over again.

Back in those days, there was no rescue coming. You didn’t spend any time thinking about whether someone would be along shortly, you started rescuing yourself immediately.

[Westbrook]

> Man.. The stories about the 1800’s must be hogwash. No way
> nobody could live without water pumps and refrigerators.

You first.

We have nine children at home, a number of goats and sheep, and about 20 chickens, all of whom need water.

But you’re such a tough guy, I’m sure it would be no problem for you.

There was a time when folks used siphon pumps to drink ground water. Maybe you didn’t read about the cholera epidemics back in the 1800s, and the ground water wasn’t as polluted back then as it is now.

Deep well water is about as safe as it gets, and in my 64 years I haven’t seen a cholera outbreak in these parts.

I am planning to make a cinder-block cistern to catch rain water from a our gutters with a siphon pump for emergencies like this in the future. We’ll have to boil the water before drinking it, but it’s better than nothing.

I tried the deep-well hand pump, but you had to pump 15 or 20 times before you got any water. Then you had to keep pumping. As soon as you stop, the water all falls back down the pipe and you have to pump another 15 or 20 times before you see any water again.

Still, better than nothing.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve cut a hole in the ice more than a few times for water to flush the toilet. In fact, I keep a hole open most of the winter out of habit.

[rjeffries]

cripplecreek,

That’s just it, these people whining about the power being out, and their refrigerators not working for a few days have absolutely no freaking clue what it meant to survive just 50-80 years ago.

They are pampered, spoiled little brats who complain anytime they have adapt to different conditions for a week.

Huck, why don’t you find someone who lived through the 1938 Hurricane about tell them about your water pumps and your food going bad.

[tongue-tied]

Wow. A lake or a river! Now that would be good to have near your house.

I’m being facetious (not a jerk I swear) cause I know you’re up north somewhere but with me living in NV, lakes and streams are hard to come by.

And if it ever hits the fan it’ll be a long walk for some water. Must keep up the stocks.

[conservaterian]

I thought Obama’s FEMA was SO much better. Sure doesn’t seem like it, does it?

[shield]

You mean that little tropical storm created this!!! Yikes!

[Mr. K]

Gosh if only we had a few trillion in something like a ‘stimulous’ package or something then maybe we could upgrade our pathetically old electrical grid

[Westbrook]

> How did people live on this planet for thousands of years
> without water pumps

They typically enjoyed average life spans of about 40 years.

Maybe you’d be happy with that.

I know that there are global warming and population control freaks in the 0bamao cabal that would agree with you.

[shield]

Well, at least your temp. didn’t get up to 105 degrees today...like mine did in NW Harris Cty, TX. I have electricity and A/C so no biggy.

[darkwing104]

From a Floridian point of view. Irene was a slow moving rain maker and dumped more water in the northeast than ground and exixting infrastructure could handle.

Even though weather stations didn't record the high wind velocity associated with hurricanes (the Hype) the rains from a slow moving storm did the damage (reality). Since it happened during high tides it only amplified the damage. If Irene had the wind gusts normally associated with a hurricanes the damage would of been a lot greater

As for slow service on restoring electricity. The electrical worker have to make sure the grid in intact before restoring power. It doesn't take much to electrocute a person. Guess where most of the post storm electrical experts came from to restore your power? Florida, Alabama and Texas.

Not downplaying the event. Just an observation.

[cripplecreek]

I live on a lake (impoundment on the Raisin river actually)

I wouldn’t want to drink the water but I have used it to wash dishes and flush toilets. In a pinch I could boil it and drink it but I always have bottled water on hand.

[mojitojoe]

It’s not winter, they won’t freeze to death, get over it whiny cry babies. Try not having it for months. Talk to people that lived where Andrew, Katrina etc. hit.

[rjeffries]

If you don’t prepare for emergency situations then it is on you. Everybody should have atleast a dozen cases of water and non-perishables tucked away somewhere.

You have the ability to make these situations much easier on yourself. You have options at your disposal that people generates before us did not have. If you don’t take advantage of these options, it is ON YOU. And nobody wants to hear your whining when you fail to prepare.

[cripplecreek]

The tree trimming company my cousin works for here in Michigan has gone to the east coast.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Yesterday I passed 5 convoys of power line repair trucks and crews on I-95 North in NC and Va coming from Florida. They went right past Richmond which currently has extensive outages. Perhaps they are going to NJ or NY and leaving the work further north to the Canadians.