There is but You > Tebow

Snowpocalypse ? that thing still around?

Snowpocalypse, naw seems like the work of Stormageddon Dark Lord of All.

They don't have a single friend in all of New England who can provide a better recovery environment? I've had to deal with an "I'm gonna recover in my home come hell or high water" elderly relative but he had a liveable home with power and no stairs or holes in the roof. If he had a scenario like that, he would have taken up a friend's offer of temporary housing until the house was fixed and Acorn had installed the stairlift.

jtown: Acorn had installed the stairlift.

ACORN abandons its old people to freeze to death in blizzards.

There is...
Your single house doesn't rank above the transmission line.

2 million + people with no power and people still think you can fix that in minutes.

/yeah, he's a disable vet. I thank him.
//Still no excuse for the "me me me me!" attitude

azazyel: Snowpocalypse, naw seems like the work of Stormageddon Dark Lord of All.

Shhhhhh.

James F. Campbell: jtown: Acorn had installed the stairlift.

ACORN abandons its old people to freeze to death in blizzards.

And they use the houses as brothels after the old person dies.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... or the one.

"A grandson delivered a generator Tuesday, running enough power for the *fridge*, one light and some heat to keep things bearable."

In the middle of a snowpocalypse, and they're worried about keeping things *cold*?

Elminst: There is...
Your single house doesn't rank above the transmission line.

2 million + people with no power and people still think you can fix that in minutes.

/yeah, he's a disable vet. I thank him.
//Still no excuse for the "me me me me!" attitude

Came here to say this.

There is a list.
Hospitals and emergency services first.
Then main trunk lines.
Then secondary distribution lines.
and last, lines down in your back yard.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or in his case, one.

In a major outage, if the downed line is just servicing your house, pack up and stay somewhere else. It will be awhile.

/12 days without power in 2002 in the middle of Kansas City

i chuckle merrily, 5 holes in my roof, 3 in a bedroom ceiling and house front wall with hole through it from Hurricane whateveritwas 2 months ago.

every hammer tosser thats been work starved for years is busily rebuilding houses, garages and workplaces. phone calls for estimates are returned 7-10 days later. they don't have time for piddily shiat right now.

I'll be surprised if the CL&P CEO, Jeff Butler, still works there 6 months from now. The management response to the storm is pretty underwhelming. The other big power company in state, UI, seemed to have their act together this time. The line workers and tree guys are working pretty hard to get things working; I wonder how much of their effort is to compensate for bad planning before the storm. And some of the stuff that comes out of Butler's mouth is ridiculous!

GORDON: azazyel: Snowpocalypse, naw seems like the work of Stormageddon Dark Lord of All.

Shhhhhh.

I don't speak baby.

This guy's a little disingenuous. He and his daughter were referred to temprary shelter but they dismissed that option. Then he mentions that some people are worse off than he is, implying that he can get by without anyone racing out to fix his wires, but he's awfully concerned about those other people. His daughter pulls the same trick too.
Why don't they go stay with the grandson that brought the generator over?

chasd00: Snowpocalypse ? that thing still around?

It's a boogieman that the anthromorphoditic anthropological arthroscopic human-caused climate warming folks trot out every year at this time. I think it means something or another.

Alex's home appeared to be the only one on the street that lost power over the weekend

Nobody can run an extension cord to his house? douchey neighbors...

Headso: Alex's home appeared to be the only one on the street that lost power over the weekend

Nobody can run an extension cord to his house? douchey neighbors...

None of his neighbors can put him up for a few days? douchey neighbors.

Elminst: Headso: Alex's home appeared to be the only one on the street that lost power over the weekend

Nobody can run an extension cord to his house? douchey neighbors...

None of his neighbors can put him up for a few days? douchey neighbors.

Old people from the east coast region don't do friends with the neighbors, they do feuds.

I would kind of expect the family that set up the generator to have offered to put him up, though, my money's on him still being there because he's a stubborn old sumbiatch.

It takes a frigging week to repair some power lines but you guys want to rebuild Iraq?

Gulper Eel: Elminst: Your single house doesn't rank above the transmission line.

2 million + people with no power and people still think you can fix that in minutes.

THIS.

They fix the outages that affect the most people first. Not too farking hard to understand.

You'd think people who were around for the huge-ass snowstorm of 10/87 would know that.

Yeah, you'd think, but people - even up here in the Northeast - just don't get it. After Irene came through we had people out for days, just like now. People threw a huge coniption about it. It was ridiculous - National Grid(who supplies most of the power in NH and MA, and all in RI), had 27 transmission lines down. It's a little hard to restore power to you, regardless of whether or not we put the line back up on your street, if the transmission lines are out.

The_Eliminator: I'll be surprised if the CL&P CEO, Jeff Butler, still works there 6 months from now. The management response to the storm is pretty underwhelming. The other big power company in state, UI, seemed to have their act together this time. The line workers and tree guys are working pretty hard to get things working; I wonder how much of their effort is to compensate for bad planning before the storm. And some of the stuff that comes out of Butler's mouth is ridiculous!

Well, consider that UI has a swath of the coastline, and CL&P has the rest of the state to deal with(just about, give or a take a local municipal power company here and there). I'm not saying their response is perfect, but when you have mass outages like this(some of which I suspect is Irene's last laugh - cracked branches and weakened trees that finally gave way under snow), it takes time to restore.

That, and CT is a crazy state.

/Sister lives there.
//Come to think of it, so does an aunt, uncle and two cousins.

chookbillion: Why don't they go stay with the grandson that brought the generator over?

My thought as well. What would they do if, rather than just 2 holes in his roof, it took out the whole house? My advice is to drain the water lines and go somewhere else until power is restored, they can string a blue tarp over the roof, and get the place livable again.

Another question on heat: A decently sized generator should be able to power most non-electric heating systems such as gas or oil. Indeed, with a visit to the store they should be able to buy a heater that uses gas or liquid fuel to manually dump a lot more heat into the house.

chookbillion: Why don't they go stay with the grandson that brought the generator over?

Jim_Callahan: I would kind of expect the family that set up the generator to have offered to put him up, though, my money's on him still being there because he's a stubborn old sumbiatch.

More likely he wanted to ensure the pipes didn't freeze while he was gone.

I've been there a few times in the last couple of years. You light a fire, and make sure the house stays warm enough.

This time around, I surprisingly didn't lose power, and got to play host instead. It's a refreshing change from the ice storm two years back that kept me in the dark for eleven days.

I hope one day we become civilized up here and start burying our power lines, there's really no reason this shiat needs to keep happening. Oh wait, "austerity". I guess living in a nation with public services operating at third world levels has its appeal to some.

I think that the daughter would have said that the roads are clear, lets go somewhere else. 1 house on a block is at the bottom of the list. The story is light on details to pass judgement on anyone, but if you have family in the area can't they take you in for a few days?

My parents were the last house on their street to have power during an ice storm nearly 20 years ago. There were power cords running to several neighbors houses just to run some portable heaters.

What's this guy talking about? The economy's doing great! Plenty of employees on staff to get the lines restored in a reasonable period of time! There's been no failure of government since Jan 21, 2001!

Elminst: There is...
Your single house doesn't rank above the transmission line.

2 million + people with no power and people still think you can fix that in minutes.

/yeah, he's a disable vet. I thank him.
//Still no excuse for the "me me me me!" attitude

Yeah, but it would take one lineman half a day to fix this guys house, while the main line is going to take multiple crews several days. Sometimes as a production controller, you need to fix the easy and quick things first, just so you have some accomplishments to brag about to your boss and your customers.

And regarding this guy, it seems like his daughter is doing most of the complaining about the lack of customer service personnel to answer phones. These are not the same people out in the field actually repairing things. They should be able to field some calls. The veteran seemed to understand he might not be the top priority, but there seems to be something amiss about the repair priorities of the utility company. Call me crazy, but a retired colonel and veteran of 3 wars might know somethings about prioritizing tasks.

Now to pour on some hate with typical Fark snark. Can't this guy turn his chair around or sit on it backwards so his back can face the fire? Also, who needs to run a refrigerator when it's winter and cold outside? And if they really needed an explanation of the situation, perhaps they could watch the TV news at a neighbor's house.

HotWingConspiracy: I hope one day we become civilized up here and start burying our power lines, there's really no reason this shiat needs to keep happening. Oh wait, "austerity". I guess living in a nation with public services operating at third world levels has its appeal to some.

I'm in a 3rd world country, and my power just went out (briefly) this evening for no good reason other than the cheap switch gear on the distribution network, so I'm really getting a kick...

Elminst: There is...
Your single house doesn't rank above the transmission line.

2 million + people with no power and people still think you can fix that in minutes.

/yeah, he's a disable vet. I thank him.
//Still no excuse for the "me me me me!" attitude

I can understand what you're saying, but I still have to go with the vet and his family on this one.

Regardless of his own condition, the comments he had were regarding the lack of services available... such as not being able to report that there were potentially live electrical lines down on his property.

Considering that a private electrician had to come out and check, yet didn't properly re-mount the cables, it sounds like they were part of the general infrastructure. You ought to have a way of dealing with that that doesn't require to try and report it to an automated system.

I think that the biggest issue that the vet was complaining about was that instead of dealing with the problem or pointing him to a solution, that the people you're supposed to be able to contact in situations like this were merely offering platitudes, and not the kind that were remotely reasonable (such as, "we're swamped from all the damage the snow did, but thanks for reporting it... we'll get to you as soon as we have someone free").

Just my interpretation though. Kind of hard to tell after they tossed in some of the extra tidbits to the article.

"It's been awfully cold, especially in my bedroom,"

...Dirty old man.

So awesome!

You know, people make fun of us down south, but when my town was without power for almost 2 weeks a few years ago, we talked to our neighbors, pooled resources and made it a freakin' party. We had the only Jeep on the block, so we went out for booze, food and fuel while others fired up grills and BBQd some meat. We stored food in snowbanks, and those with gas heaters and fireplaces hosted those without. When one side of the street got power, we collected every extension cord available and ran lines to the other side. The kids were set to collecting firewood in the nearby woods and then entertained with board games and sledding, while the adults drank and played cards. I was almost disappointed when everything was back up and running because we had a damn good time "roughing it". :)

Babwa Wawa: rogue_L_chick: You know, people make fun of us down south, but when my town was without power for almost 2 weeks a few years ago, we talked to our neighbors, pooled resources and made it a freakin' party. We had the only Jeep on the block, so we went out for booze, food and fuel while others fired up grills and BBQd some meat. We stored food in snowbanks, and those with gas heaters and fireplaces hosted those without. When one side of the street got power, we collected every extension cord available and ran lines to the other side. The kids were set to collecting firewood in the nearby woods and then entertained with board games and sledding, while the adults drank and played cards. I was almost disappointed when everything was back up and running because we had a damn good time "roughing it". :)

What makes you think people aren't doing that here?

You can have fun while the power's out and still be pissed about paying out the nose for your power and still having a third-world distribution system.

Then great! I was responding more to the folks who were commenting on the lack of neighborly help and that it seemed to be rare in that neck of the woods. Not everyone is lucky enough to have the resources we have, so I sympathize with those who don't have a community that works together.

Why the heck is he using a generator to run the fridge? Just stick that stuff outside in the snow.

Or, grab some snow, put it in the cooler and put your stuff in that. Instant refrigeration and you can use the saved electricity to run the heating pad or some other source of heat.

/yeah, our family did that too one year (kept the fridge/freezer closed instead of sticking stuff outside)
//funny how long term cold can make you stupid.

Just got my power back tonight - been out since Saturday night.
The only thing that saved my arse is that I learned from Irene that I needed a generator.
Bought it two weeks after the hurricane and had it wired into my main breaker panel, so I had heat, hot water and a few lights at least.
Lost a lot of trees. CL&P response was just as pathetic during hurricane Irene.
It was a very bad storm with 5X the tree damage than the hurricane.

Oh... and stay off my lawn!!

Babwa Wawa: FiendishFellow05: Well, consider that UI has a swath of the coastline, and CL&P has the rest of the state to deal with(just about, give or a take a local municipal power company here and there). I'm not saying their response is perfect, but when you have mass outages like this(some of which I suspect is Irene's last laugh - cracked branches and weakened trees that finally gave way under snow), it takes time to restore.

Their response is horrendous, eclipsed by their lack of preparation, which is in turn eclipsed only by their negligent maintenance of the transmission system. They couldn't pre-stage out of state crews like NJ did because they hadn't paid the farking bill for those same crews from tropical storm irene. My town had 98% out, and it was four days before anything (including hospitals) got their power back. This is only such a widespread problem is due to the fact that they don't employ enough tree-trimming crews.

This farking state pays twice the national average for power, second only to farking hawaii. People pay out the nose for their energy here. And they pay for better service. The negligence becomes criminal when you view it alongside the outrageous revenues they see.

Wow, that is pretty horrendous. My sister lives in Norwalk, so she seems to take less of a beating there than in some other parts of the state. My aunt, uncle and cousins however, live in the eastern part of the state in the middle of the sticks, so they're low on CL&P's list.

rogue_L_chick: You know, people make fun of us down south, but when my town was without power for almost 2 weeks a few years ago, we talked to our neighbors, pooled resources and made it a freakin' party. We had the only Jeep on the block, so we went out for booze, food and fuel while others fired up grills and BBQd some meat. We stored food in snowbanks, and those with gas heaters and fireplaces hosted those without. When one side of the street got power, we collected every extension cord available and ran lines to the other side. The kids were set to collecting firewood in the nearby woods and then entertained with board games and sledding, while the adults drank and played cards. I was almost disappointed when everything was back up and running because we had a damn good time "roughing it". :)

Yes, remember that ice mess too, live in Springdale where we took some of the worst of it. Luckily, we had a real fireplace for when we sporadically lost power and we had an open house party. We lived within staggering distance of Last Chance Liquor so we had all the necessary provisions too. We had an elderly neighbor who we didn't know at all but we routinely checked on her. She was just fine and her family was diligent to her care so it worked out great. We amused ourselves with booze and very carefully manipulated walks through the neighborhood (avoided walking under trees because they were literally falling out of the sky). It was crazy and you can still see all of the trees with the tops just missing, as if some giant monster flew by and ate them. Let's just say, fire wood was plentiful after that. Trucks drove through our neighborhoods for weeks collecting debris for cash.... to sell it. For more cash. Brilliant.

We also Grilled like crazy. My hubby was never afraid to grill out in the snow and ice. Those were good times, all up until someone blew a stop due to no power at a stop light and totaled my car and (long story, short) ER visit and months of physical therapy later, i managed to "somewhat" recover.

To the point of the poor gentleman in his home, I'd be highly reluctant to leave as well. It's dangerous. I was a block from home headed to a close grocery store and the roads were fine. It was a power outage issue. Some moron assumed that if the lights don't work, you don't have to stop. Those of us with common since know that means they default to a 4 way stop. I was injured and still suffer the injuries. This man in TFA is 92 and already fragile. I'd advise him to stay home and seek whatever outside assistance he can get.

Somewhat OT:

Why aren't power lines buried in the ground, especially in the Northeast, rather than being strung above ground where they're subject to ice, falling trees, etc?

"Chomko, who lives with her father, said she got through to someone at the mayor's office, who referred them to a shelter. She considered that a non-option."

Then suffer.

Seriously, I lost power during Irene for over a week and it was horrid. I have a well, and it wasn't cold yet so a refrigerator was necessary, and I found out that no power=no water=no toilets. Sucks. I stayed with friends when I could, borrowed water supplies from friends that had them. I never thought I'd have to 'borrow' a shower so I could go to work decent. It sucks but it was life. I've never been so relieved as I was when I got power back, especially for my wife and kid.

That said if I had no friends and lost power right now such that I had no heat given that my wife has a broken foot and there's a staircase at the entrance of my house as well I'd find a shelter. Or send them to family until we got power back. You do what you have to do to get by.

And yeah, I cursed CL&P every minute of my power outage but mostly because my town was the LAST town at 100% power out. When I called them to report that a tree had taken a power line into the road near my house they asked me where the city I lived in WAS, because they didn't know it EXISTED. Feeling ignored and abandoned didn't help me remain calm. =T