1 entire week without power

This is not running related,... unless you want to say that our power co (CL&P) is running away from their responsibility. We just got our power back yesterday afternoon, exactly one week after the freak snow storm that hit the Northeast. We're used to snow storms here, but when it hits with heavy wet snow on trees that still have their leaves; it ends up being abnormally destructive. OK, I get it; it was like a war zone with trees & wires down everywhere, but why so long before we can have running water & heat? There are still about 100,000 in CT without power, so I'm actually one of the fortunate ones to have it back. Why wasn't CL&P better prepared? Why do they have twice as many crews out today than they did a few days ago? It doesn't take that long for crews to drive from other states. Why did the governor wait until the end of this week to call out the CT guard to help with the tree removals in the hardest hit areas?

I survived ok by using my bath tub with snow to save food. I also made good use of the outside grill & the living room fireplace. I have teenage boys, so we can rough it out, while my wife stayed a couple days with her brother & mother who got their power back after "only" a couple days. We were able to handle it, but what about those with young children & the elderly? I just read today of a town that's livid about a senior center still without power. What will happen if we get hit with a worse disaster? Hasn't America learned anything from disasters like Hurricane Katrina? Sorry, I just needed to vent a bit. I'm done now. You can go back to running.

I thought it was bad when we went without power for 10 hours. No water, power, heat, home phone. With two little ones, I sympathize. I have also heard many stories about folks with generators getting carbon monoxide poisoning. I'll give you a big Arrrrgghh!! if you think it might help.

Yeah electricity sure is useful. We were without it for 2 weeks after Hurricane Ivan. It was so hot (Florida). Fortunately? we didn't have food in the fridge anyway and we lived off MREs.

Edit: senior center should have a generator. I worked at a nursing home when I was in FL and we at least had a generator at work. Maybe they're more common in FL than CT though?

glad you made it thru. Had the same issue a few years back but it was 100 degrees. Different problem, just as uncomfortable. Oh yeah, we were on a well -- no running water, i.e., no toilets.

When an act of God occurs without much warning, there's no way to pre-stage equipment and materiale for an area. I was out for two weeks after Hurricane Ike in 2008. It was hot, very hot. Be fortunate you had snow to keep your food cold. In 1983 after Hurricane Alicia, I was out of power for 8 hours, the people across the street were out for 5 days.

We had electrical line crews from Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina in my area. Tree cutting companies from all over came to cut the trees, so the line crews could remove the broken utility poles, so the new utility poles could be set by another company, then there had to be enough transformers, electrical line, porcelain things to get the electricity working. And this has to be done from the power generation station all along the line to your house.

I remember seeing 3-40' utility poles getting a police escort, 10 days after the hurricane hit. So, it's a huge undertaking. And our part of the country is pancake flat.

If the municipalities and government officials were telling the power company where to start and concentrate their efforts, you might want to chew out the government officials.

Repairs happen as fast as they can. Freak storms happen. It'll happen again. Count on it. Be ready. Control what you can and hope for the best.

Bummer deal....

I finally got power back Friday night. My house all week was 42. Yeah that was fun.

I saw a group of out of state electrical guys hanging out at a place mid-week in CT. I asked what was going on and they said they've been waiting 9 hours for somebody in the CT Electric to tell them where to go. This whole thing was handled poorly. Again.

I know MA is one of the few states in the country where the majority of the power lines are above ground. Here's a thought. Instead of spending millions/billions every storm dealing iwth these power outages how about making the one-time investment of getting the lines underground.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Here's a thought. Instead of spending millions/billions every storm dealing iwth these power outages how about making the one-time investment of getting the lines underground.

That IS the sensible thing to do, but in Texas, the regulatory body has been hesitant to grant rate increases for building concrete re-inforced structures for power transmission lines. So, we still have a bunch of Erector set-style structures. The power companies have been much more pro-active on tree trimming in estabished neighborhoods, than in the past.

Ounce, I know it's a lot to get things repaired, but they could have done a better job being prepared & managing the work. Like I said, my family can handle it, but I'm more concerned for others.