Our local power company (a cooperative) is one of the few that I've seen that does a very good job of keeping lines clean. And luckily, they also happen to sub contract out alot of the work to a company that has competent employees. In cases like your tree, they ask the homeowner how they want it done: this much of the tree MUST go, you can go further to the point of cutting the whole thing down if you want. Shrubs that don't have a chance of growing high enough to interfere with the lines will be left, but if its a tree, and its in the right-of-way, its gone. They also pick everything up after they leave (free loads of mulch if you want it).

The other company in the area (SCE&G), just plain sucks IMO. They're the ones that leave trees that are already around the lines, if they bother to ever trim anything at all. Only thing I've seen them do lately is go and spray under the lines, so now everywhere you go, you see a bunch of dead brown trees and brush, and they have no plans to remove any of it.

I thought that this was an interesting article on how the NHC missed the mark, as far as wind speed is concerned, with Irene. However, they were 20% better than average on predicting the storm track, and that's an immensely critical thing to know as well.

Anyway, I think it's important to read about it and be aware of forecasting misses like this so that we don't simply become completely cynical about all forecasts in the future.

How Irene's forecast missed the mark and why it could happen again

Has anyone read anything, looking back, about how the evacuation in NYC worked out, in particular, the evacuation of the hospitals and nursing homes? Personally, I thought it was one of the more intriguing stories in the days before Irene hit the NY area.

As far as I am aware, none of these patients died or were injured further as a result of the evacuation, which is amazing if that's true.

The only thing I was able to find afterwards was an article mentioning the billing nightmare that the evacuation caused over who pays for what.

There seems to be a wide discrepancy over the numbers who lost electrical power during the tropical storm.



http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news...-irene/6288694/

compared with


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/09/02/irene.aftermath/index.html

So how many are still without grid power now getting on for a week? Are there still over 1 million people still affected with no electrical power 1 week in? (assuming 1.5-2 actual people per customer)

It doesn't look to good if there really was a black start electrical grid requirement for something like a Carrington solar storm event or even a more substantial hurricane as Irene was barely a tropical storm when it passed over New York.

Maybe there are just still so many without power still that we haven't yet heard the full chorus of anger for being cut off for so long via the interweb.

Question;

Rather than have a vastly expensive state internal security (DHS) and emergency response organisation (FEMA), would it not be more sensible in just making infrastructure such as Electrical grid generation and transmission supply simply more resilient?

FWIW, our local power company reports 11,304 customers still out as of 8:20 am this morning. This is what remains of their total of 750,204 outages since the storm began. Last public statement they made had almost everyone to be back by Friday night, with "a few" remaining on Saturday.

Under the heading of credit where it is due, they have a web page where you can keep track of the numbers:
http://www.bge.com/customerservice/stormsoutages/currentoutages/Pages/default.aspx

UK Daily Mail article on an unprepared Brit dealing with the Hurricane, er Tropical storm, er Gale Irene (as Sharon Churcher described the storm) on how to Survive in the days after (well just about).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...d-country-.html

What we're forgetting here of course is that the entitlement brigade do see it as survival when blow drying the hair or ironing the Calvin Kleins and the petrol for the gennie runs out.

I think the point she is saying in a whiny "why me" way is that she wasn't in Haiti, she was on the outskirts of NYC and it wasn't even a proper hurricane, just a gale.

S*** happens, even in NY, deal with it. I remember ice storms back in the '50's -- yeah, dating myself.

I suspect there are many people in the area hit by Irene who would feel very lucky to have a "...petrol-fed generator..." available.

I recall being surprised ahwile back at reading a FEMA blurb on disaster preparaitions that suggested people have a "manual can opener". I should know better by now, but it still boggles my mind that people get so dependent on electical conveniences that they can't even open a can when the power goes off.

We don't have an electric can opener. I have three very nice manual openers though.

Same with coffee -- no electric drip coffee maker, I use a Melitta 6-Cup Manual Coffeemaker. If I can boil water with an electric stove (at home in the kitchen), a propane camp stove, a Svea 123 or a circle of rocks with an open fire, I can make a good cup of coffee -- or Chai/Tea.

Many modern "conveniences" are a trap.

I just hope my Kindle has a full charge