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Okay guys, I had to start a thread about this one. As some of you know some "strong" (not even severe) t-storms rolled through last night, and really, they weren't even that bad. However, around 2:30am my power went out! For no obvious reason! This seems to happen all the time and I want to know if it's just my area or if it's Charlotte in general. It seems to me (and this is only my observation) that a big downpour results in streets almost IMMEDIATELY becoming flooded and impassable, a little wind/thunder/lightning results in our power going out for hours even when the storms aren't that bad, and whenever there's a friggin INCH of snow or a sprinkling of ice, this city seems to come to a grinding hault! To me, it signals a lack of maintenance of Charlotte's power, flood control and anti-weather infrastructure systems. It's really quite pitiful for a city that (with sleazy help from the Uptown Crowd; GOTTA HAVE SOCIALIZED TRAINS SO WE ARE WORLD CLASS) seems to be kicking and screaming and trying as hard as it can to be "world class". Opinions and thoughts on our crumbling infrastructure are welcomed
1. You didn't state where you live in the region so I really don't have any way of answering your question as to what might be affecting your power outages
2. This is a pre-Revolutionary War city. That means the roads were constructed over paths that date back to native american trading paths (in some cases) and to trading routes and stage coach routes in the 18th C.
3. Since it is an old city, such things as sewer and water pipes are also very old
4. Some of the city is in a flood plain
5. Sewers get backed up, often b/c of brush wh/ accumulates from our gazillion trees all over the place
6. We have very few winters w/ much accumulation of snow, so buying snow plows for snow that usually disappears w/in 72 hours or less would be a waste of tax payer money
7. Unless you work for the Chamber of Commerce or the Economic Development Council or some other entity closely related . . . you would never be so foolish as to say that Charlotte aspires to become a world-class city. This ain't Paris.
I know. I am so sick of hearing that phrase being bandied about. This is an old Southern town that has grown and sho nuff is not that big - or sophisticated. A nice place to move a corporate office to b/c it is a nice place to raise a family. If I want world class, I buy a plane ticket.
The City does not control "the power". That's Duke Energy.
As Ani mentioned, the combination of extensive rainfall and lack of severe winters here lets our trees get big and limby. A strong wind can easily snap damaged/overburdened limbs.
You are also gonna see a big uptick in dead limbs falling due to the previous years' severe droughts... it's a fact of life in the southeast... and Charlotte is no worse than other cities.
I don't know where you're coming from, but here in the south we'd rather suffer the occasional discomforts (which is all they end of really being) rather than pay through the nose (via taxes/fees) for extensive maintenance that is unnecessary 90% of the time. I don't really want to prop up a plow fleet when we go some years with no snow or ice at all... try to keep it in perspective. Low cost of living compared to yankee cities is one of our biggest draws.
Charlotte is a very large 2nd tier city at this point. World class my a....! Well, you get the drift. A major problem with large sections of the city losing power are related to its layout. Many subdivisions are located along large feeder roads and if a tree falls on power lines located on those roads, it takes a large swath of the power grid down. People tend to forget how big Charlotte is in land area compared to many other cities of similar population. I'm sure you could fit San Fransisco and Boston within Charlotte's perimeter with room left over! Infrastructure is easier to diagnose and maintain in a smaller area!
I live in a 50 year old house with old electric and above ground power lines in Kannapolis and our electricity hasn't so much as flickered since moving in last summer. Never encountered a street so flooded it wasn't passable. Didn't have problems driving in the snow and ice this winter. Maybe it's just your area, or maybe you have unrealistic expectations. Most cities have some infrastructure problems, in Chicago it's the potholes, California it's water/power, seems to me things function pretty smoothly here.
(What the heck is a socialized train anyways? Is that some southern thing I've never heard of? )
I live in a 50 year old house with old electric and above ground power lines in Kannapolis and our electricity hasn't so much as flickered since moving in last summer. Never encountered a street so flooded it wasn't passable. Didn't have problems driving in the snow and ice this winter. Maybe it's just your area, or maybe you have unrealistic expectations. Most cities have some infrastructure problems, in Chicago it's the potholes, California it's water/power, seems to me things function pretty smoothly here.
(What the heck is a socialized train anyways? Is that some southern thing I've never heard of? )
HEE HEE!!!
I'm w/ you JanGirl . . . it all depends where you are located. DC is an old city, too, and lord have mercy - try dealing with their potholes and sewer problems and flooding and snow removal . . . I have had to schlep through about 8" of water that suddenly backed up while walking in DC.
As for the socialized train . . . ummm . . . you got me on that one. I believe all cities that have a mass transit rail system got the money from government funds. Unless I am mistaken, I don't think any city in the USA has a mass transit system that was built using private funds. I could be wrong . . .
I'm w/ you JanGirl . . . it all depends where you are located. DC is an old city, too, and lord have mercy - try dealing with their potholes and sewer problems and flooding and snow removal . . . I have had to schlep through about 8" of water that suddenly backed up while walking in DC.
As for the socialized train . . . ummm . . . you got me on that one. I believe all cities that have a mass transit rail system got the money from government funds. Unless I am mistaken, I don't think any city in the USA has a mass transit system that was built using private funds. I could be wrong . . .
Most of the New York Subway system was built without Fed money. Some of the first work was done in the early 1900's before the term "mass transit" ever existed!
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This seems to happen all the time and I want to know if it's just my area or if it's Charlotte in general. It seems to me (and this is only my observation) that a big downpour results in streets almost IMMEDIATELY becoming flooded and impassable, a little wind/thunder/lightning results in our power going out for hours even when the storms aren't that bad, and whenever there's a friggin INCH of snow or a sprinkling of ice, this city seems to come to a grinding hault! To me, it signals a lack of maintenance of Charlotte's power, flood control and anti-weather infrastructure systems. It's really quite pitiful for a city that (with sleazy help from the Uptown Crowd; GOTTA HAVE SOCIALIZED TRAINS SO WE ARE WORLD CLASS) seems to be kicking and screaming and trying as hard as it can to be "world class". Opinions and thoughts on our crumbling infrastructure are welcomed 
