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I understand that repairing the lines etc. takes some time. But they need to do a much better job clearing the trees and branches blocking the road. Its been three days since the storm, and there are still roads in Wilton that are completely blocked! This is a public safety issue - how can police, fire and EMS respond in a timely manner when roads are blocked?
For all of you without power, but have access to the internet (which would be everyone reading these posts), have you checked the CL&P website for news on restoration? They've been pretty good about keeping people informed.
If you consider that the workers are working 16 hour shifts (they're required by contract to have 8 hours between shifts, minimum), have probably already worked a full week prior to the hurricane, had to work Saturday and Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday..not spending any time with their families..
AND if you consider that the bosses who tell them which project to do, and where they need to be, have been working longer shifts than that (since CL&P doesn't have the same contractual obligations to management and non-line-workers)...
then maybe you can appreciate that near around shift-change time (7 AM), there will be some flux. So an entire crew met at Wendy's to hang out waiting for orders. Did it occur to you that their boss might have told them NOT to meet at the garage, and to get their trucks out on the road and gather in the general vicinity of their work location, so that when they had the schedule (which obviously couldn't have been prepared the day before), they'd already be nearby?
They COULD have met at the garage, and stayed there, out of sight, until someone got them the schedule. Instead, they gave you sight of their presence. You had the comfort of knowing they were ready to start at a moment's notice. Not when they got their gear into their trucks (which would have happened if they started out at the garage) - but as soon as someone said GO - all they had to do was shift into gear and they were already out on the road and partway to their destination.
Did you think their bosses would have known the day before? Did you not think that maybe an assessment of the ENTIRE GRID was necessary to ensure, that once they flipped the switch, they wouldn't have missed one tiny little line down in a puddle somewhere, and waiting to blow up someone's house?
It's not so easy as just fixing one line down on the road, and turning the juice back on. They have to check the transformers FIRST. They have to make sure the power is OFF first. They can't turn the power on until EVERYONE on that grid is readyto roll. Otherwise, they'd have to turn it right back off again when they're working on dropped line #43, unless they don't mind putting up live wires.
If you think it's so simple to do, while doing it for 16 hours a day, 5 days in a row, then maybe you should apply for a job at CL&P.
I know it's frustrating and irritatating and mind-numbingly annoying to be without power. But you're safe, you are alive, you're not in the hospital, your home is obviously in a condition to live in or you wouldn't be griping about the refrigerator not running.
And let's not forget the neighbors down on the end of the block, whose house is massively flooded to the point where there's water in the walls and in the circuits. When they turn the juice back on in your neighborhood, will you care about that neighbor when his own home electrocutes itself? I'll bet your neighbor will care.
Not such a simple matter afterall. You should thank your CL&P workers for being out there, visible for you to cheer on. If he has to sit for an extra half hour, then he has to sit for an extra half hour. It's probably the only half hour break he'll get for most of the next 16 hours.
Fantastic post. Remember, however bad you have it, someone has it worse.
I just got home this morning from Puerto Rico, we were stuck after the storm. We ended up having to fly into DC and drive home. We had no power when we arrived, and our home had some cosmetic damage, but there are homes in our neighborhood with some serious damage (we are in Branford). Thankfully our wonderful neighbor boarded up our large family room window, put our patio furniture in the garage, and filled our tubs with water.
There are guys working on Montowese Street from Pennsylvania, and my neighbor said they have been there cleaning/working for close to 40 hours now. I'm going to head up to North Branford to buy some subs, and drop it off to them out of thanks. The people who are complaining about no power truly disgust me.
the people complaining about power truly "disgust" you??
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidyankee764
Fantastic post. Remember, however bad you have it, someone has it worse.
I just got home this morning from Puerto Rico, we were stuck after the storm. We ended up having to fly into DC and drive home. We had no power when we arrived, and our home had some cosmetic damage, but there are homes in our neighborhood with some serious damage (we are in Branford). Thankfully our wonderful neighbor boarded up our large family room window, put our patio furniture in the garage, and filled our tubs with water.
There are guys working on Montowese Street from Pennsylvania, and my neighbor said they have been there cleaning/working for close to 40 hours now. I'm going to head up to North Branford to buy some subs, and drop it off to them out of thanks. The people who are complaining about no power truly disgust me.
Well, this makes a whole lot of sense, considering you think AnonChick's posts are"fantastic"! rotflol.
however, you don't know the half of how bad it IS to exist without power if you aren't used to it.
We've been thru it, and I'm truly CONCERNED, not disgusted, on how folks are doing without power...
It's still pretty darn warm out, and many ppl have central air in their homes and no way now to get cool air inside, other than opening up windows, possibly in towns that have high crime rates.
And people DO NOT try to INSIST that there are NO town in CT that do NOT have high crime rates.
I'm very concerned too, cuz you got people who are BARELY getting by in the state of CT, due to the high taxes, gas, food, etc, and now they may not even have enuf money for GAS to keep going to the store to get fresh food, for many places are out of ICE, batteries, etc and they are NOT telling us WHEN this power will be restored!
I just am shocked, totally disappointed and appalled at how many areas in the state of CT are handling this horrific storm!
At least let people KNOW, Connecticut that you are NOT able to restore power for weeks, or days, or whatever length of time it is, so they can find a SAFE & reliable place to go stay instead!!!
Instead of saying NOTHING at all, and acting like NOTHING serious has happened! And NOT everyone is ABLE to get to a newspaper box, AnonChick, get real!
My god, CT has become such a negligent place, in terms of people's safety it's astonishing!
I don't hear NOTHING on the local tv stations about the state of affairs post-Hurricane Irene.
No other state I've ever lived in, that had dangerous weather conditions like this, has ever acted like this before!
The people who are complaining about no power truly disgust me.
Oh please. It is human nature to complain and no matter what the complaint, someone always has it worse than you. Not to mention, I am sure you have running water in YOUR house, no?
I am not complaining about the linemen- they are doing their job the best they can and as fast as they can. I am fully aware it will take a while for all of us to be back up and running again. Do people have it worse than me? Absolutely. I have my life, my home, and my family, all intact. Do I feel bad complaining because I haven't had running water for going on 5 days? Hells no. Flushing a toilet is a luxury I have grown accustom to.
Do I feel badly complaining that major roads in my town are blocked by swinging power lines? Absolutely not, because as posted above, this is a public safety issue. If there is a medical emergency, house fire, or other issue, I sure hope the appropriate first responders can reach the victim in a timely manner.
Luckily my neighbors are all checking on each other. Ice is in short supply round these parts and whoever finds it buys up extra bags and shares the wealth. I have seen a lot of good in people during the past few days, which makes taking the bad a little easier!
Still no power for my house in Fairfield. We relocated to Monroe where my in-laws have power (unlike much of their town which is still dead). No real updates out of UI yet...
For those complaining about the power people taking too long -- they have people coming in from all over the country, and some from Canada, to help. It's not as easy as picking up a fallen wire and re-stringing between 2 poles. We were talking to 1 guy who was saying that they are working 16 on, and 8 off, non stop, to get people up as fast as they can. They even work a little extra on certain jobs if they are close, just to get someone up instead of having the next shift worry about it and leaving someone without power for what could be another several hours or days until someone can come back. The guy was also telling me that some streets will be out for at least another week - power can flow both ways along a wire, and if they can't confirm where power is coming from, they can't cut trees away from the lines and do repairs. There are also a ton of transformers and other hardware that is aged and has blown, this all requires time and effort.
High voltage isn't an easy thing to work with and can be dangerous if you don't go slowly and carefully. Yes, it's inconvenient and could cost you some money to replace some food, but is it worth someone risking their life by getting electrocuted? No. My neighbors, an 80+ yr old couple, are doing just fine with no power. They have been using the grill to re-heat some food, they open some windows to let some air in, and otherwise use cold towels to keep cool. Restocking a cooler with ice helps with cold water and some other basics.
And for those of you still without power -- do the smart thing and unplug everything you can before the power comes back on. If you've already emptied your fridge, flip off the circuit for it and leave the doors open. If all of the items start drawing a huge amount of power the second the utility co flips the switch, you could blow out some hardware and delay the start-up again. You will also protect your stuff against any fluctuations or odd surges (especially with computer equipment!).
Oh please. It is human nature to complain and no matter what the complaint, someone always has it worse than you. Not to mention, I am sure you have running water in YOUR house, no?
I am not complaining about the linemen- they are doing their job the best they can and as fast as they can. I am fully aware it will take a while for all of us to be back up and running again. Do people have it worse than me? Absolutely. I have my life, my home, and my family, all intact. Do I feel bad complaining because I haven't had running water for going on 5 days? Hells no. Flushing a toilet is a luxury I have grown accustom to.
Do I feel badly complaining that major roads in my town are blocked by swinging power lines? Absolutely not, because as posted above, this is a public safety issue. If there is a medical emergency, house fire, or other issue, I sure hope the appropriate first responders can reach the victim in a timely manner.
Luckily my neighbors are all checking on each other. Ice is in short supply round these parts and whoever finds it buys up extra bags and shares the wealth. I have seen a lot of good in people during the past few days, which makes taking the bad a little easier!
No, I do not have running water in my house. The flooding in my neighborhood on Sunday contaminated it and we won't have clean water for at least a few more days.
You should feel bad complaining. There are people whose homes were badly damaged and in many cases, destroyed. In my neighborhood, there were decks ripped away, windows broken and vehicles flooded out. A few people two streets over had feet of water in their house and all of their personal belongings ruined.
Is it really a public safety issue for you, or are you just whining because you're a little bit inconvenienced? Go take a walk along the shore in Short Beach or in East Haven, or Fairfield Beach - it's sobering and maybe you'll appreciate things a little more.
I can't drive 30 feet without seeing branches/trees/power lines down, the power companies are overwhelmed, they can only work so fast. But they knew this was coming. The hurricane was heavily publicized, in fact that's all that was on the news. Anyone not living under a rock knew about it. My only complaint would be that the power companies didn't have enough workers lined up to deal with cleanup. CL & P is now saying that many of the original workers who had promised to help with restoration never showed up. And it's rare that such a storm hits Ct. so the damage might have been worse than expected. People just have to be patient, hopefully this will be a lesson learned. Unfortunately, I did hear that CL & P was considering raising rates to pay for the cleanup.
It's a public safety issue for US, and many others kidyankee...
Quote:
Originally Posted by kidyankee764
No, I do not have running water in my house. The flooding in my neighborhood on Sunday contaminated it and we won't have clean water for at least a few more days.
You should feel bad complaining. There are people whose homes were badly damaged and in many cases, destroyed. In my neighborhood, there were decks ripped away, windows broken and vehicles flooded out. A few people two streets over had feet of water in their house and all of their personal belongings ruined.
Is it really a public safety issue for you, or are you just whining because you're a little bit inconvenienced? Go take a walk along the shore in Short Beach or in East Haven, or Fairfield Beach - it's sobering and maybe you'll appreciate things a little more.
STOP BEING SO HARSH kidyankee, NO ONE should have to feel "bad" about complaining after a major hurriance or tropical storm hits their area... that's a coping mechanism and it's their RIGHT to complain if they're upset or stressed out about the storm.
I don't think people r complaining or "whining" as you & AnonChick always have to CLAIM, about the inconvenience at all, they're complaining b/c they don't know how to cope without electricity or water in their house.
In essence, they're worried for their safety & their survival and that's called survival instinct...
For decades on end, ppl didn't have to go out to an outhouse to use the potty, nor carry pails of water from their wells.
Now, after Hurricae Irene, they don't know HOW to get by!
And there's lots of communities in CT in which the neighbors don't even SPEAK to each other, let alone check on each other! Unfortunately there are many mean-spirited folks who now live in CT and have no concern for others.
One example, would be an elderly man who was run over in the city of Hartford, during daylight, in a public street. Many people saw it happen and NO ONE, I repeat NO ONE, even stopped to see how he was doing, or called for help!
So.. if you are in the county of Hartford, you could well be in a desperate situation and have no one even WILLING to come to your aid.
Yes, it's quite sad all the homes destroyed up near East Haven, Milford and such, but there's half a million people STILL without power.. with NO way to get by.
Not EVERYONE has relatives or friends, close by, where they can go and hang out until the power comes back on.. not EVERYONE has enuf gas in their cars to go get more ice or fresh food...
As far as the power companies doing their jobs properly in some area, I got some high doubts about that. I just talked to a person from Marlborough, where the town is 100% without power!
They told us they DO see the power co. trucks coming up & down their roads, but they're not stopping to fix anything yet!
They said they could be out of power in Marlborough, for another whole week! But no one, esp. the power co, is letting them know that, so that's definitely putting folks lives in danger!
10 days is a LONG time to be out of power, especially in the summer, if you got no water (lots of folks in the country are on wells and DO NOT have water now).
SO, MAYBE IF YOU ARE IN THESE TOWNS THAT ARE 100% OUT OF POWER, YOU OUGHT TO THINK ABOUT GOING TO STAY WITH A FRIEND OR RELATIVE WHO DOES HAVE POWER/WATER NOW, CT RESIDENTS!
Yeah, people are acting So strangely. They are ALL about keeping their lawns perfectly and golf course like.. however, there's numerous big trees, one which fell over another houses's roof, didn't seem to damage it, but still... wow..
I just saw a newspaper about some houses being devastted down in East Haven! I feel so bad for the ppl down there who lost their homes..
But been thru THIS before. We've lived in areas that had frequent hurricanes..
Anyone remember Bertha or Fran? Those were BAD hurricanes.. we had several trees fall on top of our house! One big tree, a pine, fell right OVEr our front porch. Had we stayed there during the storm and stepped outside when that tree fell over we'd have been KILLED!
That's why I do NOT get why ppl would want to even TRY to go out during or right after the storm.. even when the winds were so HIGH, to go pick up stuff off their lawns..
It's a life threatening situation, a Hurricane, Do you folks in CT not get that?? OMG, i'm just shaking my head here... they're all acting like it's NO BIG DEAL, but it certainly was...
Yeah, lots of popular towns are out of power still... In Glastonbury, many many businesses, stores, library, you name it, don't have power.. How is Portland doing btw?
I know they got that river, CT, isn't it, running by their town.. There's STILL floods about to happen due to all the heavy rains.
I wonder if E. Hartford will start flooding soon too? Someone told me that up near the Wickham Park they're all out of power.. but on the other side of town they do have power! Strange storm.. very strange..
Some parts of the state don't even look like they had a hurricance hit at all, while others, even in the same town, are torn apart!
I wonder how North Carolina & the Outer Banks is doing?
Another question I'll probably start a thread on is, I just WONDER how the beaches in CT & RI are doing now, after Irene?
Can you even go to the beach, to take a tan, or go wading in the ocean now, that Irene's hit?
OR , are all the beaches in CT & RI closed? I want to go to the shore soon...
I live just about a mile from where all the devastation was and walked down on Sunday - it is a disaster. No, we can't go to the beach - they have the gate locked - think it is because it is possible to walk from the beach to the damaged homes and police are keeping people out of that area unless they own one of the homes. But right across the street is a splash pad and little park with some benches and picnic tables, so I take a lunch and sit there because what can I do at home anyway? Lots of media there, our Mayor and Gov. Malloy - Coast Guard helicopter flying around yesterday.
On the bright side, we got our power back last night; the next town over, Branford, is about 100% out and won't be back till next week.
Is it really a public safety issue for you, or are you just whining because you're a little bit inconvenienced? Go take a walk along the shore in Short Beach or in East Haven, or Fairfield Beach - it's sobering and maybe you'll appreciate things a little more.
Let me guess, you never ever complain about anything, right?
I have neighbors who do not have access to their homes at all. Vehicles cannot get in or out, whether it is their personal cars, fire trucks, or an ambulance. I guess we still wouldn't be allowed to complain by your standards if one of these homes burns down because a fire truck can't get within 500 feet of the place. One of these neighbors is 8 months pregnant who also lives with her elderly mother in law. If something goes wrong in that house, do they have the right to complain when grandma can't get to the hospital or the mother goes into labor and can't get out? That is just the house I know, I am sure the other streets blocked off have similar stories. I don't give a rat's behind it takes me 10 minutes longer to get to work, this is about public safety, and you would probably realize that if you wouldn't mind stepping off your non-complaining high horse for just a moment.
Again, bravo to the crews getting power back and working their butt's off. I do however feel that there is a glaring neglect in regards to swinging lines and trees dangling over the road and that kind of damage should be cleaned up before power is restored. Perhaps kidyankee will be OK with us complaining if said dangling trees kill or maims someone.
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the people complaining about power truly "disgust" you??
