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My parents and many of their Pittston Township neighbors were without power for quite some time. The storm was very gentle on us here in Pittsburgh. We had over four inches of rain; however, it fell over an extended enough period of time that it only caused very minimal flooding. Our wind gusts rarely eclipsed 35 miles per hour, either, and this brought down very few trees.
I'm back! Only two and a half days out of power and three days without cable, internet and phone.
It all gets us going because it did not look that bad. Especially for us that lived through that ice storm about six years ago. In that ice storm it was hard to navigate all of our local roads. With Sandy; I did not loose one tree and had no problem driving around (other than swerving around tree limbs). Yes; I did see trees down – just not the kind of destruction that we had with the ice storm or Irene.
PP&L drove us nuts again. They told us that they redid their communications (lie). I called in our power outage at 9:55 PM Monday. Their robot asked me for the telephone number of the account and I gave them my home phone number (which worked at that time). The robot said that they would contact us at that number when they had information. Well, shortly after, our home phone went out. When I called back on my cell, then next day, and listed the home phone number; the robot told me that the outage was already reported and hung up. It gave me no chance to give it my cell phone number. This morning they did tell us, when I called, that our power would be back on by November 4th by 11:00 PM. We got our power back before noon today and when I had a chance to talk to the repairman he told us that the office has no idea of what is going on in the field – so much for better communications!
I am really frustrated at our whole system. I am glad that we have not been really attacked by a foreign power that did massive damage to the whole country – we have no way to communicate the damage or get up and running again. Local radio stations are a joke – they quickly switch back to regular programming. The new smart phones, tablets and laptops help – providing they would not be neutralized.
I just don't remember these long outages when I was young. We all pulled together and did what we had to do to get power and services back to the masses. I jusat don't see that happening today.
I'm back! Only two and a half days out of power and three days without cable, internet and phone.
It all gets us going because it did not look that bad. Especially for us that lived through that ice storm about six years ago. In that ice storm it was hard to navigate all of our local roads. With Sandy; I did not loose one tree and had no problem driving around (other than swerving around tree limbs). Yes; I did see trees down – just not the kind of destruction that we had with the ice storm or Irene.
PP&L drove us nuts again. They told us that they redid their communications (lie). I called in our power outage at 9:55 PM Monday. Their robot asked me for the telephone number of the account and I gave them my home phone number (which worked at that time). The robot said that they would contact us at that number when they had information. Well, shortly after, our home phone went out. When I called back on my cell, then next day, and listed the home phone number; the robot told me that the outage was already reported and hung up. It gave me no chance to give it my cell phone number. This morning they did tell us, when I called, that our power would be back on by November 4th by 11:00 PM. We got our power back before noon today and when I had a chance to talk to the repairman he told us that the office has no idea of what is going on in the field – so much for better communications!
I am really frustrated at our whole system. I am glad that we have not been really attacked by a foreign power that did massive damage to the whole country – we have no way to communicate the damage or get up and running again. Local radio stations are a joke – they quickly switch back to regular programming. The new smart phones, tablets and laptops help – providing they would not be neutralized.
I just don't remember these long outages when I was young. We all pulled together and did what we had to do to get power and services back to the masses. I jusat don't see that happening today.
Anyway; glad to be back!
I am glad you fared well and are back! I was worrying about you.
I think a lot of people did band together through this. Lots of places offering shelters, ice, free coffee, places to charge electronics, etc.
As for PPL, I know a lot of people were frustrated but the Lehigh Valley got slammed in some areas and there are tons of people without power there. At one point PPL alone had more than 250,000 people without power. That's one of the biggest outages they've ever had, and even with extra manpower from other states it's no easy task to get that back online. People in the country unfortunately take a lower priority level than those in urban areas because that's where most of the population and businesses are.
With this being the off-topic thread I'll keep quiet about why I think these things are the way they are, but I do think there are a variety of factors that have contributed to why power outages have been longer than in the past.
I am glad you fared well and are back! I was worrying about you.
I think a lot of people did band together through this. Lots of places offering shelters, ice, free coffee, places to charge electronics, etc.
As for PPL, I know a lot of people were frustrated but the Lehigh Valley got slammed in some areas and there are tons of people without power there. At one point PPL alone had more than 250,000 people without power. That's one of the biggest outages they've ever had, and even with extra manpower from other states it's no easy task to get that back online. People in the country unfortunately take a lower priority level than those in urban areas because that's where most of the population and businesses are.
With this being the off-topic thread I'll keep quiet about why I think these things are the way they are, but I do think there are a variety of factors that have contributed to why power outages have been longer than in the past.
Thanks for your welcome back!
We just feel like cave bears or like Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. It is a real pain in the butt to rethink your own needs without power and services. This is the third time in recent years that we have been without for three or more days. It gets old very quick.
By no way am I knocking the PP&L workers. They work long, hard, hours and do a great job. I do think the corporation headquarters needs to do a much better job – they still do not know how to communicate. I also do not think that we have the workers that we need in the field.
We just feel like cave bears or like Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. It is a real pain in the butt to rethink your own needs without power and services. This is the third time in recent years that we have been without for three or more days. It gets old very quick.
By no way am I knocking the PP&L workers. They work long, hard, hours and do a great job. I do think the corporation headquarters needs to do a much better job – they still do not know how to communicate. I also do not think that we have the workers that we need in the field.
I made the mistake of thinking I was on the off-topic thread before. Oops!!!
One of the things that PPL said they would not do is give anyone false hope about when their power would be back. I know of at least three instances in which they did, including the one you just shared. However, while I have a lot of issues with how PPL treats their employees and runs their business (I have a friend who works there and I hear horror stories) I do have to say that they have been trying to keep people informed. The problem is, a lot of people don't know where to go for information. PPL has been really active on social media and has given frequent updates. I know a lot of people have an aversion to Twitter, Facebook, etc. but for times like this social media becomes a good resource.
They also seem to be calling people to update them on statuses. Did you get a phone call from them before the storm? A lot of people did. Unfortunately I don't think anyone believed that they'd have to prepare as much as they needed to for the outages they had. I warned my mother to prepare and her response was "We've never had a power outage for more than a day." Her power was out until about 4 p.m. today. She did not want to hear it as much as I told her that she needed to prepare to be out for a few days to a week.
I do agree with you that their corporate HQ needs to get on the ball, though. PPL did announce that they'll be adding workers over the next few years, but it isn't soon enough. After what they dealt with last year I think they were slightly more prepared, but not as much as they should have been.
I will say that I know a lot of people did not take warnings as seriously as they should have, though. We did our weekly grocery shopping on Saturday and bought only non-perishable food items. Every week I write out our menu for the week and plan the grocery list accordingly, and I have to say I really got into finding recipes that required no power to prepare. Most of it was canned stuff that I wouldn't ordinarily eat because of all the sodium and preservatives, but we definitely planned. Meanwhile I saw others with their carts full of perishable items, especially meat. I hope none of them lost power and had to throw out all that food.
I made the mistake of thinking I was on the off-topic thread before. Oops!!!
One of the things that PPL said they would not do is give anyone false hope about when their power would be back. I know of at least three instances in which they did, including the one you just shared. However, while I have a lot of issues with how PPL treats their employees and runs their business (I have a friend who works there and I hear horror stories) I do have to say that they have been trying to keep people informed. The problem is, a lot of people don't know where to go for information. PPL has been really active on social media and has given frequent updates. I know a lot of people have an aversion to Twitter, Facebook, etc. but for times like this social media becomes a good resource.
They also seem to be calling people to update them on statuses. Did you get a phone call from them before the storm? A lot of people did. Unfortunately I don't think anyone believed that they'd have to prepare as much as they needed to for the outages they had. I warned my mother to prepare and her response was "We've never had a power outage for more than a day." Her power was out until about 4 p.m. today. She did not want to hear it as much as I told her that she needed to prepare to be out for a few days to a week.
I do agree with you that their corporate HQ needs to get on the ball, though. PPL did announce that they'll be adding workers over the next few years, but it isn't soon enough. After what they dealt with last year I think they were slightly more prepared, but not as much as they should have been.
I will say that I know a lot of people did not take warnings as seriously as they should have, though. We did our weekly grocery shopping on Saturday and bought only non-perishable food items. Every week I write out our menu for the week and plan the grocery list accordingly, and I have to say I really got into finding recipes that required no power to prepare. Most of it was canned stuff that I wouldn't ordinarily eat because of all the sodium and preservatives, but we definitely planned. Meanwhile I saw others with their carts full of perishable items, especially meat. I hope none of them lost power and had to throw out all that food.
I think that part of my problem with today is that we cannot even help. We have bought into government will do everything for us and then they don't. In the 1950's and 60's we would grab chainsaws and help clear the roads. Anybody would join search crews to help recover bodies (like in the flood of 55). Today; our utilities do not want us near downed trees and our townships and state do not want us to help. Part of it is because of liability and another part might be job protection? I do understand that nobody wants to see another injured or killed around live electric lines. However, in some cases; I think that it would be even safer if we actively removed potential hazards (not around live lines) from our roads (like trees and branches).
I also think that there is not the money in hard wired telephones anymore. I did not see one Verizon truck the last few days. I am sure there were some someplace. Me and my wife spent lots of time on our roads looking at the damage or lack of damage. There was a one foot in diameter pine tree pulling on the telephones lines before this storm ever hit. Now; it has stretched the lines even a little lower – but has still not been removed. Some telephone poles in my area have been splinted; instead of being replaced. Some have been that way since Irene. I just don't know, how you can claim that you are prepared for a storm, when you haven't cleaned up after the last storm?
The only people that I really want to praise for a quick response is my township. They are the first to get out and remove the fallen trees from our roads. If our utilities coordinated their efforts, with our townships, I think that we would have a more efficient recovery team.
I think that part of my problem with today is that we cannot even help. We have bought into government will do everything for us and then they don't. In the 1950's and 60's we would grab chainsaws and help clear the roads. Anybody would join search crews to help recover bodies (like in the flood of 55). Today; our utilities do not want us near downed trees and our townships and state do not want us to help. Part of it is because of liability and another part might be job protection? I do understand that nobody wants to see another injured or killed around live electric lines. However, in some cases; I think that it would be even safer if we actively removed potential hazards (not around live lines) from our roads (like trees and branches).
I also think that there is not the money in hard wired telephones anymore. I did not see one Verizon truck the last few days. I am sure there were some someplace. Me and my wife spent lots of time on our roads looking at the damage or lack of damage. There was a one foot in diameter pine tree pulling on the telephones lines before this storm ever hit. Now; it has stretched the lines even a little lower – but has still not been removed. Some telephone poles in my area have been splinted; instead of being replaced. Some have been that way since Irene. I just don't know, how you can claim that you are prepared for a storm, when you haven't cleaned up after the last storm?
The only people that I really want to praise for a quick response is my township. They are the first to get out and remove the fallen trees from our roads. If our utilities coordinated their efforts, with our townships, I think that we would have a more efficient recovery team.
I think you are right about municipalities coordinating with utilities. I think they have made an effort to but like you said, people are warned not to help and so they can't.
Unfortunately everyone has become so litigious these days that I can see a number of lawsuits happening. People do really stupid things sometimes and end up getting hurt, and then the utility company would get the blame. Just look at all of the dumb things people have done that have resulted in deaths already after the storm: a fire caused by a candle in a daycare, people dying of carbon monoxide poisoning because they don't know how to run a generator, some kid riding an ATV in the middle of the storm and crashing into a tree, etc. I'm sorry that those people died, but if they didn't act carelessly their deaths could have been avoided. PPL gets sued enough as it is, so they probably don't want to invite any more issues like that.
Although I will say that I have a sneaking suspicion some people did take the work into their own hands. There were quite a few road closures when I went out Tuesday, and the people who I saw cleaning up beyond the orange cones did not look to be involved with utilities.
It sounds like the PUC is not doing its job to hold PPL, etc. feet to the fire. In MA, several utility companies were told they would receive significant fines if the state suffered outages like they did in the last storm (most caused by trees). Thus, this time they were out tree trimming and doing removal very far in advance. You cannot account for a storm ripping out a 100 year old tree and taking out a powerline but at least do some maintenance for prevention's sake (unlike what fisheye has observed).
It sounds like the PUC is not doing its job to hold PPL, etc. feet to the fire. In MA, several utility companies were told they would receive significant fines if the state suffered outages like they did in the last storm (most caused by trees). Thus, this time they were out tree trimming and doing removal very far in advance. You cannot account for a storm ripping out a 100 year old tree and taking out a powerline but at least do some maintenance for prevention's sake (unlike what fisheye has observed).
I absolutely agree. PPL has been warned about this multiple times, especially after last years' snow storms.
The tree that took out our power was a dead tree. Every time our local paper ran a story about how prepared we were for Sandy; I said that we were not. There are just too many dead trees that are within reach of our utilities and roads. I guess that they have strict guidelines on what they can remove? But; I don't know who wrote those guidelines or why they wrote them?
Even with the dead tree removed. High winds can bring down healthy trees in saturated soil. It is just that they would have fewer trees to remove; if they cut all the dead.
I even think that we should rethink how big we should allow our pines/spruce to grow close to our utility poles. Our pines are especially subject to high winds and can snap or get pushed over. They are magnificent trees – just a bad combination for the utilities.
Does anybody else have utility poles that are splinted? I have two close to my house (one or two miles away) that have been there since Irene. The splints were to be only an emergency procedure until the utility could find the right pole. It was never a long term fix.
Is anybody happy with Verizon's response to the storm? I did not see their trucks where I traveled. I don't have Verizon. But' I suspect that they don't have the funds/equipment that they once had to repair the hard lines.
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