Hurricane Matthew aftermath questions

[Matthew K]

Hello all!

Hurricane Matthew did much more damage than I was expecting honestly. 6 tree's down in my yard alone...

I have been questioning very hard though the restoration efforts (in terms of utilities,).

For example, most of my county is still without power. Yet I'm seeing 30 power company boom trucks just sitting in 1 parking lot alone. Now your argument may be their assessing damage first, but by this time they should have assessed enough to have all these trucks out working.

Another question I'm asking, there's essentially no cell signal in the county now, very weak. Places where on a normal day you have full bars now have 1 bar. It's possible their limiting it for emergency services, but I was talking to someone that's been working at the emergency call center for the county and their service has basically been cut as well.

Also, feel free to comment about property damage thanks to this wonderful hurricane that had the same name as me!

 

[RyanB]

Back in April of 2011, we had a few EF-4 and 5 tornados rip across SE Tennessee. The aftermath looked like something out of a movie scene, I'll never forget it. Fortunately it missed us, but some close friends of ours were not so lucky and lost their entire home.

Power outages lasted several days, close to a week before everyone had it fully restored. I don't remember phone reception being much of an issue. I'd say it's safe to say people are working around the clock trying to get your power and utilities going again. Happy to hear you faired out okay, other than the trees.

 

[SkyDog58]

I have no idea if the trucks should all be out working already and have power restored. I have no experience in these matters but you apparently do otherwise you would not have formed an opinion on their performance or lack thereof. You might want to get ahold of their management and give them proper direction.

Yes, I'm being a sarcastic ass but I get tired of people always whining about these things. There is always someone who wants to criticize those that provide essential services to us when the results do not match what is often unrealistic expectations.

Maybe those that normally man the boom trucks are out with chainsaws and other trucks clearing the way so that they can get to the actual restoration process. Again, I have no experience in these matters but am just trying to think logically and give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

 

[N659HB]

The Weather Channel reported from Savannah that the power line crews can't get to work until the downed trees are removed and public works can't remove the trees until the downed power lines are cleared. Jurisdictional impasse. Hope they figure it out and you folks get some help, soon.

 

[Matthew K]

I have no idea if the trucks should all be out working already and have power restored. I have no experience in these matters but you apparently do otherwise you would not have formed an opinion on their performance or lack thereof. You might want to get ahold of their management and give them proper direction.

Yes, I'm being a sarcastic ass but I get tired of people always whining about these things. There is always someone who wants to criticize those that provide essential services to us when the results do not match what is often unrealistic expectations.

Maybe those that normally man the boom trucks are out with chainsaws and other trucks clearing the way so that they can get to the actual restoration process. Again, I have no experience in these matters but am just trying to think logically and give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

I probably deserve the sarcasm...but unless you've been without power for the past 36 hours I don't know if you understand my attitude...writing this at a gym in a different town.

 

[Matthew K]

The Weather Channel reported from Savannah that the power line crews can't get to work until the downed trees are removed and public works can't remove the trees until the downed power lines are cleared. Jurisdictional impasse. Hope they figure it out and you folks get some help, soon.

Yea I feel bad for the folks in Chatam County. But I'm in a county next to it. Most roads in my county are at a minimum passable.

 

[SkyDog58]

I probably deserve the sarcasm...but unless you've been without power for the past 36 hours I don't know if you understand my attitude...writing this at a gym in a different town.

I've been without power for longer after blizzards and ice storms up north. I guarantee you that being without heat in the bitter cold is worse. Still, sorry to hear about it.

 

[weilke]

I am sure those power crews just want to run up the clock and collect overtime. I mean, why play with your kids or watch a movie with your wife if you can spend a Sunday evening in a motel 3 states over or work a 16hr shift in a uncontrolled and dangerous post-storm environment.

 

[Matthew K]

I've been without power for longer after blizzards and ice storms up north. I guarantee you that being without heat in the bitter cold is worse. Still, sorry to hear about it.

Yea no power in a blizzard has to be terrible. It's when I hear about those that I actually feel somewhat thankful to live at the bottom of this humid coast. TBH if I lived up where blizzards were normal during the winter, I'd be set up with generators and plenty of fuel...heck, I'm going to be doing that here once things get back to normal.

 

[Matthew K]

I am sure those power crews just want to run up the clock and collect overtime. I mean, why play with your kids or watch a movie with your wife if you can spend a Sunday evening in a motel 3 states over or work a 16hr shift working in a uncontrolled and dangerous post-storm environment.

What I mean by the trucks just sitting around is their crew is there with them. I'm sure they'd rather be working to get it over with over sitting and waiting to get working.

 

[weilke]

Yea no power in a blizzard has to be terrible. It's when I hear about those that I actually feel somewhat thankful to live at the bottom of this humid coast. TBH if I lived up where blizzards were normal during the winter, I'd be set up with generators and plenty of fuel...heck, I'm going to be doing that here once things get back to normal.

Put your generator on a 1ft concrete platform and run it off a propane tank that is either storm protected or buried and strapped down.

 

[Matthew K]

Put your generator on a 1ft concrete platform and run it off a propane tank that is either storm protected or buried and strapped down.

My ideal situation would be to have a tank underground. I might get a setup to also be able to run the generator off propane just to make it versatile, other than that most of the time I would run it off of gasoline just because it's more available.

 

[weilke]

My ideal situation would be to have a tank underground. I might get a setup to also be able to run the generator off propane just to make it versatile, other than that most of the time I would run it off of gasoline just because it's more available.

Depending on the size of your generator, bottles may not be able to evaporate enough propane under full load. Forklifts and such tap liquid propane off the inverted bottle and use heated metering units to create the gas.
If you mean an underground gasoline tank, those are a big insurance and regulatory headache. I have yet to see a fixed install multifuel generator. There are some portable units (up to 6kW) that work off either a bottle, a NG hookup or gasoline. If that is sufficient for your home needs, all you need is a load shedding transfer switch, a safe place to get to the generator during a storm and you are good to go.

 

[Matthew K]

Depending on the size of your generator, bottles may not be able to evaporate enough propane under full load. Forklifts and such tap liquid propane off the inverted bottle and use heated metering units to create the gas.
If you mean an underground gasoline tank, those are a big insurance and regulatory headache. I have yet to see a fixed install multifuel generator. There are some portable units (up to 6kW) that work off either a bottle, a NG hookup or gasoline. If that is sufficient for your home needs, all you need is a load shedding transfer switch, a safe place to get to the generator during a storm and you are good to go.

Yea I definitely need to look more into propane powered generators before buying a setup...if I went underground it'd probably be for a propane tank. I'd like to have one of those 500 gallon above ground takes for either gasoline or diesel. Just for emergencies and to not have to deal with price fluctuations as much.

...probably looking at getting a 6-8kw generator. Any recommendations?

 

[weilke]

Yea I definitely need to look more into propane powered generators before buying a setup...if I went underground it'd probably be for a propane tank. I'd like to have one of those 500 gallon above ground takes for either gasoline or diesel. Just for emergencies and to not have to deal with price fluctuations as much.

Unless you are in a unincorporated area of a county without building codes, you are going to love the permitting process for this (not to mention the cost). Home heating oil tanks are exempted from many of the more onerous NFPA and water protection requirements, the moment it is 'motor fuel', you are looking at stand-offs, required impervious surfaces etc. Now, if you just drag a 500gal equipment fueler (like you would use for construction equipment) next to your garage, suddenly most of those rules evaporate. Go figure.

 

[Cajun_Flyer]

I probably deserve the sarcasm...but unless you've been without power for the past 36 hours I don't know if you understand my attitude...writing this at a gym in a different town.

While I understand how frustrating that must be, please keep in mind that their safety is important too - and if there are as many downed trees as you said, they are probably having a difficult time with restoration. I do not work with power companies, but I do work in emergency management and am part of the first response team when things go down. It's easy for people to sit at home getting angry and frustrated with what they believe is a lack of "quick enough" response, but behind the scenes are people working around the clock trying to get things back in order. It's a 24 hour operation. I promise you they care and are doing their best. Try your best to be patient.

 

[ircphoenix]

Could be they're waiting for power to be restored somewhere down the line before they can get to work. Or the location they need access to is not reachable. Or those trucks are enroute to another county/area, and they're just resting in that parking lot. Or they're on a mandated crew rest break. Or they're not from the power company actually responsible for the lines/equipment in the area and they're waiting for diagrams. Or they are standing by to be deployed to areas that need them. Much like any other endeavor, if a job requires 3 trucks and 6 linemen, 20 trucks and 40 linemen don't make it go any faster.

 

[hockeyrcks9901]

Could be they're waiting for power to be restored somewhere down the line before they can get to work. Or the location they need access to is not reachable. Or those trucks are enroute to another county/area, and they're just resting in that parking lot. Or they're on a mandated crew rest break. Or they're not from the power company actually responsible for the lines/equipment in the area and they're waiting for diagrams. Or they are standing by to be deployed to areas that need them. Much like any other endeavor, if a job requires 3 trucks and 6 linemen, 20 trucks and 40 linemen don't make it go any faster.

A lot of this is correct. I don't work for the local utility but I do work for the largest power consumer and largest power generator next to the utilities in the state of Florida. We are very familiar with their storm recovery efforts.

The crews must get mandatory safety training from the local utility they're working with, if you're house is serviced by a different utility than who their authorized to work for then they need additional training.

There is a huge central response center, more than likely a handful of them, with hundreds of people who are working around the clock to get power back on as fast as they can. They most often prioritize from the highest density population to the least dense. I'm assuming when you said you have 6 trees down in your yard that you're on a larger lot meaning less densely populated. You're likely on the lower end of priorities for service.

Also if there is flooding in the area then they must wait for the flooding to recede as they can't guarantee that they're not going to electrocute some one by turning power back on.

 

[Fearless Tower]

I probably deserve the sarcasm...but unless you've been without power for the past 36 hours I don't know if you understand my attitude...writing this at a gym in a different town.

It sucks, but you just need to realize that dealing with the aftermath is a process and it takes time. It's a lot like emergency room triage. They can't get everybody fixed all at once. Need to prioritize and focus. Eventually they'll get to you.

And I say this as someone who was without power for 2 weeks after Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

 

[Matthew K]

UPDATE!!
Power came back on late yesterday afternoon. Luckily my power is underground so at least nearby they didn't have to do much to fix ours.

As far as cell service goes, comcast serves many of our cell towers in our county. Apparently they're having issues that I'm not sure of the details, my comcast internet at home isn't working as well so one of their sub stations must be down.

 

[JustinD]

My area lost power around 5am Friday morning. I got power back yesterday afternoon and cable/internet back mid day today. The damage doesn't seem too bad by me but i live about 5 miles from the coast which got much worse damage. Lots of down trees, saw some down lines, traffic lights, signs, some roof gutters off etc, but nothing in comparison to what I saw when i was living in south florida and Wilma hit. Very grateful that the storm wobbled like 20 miles further east than anticipated that helped a lot

 

[coloradobluesky]

I was in Hawaii when a Hurricane hit. Power outage meant all the food in the freezer thawed. That meant there was a shortage of.....charcoal!

BTW, in most states, you can't put propane tanks underground, by law....

 

[Matthew K]

BTW, in most states, you can't put propane tanks underground, by law....

Uhh...that's not correct...in most states, if not all, you can put tanks underground... Just as with anything you have to have certain aspects approved.

 

[coloradobluesky]

Maybe they are getting more common.

 

[Matthew K]

BTW, in most states, you can't put propane tanks underground, by law....

Maybe they are getting more common.

I noticed your edit...The only reason they aren't more common is cost & a fair amount of people rent their tanks so that prevents them being put underground. There's always safety regulations, but I'm not aware of any state that prevents a common citizen from not putting propane in the ground as long as the follow regs.