FEMA Preparing For Power Outage Of 'Several Weeks' In Louisiana - Rachel Maddow - MSNBC

[Rhiannon12866]

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell talks with Rachel Maddow about responding to simultaneous nationwide emergencies from fires to floods to a situation in southeastern Louisiana that has actually become more dire since Hurricane Ida knocked out power for millions of people. Aired on 09/02/2021.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[usaf-vet]

2. First the disclaimer. I am no electrical engineer. Or infrastructure guru. So with that said....

.... why couldn't the electrical service grid be put underground in vulnerable areas?

I live in a region of the country where some not all of our power grid is underground. We do not live in a region that suffers from hurricanes and tornados. Most of our poweroutages are due to heavy snow or car accidents hitting vulnerable poles that are above ground.

We have lived in this area for 40 years and the longest outages have been less than a day usually several hours.

With an infrastructure bill in congress waiting to be passed couldn't some of that money be used to harden the power grid?

[Rhiannon12866]

3. I agree, those are extremely good suggestions

And I did hear on one of the numerous news reports about plans to put the lines underground. Where I live, in the Northeast, there have always been power outages - especially during winter storms - when trees or branches come down on the power lines. My Dad was manager of the power company in this area, so as a kid I had a front row seat hearing about the worst and our house certainly wasn't spared. Where I live now it's a newer area and power outages are much more infrequent because the lines here are underground.

[Croney]

4. I'm no engineer either, but in Louisiana, underground means underwater.

Houses don't have basements. Some cemeteries have above-ground tombs. Maybe it could be done in some areas though.

[usaf-vet]

6. I never believed electrical cables underwater was possible until I realized that an island in....

... Lake Superior accessible only by ferry has electrical and phone service run 3 miles under 40 to 80 feet of water.

Global warming aka climate change is not going to lessen the number of severe hurricanes. In fact, it appears they are going to increase in strength and frequency. Even one every decade makes me think they need to find a solution that keeps the power on in 100 degrees plus weather. 107-degree temperatures are predicted for the region today.

We did agree that nuking the hurricane is not an option.... right? /S

Oh! I am also not a nuclear engineer.

[Fritz Walter]

5. As someone living in a high-risk area, I agree. But...

...the cost would be astronomical!

Take for example the Jacksonville neighborhood of Ortega. This very upscale section of town is on the banks of the St. Johns River. Several years ago, that neighborhood took a beating when the storm surge from a hurricane pushed water well beyond the banks. This year, the municipally-owned utility company just finished moving their overhead utilities underground throughout Ortega.

Each property owner was required to pay $20,000 up front.

As much as I'd like to see that happen in Riverside-Avondale (my 'hood), very, very few people living here could afford that.

Multiply that price tag by all the cities and towns needing that upgrade, and you get the idea.

Meanwhile, the City has made replacing septic tanks their highest infrastructure project.

[usaf-vet]

7. Less wars (zero) in foreign countries... MORE infrastructure maintenance and upgrades in the U.S.

Seems pretty straightforward to me.

But of course, I'm not a weapons manufacturer who can buy a warmongering administration and congress.

We the people get the crumbs and do the fighting and dying.