That cartoon guy should be sayin' "My Buddy Ed In Florida," not "brother" and we don't have very much snow. Other than that, the sentiment is apropos because the cold is the story... from the Portales News-Tribune:
National Weather Service meteorologist Annette Mokry said the high in the Portales area Wednesday was 8 degrees, breaking the record for Feb. 2 lowest maximum temperature, 21 degrees, set in 1996.
Mokry said Wednesday night was expected to have a low of 7 degrees below zero, and a wind chill advisory for the Eastern Plains would remain in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday.
We prolly made that low... it was five below when I turned in last night and about the same when I woke up just before 0900 this morning. I get the print version of the local rag courtesy of the HIE and the weather has been front-page news for the last few days. This really is extraordinary.
This is more extraordinary, though:
Portales Police Deputy Chief Lonnie Berry also said there hadn’t been many wrecks, but power outages were giving officers a lot of work. When stoplights went out, officers had to direct traffic until temporary measures such as stop signs were put up, and then monitor the intersections.Way t'go, Xcel... you asshats. One wonders how Xcel Energy would handle something like an ice storm or a similar emergency. There have been
Both Parker and Berry said their officers check on frail or elderly residents during power outages.
Berry said his department was preparing locations to shelter people in case of power outages Wednesday night.
[...]
Power went off but soon came back on at Portales Junior High and Lindsey-Steiner Elementary schools, he said. The electricity at Brown Early Childhood Center was out for an extended period of time, however.
Fowler said Brown had problems with spikes in power coming into the building before school started on a two-hour delay. Classes were canceled, and Fowler said all students were back with their parents by 11:30 a.m.
Pville has had WAY too many outages this year! However, those of us out in the county with the Rural Electric Coop have been pretty lucky these last few months (with the exception of losing Internet when town loses power).
ReplyDeleteIf XCEL is anything like Entergy in N.O./La., they've probably been skimping on preventive maint for years to beef up the bottom line betting on the come. Would be a good subj. for a local hot-shot investigative journalist to cut his teeth on..
ReplyDeleteObviously their 'fix' of a simple breaker replacement either hasn't been completed yet, or that wasn't the problem! (which I'm thinking it wasn't)
ReplyDeletePower outage is my Daddy's biggest fear -- and Arkansas gets lots of ice storms. Knock wood, not yet this year, so far.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya', Virgil. And I'm sure that Charles Rice will hop right on that maintenance prob, just as soon as he's released from subpoena to testify at Renee Gill-Pratt's corruption trial.
Thank goodness we have not had any power outages here. I'd really be bored then.
ReplyDeleteLOL Moogie, did you know that the previous head guy at Entergy in La. pre-Katrina (can't recall is name) was so paranoid about both disgruntled members of the public and his own employees that he not only had an special elevator to his office floor requiring a secret code to operate--he had bullet-proof glass installed IN FRONT OF HIS DESK!! LOL!! A TRUE STORY told to me by the wife of one of those in Sr Mgt circa 1994/95 (the days of the exploding man-hole covers in the Fr.Quarter during the summer because of overheated/frayed & under-capacity cables due to lack of necessary upgrade & maint)
ReplyDeleteJenny: You're indeed fortunate. Losing power means losing heat, in most cases. That's NOT a healthy thing, to say the VERY least.
ReplyDeleteVirgil: SN1 and I were having much the same discussion about reporting last night. But "investigative reporting" and journalism today are not two terms that are even remotely related. Unless you're in the bid'niz of publishing classified info or stuff that proves embarrassing to administrations you don't agree with. Interesting Entergy war stories!
Moogie: Power outages rank right up there among my greatest fears, too.
Lou: Being bored is the least of my problems when our power goes out.
Ooops. Dropped ya, Deb... My Bad. But you are RIGHT. That "breaker in the sub-station" stuff may have been partially correct and technically accurate but it is FAR from the whole story. This situation is in no way normal or reasonable.
ReplyDelete