Hurricane Ian expected to impact Florida (updates and related discussions)

[monothingie]

Utility companies do the bare minimum everywhere. They don’t want to spend boatloads of money to mitigate impacts of these rare events and only do so when forced.

^^^THIS^^^

I'm all for it.

Who's gonna pay for it?

 

[G00fyDad]

I'm all for it.

Who's gonna pay for it?

Maybe taxes? That is if we can stop those in the government from diverting the money to their pockets.

 

[Andrew C]

No, That’s the excuse for why power failed. It’s the reason infrastructure should be improved to prevent that failure.

You have some interesting expectations. There is infrastructure to prevent failures.. One of the power companies has stated they have been working for years to move power lines underground as a way to help prevent failures. But it is not going to be perfect. You have wind, storm surges, flash flooding...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No, That’s the excuse for why power failed. It’s the reason infrastructure should be improved to prevent that failure.

Every utility/energy system in the country should be upgraded

…but that would cost money and disrupt outdated ways people get rich off it.

Winter in Texas is right around the corner again

 

[LSLS]

I'm no fan of the media, but that's not fair.

NWS had a direct hit on Tampa up until 24 hours out and before that it was all over the place. Same thing with most forecasting models. Even though the NWS forecast specifically stated a high degree of uncertainty, what they were showing would have been a worst case scenario and deserved as much attention as possible.

Yeah, I have a friend that works at NOAA with their extreme weather, and he had warned everyone he knew in Tampa they had to get out if they were less than 15 feet above sea level. He said the wind was not a big deal, but the surge his models predicted was going to destroy everything. It kept shifting South, and then things started really shifting around 48 hours out, and as it continued to shift, the surge got stronger, and so did the winds (while pressure dropped). I'm going to go with my buddy who does this for a living that the media was absolutely correct warning Tampa how bad it could have been.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Curious - is the power grid at Disney (Reedy Creek, i guess) regulated by the Florida government?

Yes, the claims of Reedy Creek being outside state law are a lie. But the state sets minimum standards that can be exceeded.

I'm all for it.

Who's gonna pay for it?

Who’s paying for all of the crews working to restore power now? Who pays for it when there end up being a series of events so they get brought in multiple times in short succession? Who’s paying for food that spoils? Medications that spoil? Medical conditions exacerbated by heat? The costs are being paid.

You have some interesting expectations. There is infrastructure to prevent failures...but it is not going to be perfect.

But we know there are certain steps that can have a dramatic impact on reliability.

 

[Kamikaze]

Curious - is the power grid at Disney (Reedy Creek, i guess) regulated by the Florida government?

They have to follow standards and regulations set by Florida/the Federal government, absolutely. I'm sure what Disney does is far beyond all of that though - for instance, not having much of anything above ground as far as power transmission goes.

 

[DCBaker]

 

[Andrew C]

But we know there are certain steps that can have a dramatic impact on reliability.

One of the power companies has stated they have been working for years to move power lines underground as a way to help prevent failures. But it is not going to be perfect. You have wind, storm surges, flash flooding...

 

[ppete1975]

They are so worried about what they’re going to go back to, I think the stress would be as likely to kill me as the storm. I’m sure the next 36 hours is going to feel like an eternity to them.

Yeah thats the worst part of leaving (even when its the best thing). Its worrying about what youre coming home too. I have left my house three times during tornadoes (one i was at work) and according to the news I thought I didnt have a house to come home to.

And if its in a hard hit area it might be a bit before you can even find out.

 

[mikejs78]

I believe they could've been more focused on the high degree of uncertainty - because that's exactly what happened here.

Anyone who bothered to look at the updates could see that this storm was jogging east on almost all the updates.

I don't trust anything with the words "National" in front of it. Our government has a history of being inept.

Well that's rather tin foil hat. NHC does a pretty good job forecasting these things, given that there are always uncertainties in these things. And, it's better to forecast the worst case and have the storm be not as bad than forecast something and have the storm be a lot worse than it turns out to be. The whole point is being prepared.

 

[Rob562]

Over at Universal there's a giant hole in the side of the Jurassic Park River Adventure show building.

There's a pic, but it's in a private FB group.

-Rob

 

[Nubs70]

You have some interesting expectations. There is infrastructure to prevent failures.. One of the power companies has stated they have been working for years to move power lines underground to help prevent failures. But it is not going to be perfect. You have wind, storm surges, flash flooding...

Reference the Scattergood high tension line in Los Angeles. Operation is significantly more expensive and maintenance is all but impossible. If an underground line fails, it needs to be replaced not repaired.

 

[peter11435]

You have some interesting expectations. There is infrastructure to prevent failures...but it is not going to be perfect.

Lol. It’s not an unrealistic expectation. We have the technology and know how to design and build infrastructure that is significantly less impacted by these storms. Companies and governments choose not to. There are millions of people across the state of Florida right now that know first hand that their infrastructure is not designed to prevent failure.

 

[DCBaker]

 

[Andrew C]

Lol. It’s not an unrealistic expectation. We have the technology and know how to design and build infrastructure that is significantly less impacted by these storms. Companies and governments choose not to. There are millions of people across the state of Florida right now that know first hand that their infrastructure is not designed to prevent failure.

One of the power companies has stated they have been working for years to move power lines underground as a way to help prevent failures

 

[G00fyDad]

GREAT!! Now a T-Rex is loose!! Don't they learn ANYTHING from movies?!

 

[Andrew C]

Reference the Scattergood high tension line in Los Angeles. Operation is significantly more expensive and maintenance is all but impossible. If an underground line fails, it needs to be replaced not repaired.

Yep...it isn't magic.

 

[Andy_0410]

Same here. My room faces a car park and it seems ok, save for a small tree branch in the middle.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out if/when I can get over to El Centro for a change of scenery!

Haha me too though not in any hurry have my breakfast I got yesterday. Our room faces carpark too

 

[Dinardo]

Yeah, I have a friend that works at NOAA with their extreme weather, and he had warned everyone he knew in Tampa they had to get out if they were less than 15 feet above sea level. He said the wind was not a big deal, but the surge his models predicted was going to destroy everything. It kept shifting South, and then things started really shifting around 48 hours out, and as it continued to shift, the surge got stronger, and so did the winds (while pressure dropped). I'm going to go with my buddy who does this for a living that the media was absolutely correct warning Tampa how bad it could have been.

so as the storm shifted roughly 48 hours out and continued to shift - did he warn anyone where the storm actually came ashore?