9/21/2004: Hurricane Ivan damage

[Kitsune]

Oh please - all those wires stung in the air over the last 30-40 years are all the fault of the war in Iraq - yeah, right

Be kind to him, CharlieG. Its obvious that tw is really unhappy that his house near the beach has lost power so many times due to all these hurricanes. That'd make anyone blame it on Iraq. Right, tw?

[xoxoxoBruce]

That wire cutter is called a post hole digger. Sharp, double bladed and can be driven down with considerable force. Direct bury romex, one shot. Buried service entrance, a couple shots but probably short on the first.
Now if you go down to the rental center for a powered post hole digger, Oh baby, can you wreak some havoc.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Now if you go down to the rental center for a powered post hole digger, Oh baby, can you wreak some havoc.

My neighbor, who did not call the utility location service, rented a bobcat with the fence post auger attachment. He dug about 50 or so 3 foot deep fence post holes. Each one took about 5 seconds to do, once he was lined up in the right spot. There were no buried wires, but if there had been, he would have done a number on them.

They guy was very nice. He actually let me drive the thing around for a few minutes, digging holes myself. Very cool. Just like driving a tank in Battle Zone. Arcade video games are useful.

[wolf]

A friend of mine lost her cable service for a week because the fire company decided that hydrants on the street should be marked with a reflector that would stick up above the expected snow drifts ... the first go-round of these were just pounded into the ground behind the curbside hydrant.

Right though the cable.

I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that they missed the gasline.

[FloridaDragon]

Haven't seen this image on the cellar anywhere - Ivan in the Gulf as a cat 4 ... off a news page in Mobile, AL (www.wkrg.com). Part I wonder about is it looks like a right angle cloud in the eye....what the heck is that all about?

FD

[Cyber Wolf]

Now now now, you don't have massive weather systems going around trying to explain YOUR little quirks, do you?

[Kitsune]

Part I wonder about is it looks like a right angle cloud in the eye....what the heck is that all about?

Jet contrail.

[Elspode]

Optical illusion caused by two cloud layers stacked one on the other?

[OnyxCougar]

Originally Posted by tw

Buried wires are 2.5 feet deep.

Where I live (NC) buried wires are 6 inches deep. That's a statewide standard.

Furthermore, the homeowner always must call the utility where utility lines may exist. It does not take a genius to see the utility box on the street and the electric meter on the side of a house; then draw a line.

Buried wires are automatically located and for free.

I realize you aren't in NC, but here, we have a free state wide service called NC One Call, where you call, give them an address, and they mark everything: electricity, cable, telephone, water, etc.

Furthermore, it takes far more than a shovel to pierce those wires. Covering material (ususally a few inches of sand or other protective materail) provides warning of those wires. In short it is difficult to harm buried wires.

Not true. Because they aren't buried as deep as you think they are. Now fibreoptic...main electricity lines... THOSE are buried deeper, but your average tap - to - box on the side of the house lines are 6 inches down. Easily cuttable. Happens EVERY day. I know, because I'm the person on the phone at the cable company that gets the customers wanting our tech to come out and fix it RIGHT NOW when their landscaper cut the cable in 4 places.

When is the best time to have wires broken? When the weather is nice , OR when electricity is desperately needed everywhere, not available anywhere, and all wires need fixing at the same time.

Damage to buried wires tends to occur when it is not a problem and when it can most easily be repaired. The only reason we put wires overhead: its cheaper from a bean counter MBA perspective which only looks at today's costs. Analysis of infastruture looks at the real long term costs. It makes no sense to hang wires from poles in oceanside FL communities that will probably see a 120 MPH storm every 20+ years. A time span too long for most MBA thinkers.

I see where you are on this, TW, and I agree with you, to a point. That point is: it's not the GOVERNMENT'S responsibility to bury those lines. It's the company's. The company I work for has an active plan to bury all of it's lines across the country (including Pensacola and Gainesville), and it's really expensive, but it's not something the government said we had to do. Nor should it be. Check your copy of the constitution.

Blaming Dubya for not burying power lines is an emotional response. Blame the ELECTRIC companies, who have to do the work and pay for permits from the cities, and then blame the CUSTOMERS who bitch and moan when their bills go up to offset the cost when the companies DO bury the lines.