txags92 said:

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Nitro Power said:

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Serious question, do you live in Houston?

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Based on his posts, I'd guess we found the Centerpoint IT manager's Texags handle.

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or strategic planning

Ag_07 said:

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We got lucky this time around and never lost power but that's not been the case in the past.

It really is an awful experience and I feel for anyone who's down especially with the heat we're getting the next couple days..

However, I will say I think the hand wringing over the outage tracker and 'communication' from CP is a bit much. Critiquing the preparedness is acceptable but I've never got the big stink about the tracker map.

I can imagine the logistics of managing thousands of linemen from all over to assist in restoring millions of customers is extremely challenging.

I also imagine in mass outage events like this the tracker map is incredibly hard to keep updated and becomes absolutely pointless. IDGAF about a map. Just get power back on ASAP.

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Certainly a more reasonable post that the other dipsh-t, but again tracker map aside, the communication is pretty terrible. An outage map at least gives some sort of estimate or expectation versus just being completely in the dark. Especially if you have elderly family members you need to plan for. The heat index is about to get north of 100 and that is life threatening for an elderly person without electricity. Not really sure what is so hard to understand about that.

As noted by a poster above, Florida is far more prepared than we are and has no issue restoring power to 1m+ within a day.

If only those *******s had a map so you could see all the other neighborhoods that also have power, but they're hiding it from you!

I drove into work this morning since the building has power. One thing I noticed is how many powerlines run through the branches of trees. It makes me wonder if we've done less maintenance over the years to keep those trees trimmed away from the power lines.

I'm not going to call for the end of big mature trees, they are the only thing that protects us from the scorching summer heat.

Sea Speed said:

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How dare like-minded people experiencing the same issues discuss them on a platform designed for discussing things.

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Well.....YOUR MOM!!

BillYeoman said:

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Seanzy2012 said:

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Neighbors have power across the street since last night, but we still don't. I get that it's not all the same, but it messes with the mind a bit.

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That happened to me after Ike . Drove me insane.

I wanted to award Cemterpoint a Silver Star for Psychological Warfare.

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I think if I were one of those neighbors, I would sit out front with a bunch of plugged in fans and a TV with all my lights on inside.

TXTransplant said:

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Caliber said:

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We like our trees here. Works out for us 99% of the time.

Seriously, Houston used to be coastal prairie that was then made into cow pastures, rice fields, etc.

Trees were planted everywhere as it has built out and are now large mature trees. 30 years ago, there were significantly less large trees to deal with (yes they existed, just not to the extent we have now).

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I see this just in my neighborhood. My street was clear cut, so all we have are the oaks and magnolias the builder planted 10-12 years ago. But other sections, huge pine trees were left. Those houses have a lot bigger mess to clean up. Personally, I'll take no trees (at least not close enough to my house to fall on it), but I know people feel very strongly the opposite.

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On our street growing up, there were 3-4 big oak trees per lot. The oldest trees are 80 years old now, most are in their 70's. All of them at this point have canopies overhang multiple property lines. Getting the city to approve cutting down a "healthy" tree is not going to happen. Getting neighbors to agree on who pays for what is even more impossible, which leaves tree maintenance lacking. We had neighbors quoted 5 figures to fully remove trees. Inside the beltway, this plays out on every single residential street.

I'm not sure Florida has as many trees as we do in Texas. They have palm trees, but the sago bushes are pretty short.

I guess the easiest thing to do would be to ban any tree near a power line. Of course, you would need to determine what is "near" (maybe 50 feet). But for a lot of us that would mean no trees in our backyards. CP contractors have been in our neighborhood at least two or three times in the past 15 years trimming trees.

Where TF can I get some gas and not sit in in lines for hours? I'm in Spring/The Woodlands but will travel, my truck is full, my gas cans are not.

Earlier this year I was watching the power lines on the property behind us sparking when the oak that has grown around it was waving in the wind.

We called the neighbors who called CP. This was January. It still hasn't been trimmed.

aggiedata said:

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dp

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aggiedata said:

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Text report from spouse at IAH

Everything is a cluster at airport. Late boarding. No food for purchase on flight. Chaos. And flight attendant announced we're going to Panama vs Portland. Now I hear that VH song in my head!

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I have a flight to EWR this evening that is "on time" but I'm sure I'll get to the airport and then delays will be announced

CDUB98 said:

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Surely you understand that Uke money and Texas preparedness money do not come from the same bucket.....right?

If you don't, you should probably just go sit in the corner.

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What is this "bucket" you speak of?

StillNotAnAggie said:

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Where TF can I get some gas and not sit in in lines for hours? I'm in Spring/The Woodlands but will travel, my truck is full, my gas cans are not.

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When we got to Navasota on the way to CS last night, there were some people filling up gas cans (no wait) and we asked if they were local and they had driven up from Tomball area.

CowtownAg06 said:

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What's everyone's thoughts on cell service and fiber? I'm with ATT and didn't lose either during the Derecho, but totally in the dark this time. (came to my office and it's good). Those power issues too or infrastructure?

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I'd say internet is probably the provider not having power. I'm in Kingwood and switched to Tachus fiber when they were available because Suddenlink sucks. My neighbor across the street just came over to bum my internet to get some work done because Suddenlink is out...which isn't surprising and one of the main reasons I switched. I'm not sure if it's fiber vs cable or that all of Tachus' substations around our area have Generac generators hooked to them and are keeping them powered.