I have the house running on a generator. I made a fancy cable to feed the whole house through the dryer electrical receptacle. There are a few things I have to do without, though; central air, and hot water. I should count my blessings. My neighbor only has a fridge, a single florescent desk lamp, and two box fans because I tossed an extension cord over the fence. They were very grateful and I wish I could have spared more power, but such is the nature of things.
If I time my showering right, the pipes through the attic are hot enough for a brief hot shower. I found myself wishing that my hot water was augmented by solar water heating.
There is nothing I can do about the air conditioning. It would take a minimum of 18 Kilowatts just to run one unit. I have only 5.5 to run everything. It is costing $40/day to run the generator.
AEP will get the power back on to this street....Thursday.
"Of course I sweat. It is my business to sweat." -The Merovingian
Saturday, July 26, 2008
SitRep on Merovingian Central
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8 comments:
Do you have power yet? I'm guessing your good humor must be wearing thin by now.
Power restored late today. I will celebrate with a hot shower, now that the water heater has had time to warm up.
I might miss the drone of the generator as I sleep, but I will not miss the costly runs to the gas station.
M.
I'm so glad. I worry.
Ahumada plugs PUB at every opportunity. In pressers he says the city can't assist those citizens using another provider. No matter their energy brand, PUB ought to assist needy citizens and their customers. Ahumada and Brownsville are fortunate Dolly's brunt force landed elsewhere, or their bottomline preparedness would have mattered squat.
Wes Blackmum
I was so happy that in the preparations, the City had the good sense to locate itself 20 miles south of the edge of the eye of the hurricane. Where will we place it for the next one?
M.
I just saw the Mayor last night on a rerun of a July 27 Hurricane Dolly update. He called it a disaster--news to me. It was a close call that created a lot of inconvenience for most of us in Brownsville, and some very serious and dangerous situations for a few of the city's residents, but overall, it wasn't a disaster.
Dolly hasn't been given credit for her part.
SPI was hit by a Category 2 hurricane; Brownsville's overall experience was that of a strong tropical storm, or even a weak Category 1.
The fact that it has taken PUB a week, with help from outside crews, to restore power to the 5% that lost electricity tells you how unprepared we are.
The fact that there was a political spat between the county judge and the mayor in the middle of the storm tells you how unprepared we are.
All the city showed is that it's prepared for a tropical storm. It was a trial run but we weren't truly tested.
The results may very well have been the same if in fact it had hit us as a Category 2, but we don't know that, and the mayor and city staff shouldn't be so quick to pat themselves in the back as if that had been the case.
On a sidenote, the Mayor really likes being at the mic; that library podium must feel violated by now.
Patricia A.
If it was a tropical storm, then it was NOT a trial run. We were tested.
Ahumada is hyperbole-prone as he does the sole patting. Notice staff's quick escape as soon as he began speaking on the levee fiasco during Friday's presser.
He likes the mic seeing as its the only time residents hear him without commissioners' uninvited interruptions. Why were they absent?
Wes Blackmum
Who can verify a rumor that I heard that he asked that a helicopter be sent up during the storm to assess progress of the storm and damage?
M.
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