Hurricane Sandy

[Dave128]

Originally Posted by joeobx

Just got home from working hurricane restoration and getting just about everyone in our service area back on. The company has released all of our off system contractors and a good portion of our on system contractors plus a large contingent of our own linemen to head to NJ and NY. So to our brothers and sisters up north, more help is on the way. I know there will be a lot of frustration from being without power for this long, just remember when you see these guys out there, they have been working 14 to 16 hour days with 8 to 10 hours off for 4 days already.

Those areas nead all the help they can get.

Not sure if true or not, but - I heard on the radio this morning that a group of workers from Alabama (I think) made their way to either NYC or NJ and got turned away because they were all non-union employees. I really do hope that this wasn't a true story.

[joeobx]

Originally Posted by Dave128

Those areas nead all the help they can get.

Not sure if true or not, but - I heard on the radio this morning that a group of workers from Alabama (I think) made their way to either NYC or NJ and got turned away because they were all non-union employees. I really do hope that this wasn't a true story.

I doubt it's true, just about all of our contractors are non-union.

[Dave128]

Originally Posted by joeobx

I doubt it's true, just about all of our contractors are non-union.

That's good to hear.

Originally Posted by Dave128

That really sucks that they had that much damage. Awesome news that the family made out OK.

Relatively OK. They have pulled together at the one cousin's house that still has power.
Saw some helicopter footage on the news this morning. Wow! I sure hope they can get power, fuel, and food back there quickly. And clothing. A lot of people have wiped out clothing and no way to wash and dry it.

[NeuRon]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

Just heard from my uncle. Had five feet of water on the first floor. Siding is warping. Boat gone, dock smashed by some other boat there. Yard scoured and left with debris. Both cars gone. Sewers backed up. Nearby houses burned down. 114 looters arrested, so far. No power. 6 to 6 curfew. His last description, "total devastation".
All the family is fine, besides.

yep, sounds about right...
the places i grew up, lived, spent my favorite years... Are complete losses... makes me cry..

i am very happy that me, my family and my home have miraculously made it out unscathed.. But this storm will affect this county for years and years to come..

[Thrak]

Originally Posted by joeobx

I doubt it's true, just about all of our contractors are non-union.

Its true... turned away in NJ due to being non-union.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/hurr...rical-workers/

http://www.chron.com/news/article/No...ed-4003388.php

Baffling...

To clarify, this was released not too long ago.

http://money.msn.com/politics/post.a...e-daf819b06d38

Basically it sounds like they were trying to force them to join the union, before they would let them work, but before any of that was done the job was completed... strange really that they would ask them to join the union. *shrug*

[jjirons69]

Originally Posted by Thrak

Its true... turned away in NJ due to being non-union.

Sweet Lord, life is a constant series of surprises...

One of the best quotes that I agree with from one of those links - "This story should be a headline on every News Outlet."

[joeobx]

Originally Posted by jjirons69

Sweet Lord, life is a constant series of surprises...

One of the best quotes that I agree with from one of those links - "This story should be a headline on every News Outlet."

NO. This is the best qoute from the MSN artical.

"The lesson here, however, is the same one that parents everywhere teach their children: Don't believe everything you read."

The ALA. crew got some bad info.

[jjirons69]

But the Internet said it - it's got to be true.

Thanks, Joe!

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by joeobx

NO. This is the best qoute from the MSN artical.

"The lesson here, however, is the same one that parents everywhere teach their children: Don't believe everything you read."

The ALA. crew got some bad info.

Yeah, that must be it. The Non-union crew from the rural co-op got a different story than the union crews from AlaPowCo. Being uneducated, non-union rednecks from Bama, and probably can't even read, I'm sure they just misunderstood the intentions of the union reps!

Interesting enough, the local news station that broke the story reports they are satisfied with the information they gathered from several sources, and stand behind the story. But, we all know MSNBC is the Bastille of creditable reporting, so I'd hang my hat on their word any day. I'm sure the crew from Bama drove all the way up to Virginia BEFORE the storm, spent their time and money, took their chances riding out the storm, just to make up a story to make an over zealous union rep look bad. Sorry, I don't buy the IBEW rep's explanation. My wife and I actually passed the AlaPowCo and the Co-op trucks Saturday before the storm on I-95, headed north on the outskirts of DC, so I know personally they were very near where they said they were, when they said they were.

[SvilleKid]

My wife has several "shared" Facebook posts from NJ residents thanking AlaPowCo crews for clearing trees from roads and lines, with a couple posts mentioning that NJ electrical service crews were NOT allowed to do that type of work, but the AlaPowCo crews just did it anyway and got the job done.

I think the "bad" part about the union "misunderstanding" is that it could be taken that the crews were unwanted and/or unappreciated by the people of NJ.
But based on the FB posts from several days ago, I'd say the residents fully appreciated the efforts. However, I saw an article today where residents in some areas were throwing eggs at utility crews today. That's poor gratitude. While its based in frustration, it's a demonstration of lack of patience. I live 5 hours north of the Gulf Coast. In the last 20 years, we have lost power for extended periods seven times as a result of hurricane effects, with Katrenia being the latest, where we were without power for 10 days. The tornados that destroyed Tuscaloosa 2 years ago tracked half a mile south of my house. Left us without power for 7 days. In the Gulf areas, we know that there are levels of destruction that get first attention, and the rest of us have to wait out those efforts. Throwing eggs at the crews working long and dangerous hours in areas that are often far from their homes and families just never entered my mind as a way to get faster service.

I wrote and deleted three posts before I wrote this.
I only pray that things get better fast there.

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

I wrote and deleted three posts before I wrote this.
I only pray that things get better fast there.

I sincerely hope so too. But I don't see that happening. I've seen it too many times down here to know that "Fast" and "recovery" don't go hand in hand. That's IN NO WAY meant to be a negative reflection on the efforts of the crews Or of the residents. It's just experience. As a society, we are given more and more to expect everything NOW! It just doesn't work that way wit cleanup and recovery, where the basic intrastructures have to be restored before supplies in a meaningful quantity can be safely shipped in. And it takes time and money and lots of volunteers just to gather and prepare those supplies. And without the ability to store and distribute them..... Shipping them up does no good.

The unimaginable number of people living in such a small area will make this a nightmare. There's just, logistically no way it can happen fast enough for the number of people involved. And, I realize its hard to be patient when you are hungry and thirsty.

[SvilleKid]

Regardless of any isolated misunderstanding of union actions, I just don't see how the outcome of fuel, food, utility shortages could be anything BUT what they currently are. And regardless of the nobility of Gulf Coast residents offering advice to our northeast residents, there really are few similarities that exist where prep and/or advice will or would have made ANY differences to where the NE is today.

In the south, for the most part, we have a low density existence. We have few areas where people live in huge numbers literally on top of each other. In most of our high density developments, we are still attached housing, with multi-level floors of different ownership/ leased space a small percentage of our living spaces. That gives most of us room to store extra food, water and (often) fuel. That kind of prep room just does not exist in areas like NYC or Newark. That's not a criticism. It's just the nature of the areas. In the Gulf Coast areas, we have hurricanes. Often. It's a given, a way of life we can and do prepare for, because it WILL HAPPEN. SOON. And often. In the NE, a killer hurricane is a very rare possibility. There is no way everyone in that area can possibility maintain an adequate supply of staples for such am event, when there's little chance such a storm would happen once in 40 years. Again, that's just the common sense nature of that area. It would be like my trying to maintain the items needed to survive a massive earthquake. It's unlikely to happen. So I have little need to prepare.

And this is different than what the NE CAN prepare for. Sure, the NE is used to power outages. Snowstorms can take out power for extended times. But they are ready and able to quickly open up roads from snow. And that doesn't usually effect heating fuel or Liq gas or sewage systems. Clearing roads, while also trying to fix sewage systems, physically remove debris (but only after time consuming, house by house searches) is a different situation than what can be logically anticipated.

Again, it is going to require time. Time that the residents may not have. I do know that mass riots WILL NOT speed the process. The necessity in New Orleans to have armed NatGuard to protect the recovery crews from violence sure didn't help speed anything up. Hopefully enough supplied wil get into the area, and cool heads will prevail, and civil unrest won't arise to complicate matters.

[joeobx]

[quote=SvilleKid;1743861]Yeah, that must be it. The Non-union crew from the rural co-op got a different story than the union crews from AlaPowCo. Being uneducated, non-union rednecks from Bama, and probably can't even read, I'm sure they just misunderstood the intentions of the union reps!

Where did this come from ???
All I was trying to say is someone got some bad info. I've been doing this work for going on 35 yrs, 32 of which I was a dues paying member of the union. I have worked more disasters than I can count. I came name 4 non-union contractors that work for us including the crew I had this week that are now working in NJ and NY. They do have to be certified to do high voltage work. This is EXTREMELY dangerous work. Some companies do have safety rules in place about tree work, most do not. We had an experienced lineman that has had a life changing event when he was cutting a tree and it rolled on him and broke his leg in 4 places. I know when the crap hits the fan I have never seen a utility turn down help when they've asked for it.

[SvilleKid]

Joe.... It looks like your summation words were that the "Ala crew got bad info. "

I agree that the Bama crew was given bad info But the msnbc contention is that the Ala crew was lying ("not to be believed" is a handy way of saying "lying". ) I think the crew got the exact information, and in the way it was intended. That doesnt mean the rest of the industry or even other union reps are against non-union help in emergencies. It doesn't mean, however, that I think every union rep out there is above reproach. That was my point behind implying that it would be a shame for one over zealous rep to give the whole effort a black eye. What would be the motivation of the Alabama crew to lie?

I find it telling that the union crews from AlaPowCo were given a different presentation than the non-union crew, which to me points to the truth of their story. So, was it a misunderstanding, a rouge union rep getting pushy? It doesn't matter now, because that crew is no longer in a position to provide help, and I've seen nothing from the NJ IBEW president but a tap and dance story suggesting the crew was not able to understand (implies ignorance).

My comments were directed at the reporters blowing the story off as just another Internet falsehood, and NOT at you. You just happened to have the quote in your post from the msn source that basically said the story was a lie ("don't believe everything you read"). Again, you quoting a source, me responding to that source's quote.

[yourchoice]

Originally Posted by AD720

Good to hear. I wonder how Joel (yourchoice) is doing.

All told we got really lucky in philly. Downed trees, power lines so lots of folks still without power but there is really nothing to say but we got really lucky.

Thanks for the concern, Andrew. Here in the southwestern part of the state, we didn't get it all that bad, really. I'd say similar to the situation you describe on the other side of the bridge.

The shore house is another matter...but nothing compared to Atlantic City and points north. We just had a lot of sand and water (~3 ft of water) and will have some flood restoration work to do.