Goodnight Irene

[xtabber]

The NH Line commuter trains use an overhead catenary wire/pantograph combo (like a trolley - see above) rather than the more common third-rail system for train power. (And the NH rail power mains are all above ground AKAIK.)

-40hz (August 30, 2011, 10:48 AM)

Actually, the New Haven line uses both.  The sections inside the NY city limits have run on under rail DC for decades -- You really don't want overhead catenary AC power in the tunnels leading to Grand Central Station.  New York finished converting the section from Pelham to the CT line in 1993. Connecticut is now converting the section inside CT to under rail DC power, a process they currently estimate will be finished by 2021.

[40hz]

^ I know. I use that train regularly going in and out of NYC. It switches over near Greenwich CT.  

Regarding the conversion: the way things move around here, I'll believe it when I see it. 

[xtabber]

Here's some videos from yesterday showing what has been happening in Vermont:

[app103]

Here is the supermarket where I usually do my food shopping.

That water is actually much deeper than it looks. It's a recessed parking lot.

The night crew workers didn't leave before the storm hit and had to be rescued.

I don't think I'll be shopping there for awhile.

A&P bought 2 supermarket chains that had locations in my town and shut down the store around the corner from me. I bet right now they are thinking to themselves "Damn, we shut the wrong one down!". The one by me is on much higher and drier ground.

[40hz]

We have not experienced much in the way of flooding where I live.

We do not have a large number of trees or wires down.

Our streets are not in a rural area. We are in the center of suburbia.

Our utility services 22,194 customers in my town.

There are currently still 1134 customers without power in my town as of 5:55pm September 3rd.

All the streets adjacent to mine have had power since Tuesday.

Our street has been completely out since 9:22pm August 28th for a total of six days.

And since the United Illuminating Company does not see fit to have human beings answer their phones, or provide any information beyond "we're trying very hard" and "thank you for your patience" I was wondering if someone in that company might like to respond here as to what's actually going on?

Because we haven't seen a utility truck on our street since Tuesday night when a little pickup with the UI logo drove slowly down and back up our street once without stopping.

So how about it United Illuminating? Got any concrete information you'd care to share beyond the hang-dog excuses and thank-yous you've been offering?

Because back in 1985 after hurricane Gloria, we had everything back to normal in 3 to 5 days. And that was despite the fact that the town looked like it experienced a cruise missile attack with the amount of trees and wires that were down.

So whassup guys?

[app103]

That supermarket in the video reopened today. My daughter was down there but said she walked in and walked right back out. The whole place smells really bad and she didn't want to buy anything she would think about eating from there.

She says most of the other stores in that strip mall look like they are closed for renovations, Radio Shack looking really empty, as if they might not be reopening.

The dollar store seems to be OK, doesn't smell and no sign of damaged merchandise.

And a clothing store that has discounted their flood damaged merchandise at 20% off the original price, advertising it as a normal "final clearance" sale and not mentioning anything about water damage. The place is so dimly lit that you might not even notice it if you didn't really look at it and check for damage.

[app103]

And in other news:

Comcast Will Charge for Hurricane Irene Service Outages, Blames God

Comcast customers who lost—or still don't have—cable, phone or Internet service in the wake of Hurricane Irene have a nasty surprise in store for them when they seek to get credit for their downtime. Comcast says they won't be crediting customers who lost service during the hurricane because it was an "Act of God".

[xtabber]

Our utility services 22,194 customers in my town.

There are currently still 1134 customers without power in my town as of 5:55pm September 3rd.

-40hz (September 03, 2011, 05:15 PM)

That's only 5% still without power.

I talked to a friend in South Central CT yesterday who also still did not have power. She is served by CL&P, not UI, and according to the CL&P outage map,  more than 30% of households in her town still do not have power as of today (Sept. 4).

As my friend pointed out, Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the country and also has the highest utility rates.  Money might buy you love, but it seems it can't buy you decent electric service.