Just drove from Chicago to Conn. Dozens of utility trucks are heading east (dial-up warning)

[krispos42]

Because I'm insanely jealous at missing the earthquake of earlier in the week, I decided to not do the sane thing and stay on vacation with my relatives in Illinois, but rather come back to Connecticut as scheduled just in time for Hurricane Irene.

Well, somebody has to man the pumps and the generator that powers them. Unfortunately!

We took I-80 all the way across, and we came across several convoys of utilities trucks moving steadily east, many from ComEd but also some non-electric-company-looking trucks. We also saw a trailerload of brand-spanking-new AT&T generators, and a caravan of Astro vans with the AT&T logo on them.

We had to have seen close to a hundred of them on our way out here. Here are some pics:


These were all taken on I-80/90 in either Indiana or Ohio, and maybe a bit in western Pennsylvania. Taken with cel phone camera, so I apologize in advance for poor picture quality and/or lack of zoom. :-)















At a rest stop in western Ohio. No, I don't know who the random kid is.





Back on the highway:


These are those AT&T generators, made by John Deere.






This is the tail-end of a convoy following I-90 at the I-80/I-90 split in eastern Ohio.













I imagine this is happening on all even-numbered interstates across this vast nation of ours. I'd like to take a moment to tip a hat to all those people who are about to have an extremely busy week or two ahead of them.


Later today: storm preparations at home!

[Scurrilous]

1. K & R

Those trucks will be a welcome sight to the people whose power is knocked out.

[krispos42]

7. I was sure happy to see them moving east!

I imagine I'm not going to be getting much sleep the next couple of days.


Speaking of sleep... I'd better get some. Besides, the cat misses me... I've been gone for a week!

[babylonsister]

2. THIS is one of the reasons I love DU: thank you for this, and rec'd!

Seems someone is planning ahead, doesn't it. :D
I imagine this must be comforting for those on the east coast, too.

[krispos42]

9. No problem...

...i found myself wishing I had a smartphone so I could share with DU on the road instead of waiting until I got home.

[malaise]

13. Ditto

DU is the best :fistbump:

[aquart]

3. Cheered me right up.

Did I mention that Bayside, Queens is all tall trees and overhead power lines?

[babylonsister]

4. Hey, aquart. Stay safe in Queens; will your area be evacuated?

I guess not everyone can be moved. I'll be thinking about you and check in when you can.

[aquart]

6. Not low lying at all. Just really green and leafy.

This house occasionally gets saturation flooding in the basement, but over the years very few power outages. We don't expect to be that lucky this time. I was Zone C in Manhattan. This place has no evacuation zone.

For the first time in memory, Bayside had some kind of tornado damage (in the fall? last summer?) and we saw what happens when something pulls our big old trees out of the ground. I don't think the trees nearest us could take out the roof. But a complex power outage scares me. Salt water in the subway scares me.

I've believed for a while that climate change would take out Manhattan and Long Island. This is going to be the first time a whole lot of other people are going to have that thought.

The sight of those repair trucks was just pure good news for the east coast.

[malaise]

14. Stay safe

:grouphug:

[aquart]

17. All of us. This is one long ride.

And come Monday we're all going to examine what we should have had on hand. We're not experienced but we learn well.

[krispos42]

25. I'm just glad my parents have a generator

And we can siphon the gas out of 4 cars and the lawn mower if we need to.


I just wish they had fixed the DAMN DRAIN IN THE DRIVEWAY YEARS AGO SO WE WOULDN'T NEED ALL THE DAMN PUMPS!!!!!


Ahem.



This means I have to spend the overnight in a bathing suit, with a flashlight on my forehead, to turn on the 2 backup pumps when the main pump (which has a float switch) can't handle the flow.



So DU ladies... if you want to see krispos42 in action.... ;-)

[aquart]

26. Be sure to take pictures.

Everyone in NYC is confined till Monday.

[krispos42]

28. Bow-chika-BOW-wow

;-)


Yeah, I'm wearing fluorescent-orange trunks, a khaki-colored button-down work shirt from when I worked in a factory, and a "USS Massachusetts" baseball cap... with the adjustable strap held together with duct tape.

At some point I'll likely have a flashlight strapped to my forehead.


Sexxxy...

[lillypaddle]

5. Reassuring to see this

K&R, thanks for posting.

[krispos42]

16. No problem. We got our first sprinkle at 1:36pm.

House is about ready.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. Sure is. :^)

[Syrinx]

8. more likely hundreds

When the tornadoes came through here in April, I think there were hundreds of out-of-state trucks just here in Tuscaloosa. It was workers from Mount Airy, North Carolina (Andy Griffith's home) that got my power back on, after about three days. I was grateful to them. I hope Alabama Power returns the favor, if needed. Best of luck!

[RebelOne]

10. I am sure there are hundreds.

There are also trucks leaving today from the Atlanta area.

[krispos42]

12. Hopefully thousands! n/t

[hootinholler]

11. The 21st Century 'Barn Raising'

The power grid mutual aid in action is interesting. They are staged in Gaithersburg Md at the fairgrounds, I think I heard 150 crews on the news. I'm sure you're right about that going on up and down the East Coast.

It's been a weird week.

-Hoot

[krispos42]

22. Remember last year when Rachel Maddow geeked out about the ice storms?

And how millions were without power for days at a time?

I bet she'll be all over this in the coming weeks!

[lunatica]

15. Heavan forbid if they're union workers!!

Maybe some East Coast Governors will stand by their fucked up politics and refuse the help.

Yeah, sure.

[Habibi]

18. Same here on the NY Thruway today!

Saw dozens and dozens of utility trucks going east. It was awesome!

[lindysalsagal]

19. Good to know,but I think there will still be long waits to get reconnected.

I'm ready! (Coastal connecticut)

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Good and thanks

[Cal Carpenter]

23. One of those trucks was at my house a couple days ago

(well, maybe not literally)

For a minor repair on the line from my house.

They said they were in my area for the last little while because of storms we had here in SE Michigan recently. Mentioned they were heading east next to deal with this.

I've bumped into these crews in hotels before. It's gotta be a tough, tough job. They work 14-16 hours a day, stay in hotels, move around all the time. I expect they are getting paid pretty good though (I sure hope so).

Thanks guys! :thumbsup:

[lynne]

24. THANK YOU!!!!! I'm in Virginia [and just a bit soggy right now] -

- and I try to make a point to stop and thank those wonderful out-of-state electrical workers when they come in to help return our electricity after a storm. It is MUCH appreciated!

[cali]

27. Thank you. ComEd and Ameren are sending a 100 workers to VT

[GoneOffShore]

29. You're lucky you didn't get pulled over for taking pictures.

"That's SSI - you can't take pictures of utility trucks."

[seeviewonder]

30. A story in our local paper in central Illinois

mentions that about forty or so trucks are being sent to the Northeast from the local utility company. Glad to see everyone doing the right thing and helping other areas with this pending disaster. I witnessed the same thing happen in the beginning of 2009 while I was driving through Kentucky after the large ice storm that winter. These two events made me place some more faith in humanity.