Question about hurricane preparation

[stan_deezy]

Forgive me in advance because being Scottish I don't know much about hurricanes but this question is bugging me so I'm hoping someone will know the answer?<br /><br />The BBC were showing news of Rita making landfall and they were reporting how the power went out as sub stations went out in "pyrotechnic" displays. They then said "but as most people had evacuated the area the power outages aren't a major problem".<br /><br />So here's the question: if you know that within the next hour you're going to be hit by a hurricane why wouldn't you shut down the power and protect the sub stations?<br /><br />Surely the cost in damage to the sub stations is going to be very high and will take a while to repair?<br /><br />Or am I missing something really obvious here? <br /><br />(the answer to the last bit may be "yes"!)

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

nope your missing nothing. I have often wondered the same thing. comes down to our idiot leaders.<br /> that very situation caused a loss of 3 buildings on galveston and endangered all the ones who tried to respond. fire during and after a storm event is about as dangerous as the storm event. myself 6 hours before lad fall all public utilities should be secured. gas,water and electric. by 6 hoiurs the track can be accuratly forcast and with utilities down damage to them is minimized so ressurection will go quicker.<br /> but its the same folks in charge of the stupid"go" evavuation planning that plan for this to.<br /> but if power was secured to the grid prior to landfall downed power lines would be of little concern to those involved in the rescue ops.

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

There is still a lot of people there. Some folks could not be moved from hospitals and nursing homes. Then there is emergency workers and infrastructure that needs power all the time. There also would be a hell of a backlash if they needed power (say for pumps or something) and the power company cut it off because they were afraid there stuff would get broken. Last they never know where it is going to hit. They have ideas but what do you do in the mean time, shut down the whole Gulf region? It is almost a obligation for the power company's to provide power until they are not able to anymore.

 

[neumanns]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

Security system's, Communications, Essential services, Freezers,...Just a few of the systems that are benefited by prolonged services. if it were as simple as flipping a switch perhaps but it would take days to facilitate a shutdown.<br /><br />Lines are still gonna go down with or without power so you are still gonna have damage either way bout the only thing I can see being saved would be a few transformers...This is minor in the grand scope of the cost.<br /><br />Bout the only benifit I could see of such a scenerio would it could encourage evacuation, However even if they had done such to say houston there would have been less people there but the storm would have still went to the north...<br /><br />To much cost and inconvince for the benifit IMHO

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

The damage to substations and delivery points is minimal. The biggest damage is to primary and secondary lines. <br /><br />Those lines are taken out by the storm and the electrical shorts that are created trip breakers which generally protect the substations. If the news says a substation has gone out, that's generally what has happened, but the rocket-scientist newscasters don't have a clue.<br /><br />Afterwards comes the problem of getting power back. A substation's breakers cannot be reset until all the lines are repaired that are fed by that breaker. That takes the most time.<br /><br />Occasionally damage is done to a substation, but it's usually minimal and can be repaired much quicker than the damage to the lines.<br /><br />Shutting down the substation wouldn't prevent the lines from being shorted. They would still have to be repaired before being charged by the supplying substation.

 

[tomatolord]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

The systems are "designed" to break away in pieces so that some power is available - the substations themselves "usually" dont fail - it is all the connections to them that have failed.<br /><br />Also in older neighborhoods, like mine, the power poles are above ground with the transformers in the air, they make a big bang when they go, so the news reporters think that the stations have blown when it is just local transformers blowing.<br /><br />Does not mean that nothing goes wrong - I have a BIL whose house sat way off the road, his power line was directly connected into the main trunk - so that if something happened to his power line about 5,000 people would be without power - the power crew people were just amazed that something like that could happen.<br /><br />People have to remember that there is no "real" way of testing these fail over systems - because that would mean rolling blackouts etc...<br /><br />Dad worked for the phone company and they had an eleborate fail over plan - then one summer the east coast had a power failure that rippled through - so the regulators made the phone company test there plan - he said everyone from the president down was sweating it out - by the way the plan did work <br /><br />The rest of the world has to realize that these hurricanes hit very different parts of the US so it is very hard to plan what to do

 

[stan_deezy]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

Thanks for the responses guys and please remember I'm asking out of sheer ignorance and not trying to have a pop at anyone <br /><br />I had an inkling that the news reporters might be over-dramatising things a bit especially as we didn't actually see pictures (maybe they are doing them in a studio as we speak?) <br /><br />Re the hospitals though: they would have emergency generators to supply essential services.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Question about hurricane preparation

About the hospital emergency generators, when my FIL was alive and worked at the local Catholic hospital, he took me on a tour of the "down under". It was quite interesting. <br /><br />He pointed out 3 gigantic diesel generators; one for pediatrics, one for the emergency room, and one for surgery. He also told me they stayed up to operating temp at all times, oil and coolant. <br /><br />Occasionally they were tested and when they tripped on, they started at full throttle and would scare the bejeebers out of you if you were close.