*** VD 13 Commentary Thread ***

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  • The Feral Slasher
    MVP
    • Oct 2011
    • 13396

    Originally posted by Ken
    I just got back online about an hour ago. I've been fully off grid for over a day, no power (heat), no wifi, no cell coverage (towers are down), phone coverage in and out, SMS in and out.

    It was down to 40. My dad had to drive to my step brother's house because his was about to hit the 30s, and driving through ice was a safer proposition than freezing.

    There's gonna be a huge death number with this I fear. My family is going to be okay but lots wont.
    Uggh. Glad u and KS are ok, but from what i have read a lot of people will suffer or perish. Hope things turn out better than expected
    ---------------------------------------------
    Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand !
    ---------------------------------------------
    The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
    George Orwell, 1984

    Comment

    • Bene Futuis
      All Star
      • Jan 2011
      • 5175

      Originally posted by Kevin Seitzer
      I understand that a state can't necessarily prepare for every once-in-30-years event. I get that the answers may not be reassuring to people. But I really HATE that the Republican Party has turned this into an opportunity to lie to people. You run this fucking state. Man up and tell people the truth. Don't lie to score political points on climate change. Fuckers.
      Texas is the bellwether for privatization of utilities, in this country at least. I wonder to what extent that has affected Texas with regards to this storm and power outages.
      More American children die by gunfire in a year than on-duty police officers and active duty military.

      Comment

      • Kevin Seitzer
        All Star
        • Jan 2011
        • 9175

        Originally posted by Bene Futuis
        Texas is the bellwether for privatization of utilities, in this country at least. I wonder to what extent that has affected Texas with regards to this storm and power outages.
        It's not really clear to me so far. Hopefully that will become more clear in the after-action review.
        "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"

        Comment

        • heyelander
          MVP
          • Jan 2011
          • 10398

          i will continue to smugly scoff at all of you right up until the time my house burns to the ground.
          I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

          Comment

          • The Feral Slasher
            MVP
            • Oct 2011
            • 13396

            Originally posted by heyelander
            i will continue to smugly scoff at all of you right up until the time my house burns to the ground.
            You have like 6 months to gloat, take advantage of it
            ---------------------------------------------
            Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand !
            ---------------------------------------------
            The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
            George Orwell, 1984

            Comment

            • The Feral Slasher
              MVP
              • Oct 2011
              • 13396

              Originally posted by Bene Futuis
              Texas is the bellwether for privatization of utilities, in this country at least. I wonder to what extent that has affected Texas with regards to this storm and power outages.
              I glanced at some articles that mentioned Texas has their own grid so they are not subject to Federal regulations. Didn't read the details, so not sure about it. ANyway, hope everyone gets power so they can have heat.
              ---------------------------------------------
              Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand !
              ---------------------------------------------
              The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
              George Orwell, 1984

              Comment

              • heyelander
                MVP
                • Jan 2011
                • 10398

                Originally posted by The Feral Slasher
                You have like 6 months to gloat, take advantage of it
                seriously though... best to everyone's families. Hope everyone stays warm and safe.
                I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

                Comment

                • Kevin Seitzer
                  All Star
                  • Jan 2011
                  • 9175

                  Originally posted by The Feral Slasher
                  I glanced at some articles that mentioned Texas has their own grid so they are not subject to Federal regulations. Didn't read the details, so not sure about it. ANyway, hope everyone gets power so they can have heat.
                  Yes, Texas has its own grid in order to avoid federal regulation. Whether or not that was a contributing cause here is unclear. ERCOT has connections to both the Mexico grid and to the Eastern Interconnection, but they say that they were not able to buy power from either of those because both were also dealing with the storm.
                  "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"

                  Comment

                  • Ken
                    Administrator
                    • Feb 2016
                    • 10977

                    I lost power again. We are off/on/off at all hours of the day.

                    One thing that would be nice is communication. If they would let us know when, I’d be happy to have it off for hours at a time during the day. Instead it’s just random and we have to figure it out each time it happens.

                    Comment

                    • Kevin Seitzer
                      All Star
                      • Jan 2011
                      • 9175

                      Originally posted by Ken
                      I lost power again. We are off/on/off at all hours of the day.

                      One thing that would be nice is communication. If they would let us know when, I’d be happy to have it off for hours at a time during the day. Instead it’s just random and we have to figure it out each time it happens.
                      That sucks. I hope you get power back soon. It seems like things are getting worse with the grid rather than better, even though temps were a little milder today.
                      "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"

                      Comment

                      • heyelander
                        MVP
                        • Jan 2011
                        • 10398

                        Originally posted by Ken
                        I lost power again. We are off/on/off at all hours of the day.

                        One thing that would be nice is communication. If they would let us know when, I’d be happy to have it off for hours at a time during the day. Instead it’s just random and we have to figure it out each time it happens.
                        cripes, stay warm mate.
                        I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

                        Comment

                        • Kevin Seitzer
                          All Star
                          • Jan 2011
                          • 9175

                          “I’m kind of angry,” said one man whose family has been without power since Monday. A winter storm caused physical damage to the electrical grid’s infrastructure as well as a surge in demand.


                          For years, energy experts argued that the way Texas runs its electricity system invited a systematic failure. In the mid-1990s, the state decided against paying power producers to hold reserves, discarding the common practice across the United States and Canada of requiring a supply buffer of at least 15 percent beyond a typical day’s need.

                          Robert McCullough, of McCullough Research in Portland, Ore., said he and others have long warned about the potential for catastrophe because Texas simply lacked backup for extreme weather events increasingly commonplace as a result of climate change.


                          Ten years ago, plunging temperatures forced rolling blackouts across Texas, leaving more than 3 million people without power as the Super Bowl was played outside Dallas.

                          Now, with a near identical scenario following another Texas cold snap, Texas power regulators are being forced to answer how the unusually cold temperatures forced so much of the state’s power generation offline when Texans were trying to keep warm.

                          To start, experts say, power generators and regulators failed to heed the lessons of 2011 — or for that matter, 1989. In the aftermath of the Super Bowl Sunday blackout a decade ago, federal energy officials warned the grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT, that Texas power plants had failed to adequately weatherize facilities to protect against cold weather.

                          A federal report that summer recommended steps including installing heating elements around pipes and increasing the amount of reserve power available before storms, noting many of those same warnings were issued after similar blackouts 22 years earlier and had gone unheeded.
                          "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"

                          Comment

                          • Ken
                            Administrator
                            • Feb 2016
                            • 10977

                            Ugh....

                            Well at least I'm getting heat today!

                            Comment

                            • heyelander
                              MVP
                              • Jan 2011
                              • 10398

                              Originally posted by Ken
                              Ugh....

                              Well at least I'm getting heat today!
                              fuck! I tried to give this a disapproval of "soft" but I think I approved it instead.
                              I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert...

                              Comment

                              • Kevin Seitzer
                                All Star
                                • Jan 2011
                                • 9175

                                Texas is down to about 3 million customers without power today, about half of those in the Houston area. So that's an improvement. I guess?

                                Municipal water systems are being affected. We got a boil-water notice from the City of Houston this morning.
                                "Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"

                                Comment

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