No power forces Houston woman to sleep in car

[Catherine Vincent]

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/07/templates/listpop.html?vid=1815745288

:-(

[LisaL]

1. After so long without power, people are got to be getting

really uncomfortable and miserable. Especially in Houston, because it's so humid.

[man4allcats]

2. It is a very sad, very tough and very dangerous

situation. I am in West Houston near I-10 and Gessner and am still without power myself. I purchased a generator a week ago and count myself fortunate to have it even though it costs a small fortune in gasoline to operate. Still, it doesn't power my central air so I sleep with the windows open and my shotgun loaded and close by. As I write this, two police cars have just raced by my house with sirens screaming going God knows where. Like the poor woman in the video link posted by the OP, my street is now totally dark. Anything can happen; no one dare let their guard down. The weather is a bit cooler and less humid this evening. Maybe that lady can sleep inside tonight. I hope so. I don't like this one bit, but many are much worse off than I. I feel so badly for those people. CenterPoint Energy says they're doing all they can to restore power, but I'm not so sure. At the very least, they failed to take appropriate steps to harden the infrastructure so as to minimize the consequences of what was assuredly a predictable catastrophic event. As experts in the field of providing electrical power, they had to know that such a storm was not only possible, but in fact, ultimately inevitable. It was never a question of if this scenario would occur, but only when, and CenterPoint did nothing to prepare for that. Reaction is necessary and required, but the responsible, professional approach is proactive. When judged by these criteria, CenterPoint failed the test.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. Still no power? I am so sorry.

A lot of people had their power restored but a lot still does not. My parents finally got their power back on Wednesday. They had been at my place since Katrina. I gave up my bedroom for them (my other two are occupied by my niece, husband and their 2 year old).

A group of people from one of the neighborhoods that didn't have power yet were protesting yesterday. People are getting frustrated and I don't blame them.

[area51]

4. Great post.

And I'm so sorry you're still without power. Yes, CenterPoint's reponse to the crists has been awful. And then reading in the Houston Chronicle that now they will be allowed to stick it to us in recouping the infrastructure repair costs is just obscene. They chose not to bury the power lines, and not to do enough tree-trimming that would keep above-ground power lines safe, but we have to pay some huge rate hike in the future. Bullshit. :mad: