Bush can still be blamed, right?

Since most the NE states are liberal, they can look in the mirror on whom to blame.

Of course lets be realistic, when 5 ft of water come down your street, it does not matter if power lines are "upgraded" or underground.

You still end up without electricity. And your subways are still under water.

What happened to the northeast is horrific. However, it happens regularly in the south - Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida. I don't understand why anyone living on an island in the ocean chose to stay. Yeah, looters and all that but it's not worth your or your family's lives.

Katrina happened because of Kathleen Blanco, the then governor. Bush called before Katrina hit and offered help. She turned him down because she didn't want to cede control to the feds. We all know the rest.

The Democrats who ruled the Congress when Bush was president weren't interested in any Bush initiatives, especially those which placed the security of our country first.
.... It is soooo just that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the Congress Critters who bowed to them be exposed for disallowing updates in America's electrical structure.

Bush also repeatedly requested tighter oversignt on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the massive Dodd/Frank banking loan schemes under which everyone qualified for a mortgage. Of course, mortgages were not paid, but then again .... when you are jobless and shiftless, that is to be expected.

Bill O'Reilly is spot on!! Buy your OWN generator and take care of YOURSELF.

I loved the report on Fox this morning about the man (set up reporter) who went out and "mandated" the children give him their Halloween Candy. The kids didn't like someone taking their hard earned candy and giving it to some kid who didn't want to go out in the cold and dark and walk house to house. THEY worked for it -- they wanted to keep it... Shelfish little capitalist.....

LZK

This article includes a link to a May 16, 2001 L.A. Times article. Worth a look. From that article: ~~'Even before it has been released, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the Bush energy plan a "recipe for disaster" and stressed that "Democrats will throw themselves on the train tracks" to stop it.'~~

If anyone wanted to do a real stimulus, they would bury all the power lines possible. Think of the misery that could be avoided by not having to worry about electricity going out every time there's a storm, strong wind, ice, etc...

Northeastern Liberals ought to rejoice that so much energy is being saved due to Sandy.

As for sane Northeasterners, the aftermath of a hurricane is a miserable experience, and believe me, you have all my sympathies. Take it from someone who went through Frances (Cat 3) and Jeanne (Cat 2) in 2004 (the eye passed right over us)-- it'll be about two to three weeks before life returns to a semblance of normalcy, and if you're out in the boonies, you may have to wait a few weeks before your power is restored. You'll get through it, don't worry.

#7; All the power lines in NYC are buried except for a few places in the outer fringes. The undergeround wiring and transformers were flooded with salt water. That's why the power was off.

Alternatively, overhead wires would continue to work (if the poles stay up) but the interconnection doesn't make them independent.

At the height of the storm we watched the reports on a big screen TV, internet, and cocktails while our whole town was out of power. Generators are cheap, and not rocket science. I have 2. My only concern is some apparatchik coming and taking the 2nd since it's 'not fair' to those who didn't prepare.

I assume, based on the date of the story, that the outages being referred to are from Hurricane Sandy. The study is talking about the national power grid. Regardless of the merits of the study and the actions that should be taken for the national power grid, many of the outages from the hurricane are local and simple: trees knocking down wires and substations being flooded.

The solutions are likewise simple, albeit extensive, costly and subject to political opposition. A friend in the Northeast gives a few examples. Supposedly CP&L went through and trimmed trees still standing after Irene and the 2011 Halloween snowstorm. Driving around you could still see large trees whose branches were resting on power lines. (Not any more.) Stamford, Connecticut had a power substation that was in danger of being flooded (ten others were at risk). The day before the storm surge, the CP&L spokesman said they were building a wall around it. A reporter asked, why didn't you do it sooner? I.e., when you did the infrastructure vulnerability study, why didn't you put plans to make the necessary improvements instead waiting until the day before the storm?

Disasters like Sandy, in themselves, force upgrades. After the ice storm in our area a few years back, the electric lines and poles were replaced and trees cut back. This is Tornado Alley. We get a lot of storms. In the three years since, our power has only been off one time and that was only because some drunk driver slammed into a pole supporting a transformer.

The other issue in Katrina was a dependency culture. A lot of people just assumed if anything really bad happened, they would be rescued, and waited for rescue rather than evacuating ahead of time.

RE: #6's reference to Harry Reid's statement that "Democrats will throw themselves on the train tracks" to stop it."

Now there's a comforting thought early on a Thursday morning..... *sigh*.... if only they'd keep their word....

I don't know of any problems that we have that were not caused by Democrats. Can you think of any?

Trucker Observation: One of my drivers was born in Wyckoff, NJ. His parents join with 3 other neighbors to rent a generator. They switch it between the various house to satisfy their changing demands.

President Obama didn't do a damn thing except clog up the area with his Secret Servive details soliciting sex in the local brothels while he paraded with the Governor for a fawning media.

Jerks all of them ...

#5, Bill O'Reilly live on Long Island (Manhasset) was complaining the other night that he bought a generator (ten grand) but it did not work. Still, it may be a good investment if you have natural gas and your area is susceptible to power outages.

#17; Wanna' bet BOR never tried it out before the storm? Federally mandated ethanol clogs up engines unless they are run frequently.
Seems a check before the storm would have been wise.

Amen #3. And those incentives needed analysis and attention that they did not get.

Sandy wasn't pretty, but really this sort of storm is fairly routine in Florida and the Gulf Coast.

Another nefarious plot by the Evil BOOOOOSH thwarted by those always sharp and on their toes American voters!!

Bill O'Reilly? Is there a bigger, more egocentric blowhole on the air? What's he making 20 million a year? I guess he can afford anything he wants. The average yuk doesn't need his darn advice, especially after the fact!!

Our power was out for 26 hours in my small NE town. I have 3 generators and we were fine - watching satellite cable and using the microwave, toaster oven, clothes dryer, dishwasher, everything like normal. I can't stand Bill O'Reilly - he's a legend in his own (feeble) mind and no true conservative. But this time he's right - get your own generator. Not terribly expensive and a lifesaver in these all-too-frequent occurrences.

You can get generators that run on propane. If you do this and also have a large propane tank (not the ones you use for grilling) that you have filled up prior to the storm it will last you for weeks.

If you have a generator that runs on gasoline, you can easily store enough gasoline to last you a week if you do not run the generator constantly. If you run the generator every two weeks for thirty minutes or so the generator will not get gummed up with the old fuel. You can always add the gasoline to your vehicles and refil the gas cans with fresh gasoline every couple of months.

As noted, natural gas generators will only work as long as the natural gas is still working in the city and is being piped to your house.

Somebody just go get some solar panels and point'em at the sun.... right? Isn't that how they expect Americans of the future to live? Just call up Solynd--oh wait. What about another taxpayer-subsidized solar manufacturer? Or maybe a windmill company....? They're doing well I hear....

No? Hmmmm....

I've noticed an odd thing. I have yet to hear a Californian wish the worst for those liberals affected by Sandy. Odd.

I don;t want to wish anyone harm, but has anyone noticed some of the people being "rescued". I was telling my husband about it this morning- saying I know that elderly residents may need help in flood water, but 20-60 yo men??? What comes on the tv next? A scene of a young man gingerly walking from an apartment house to the National Guard truck. I mean- why do most of these people need rescuing in a foot of water? How about walking out?

#24 - let's also remind those who aren't generator knowledgeable that if you are using gas and storing it, you need to add a stabilizer to it and store the appropriate containers safely. StaBil works.

We had a condo owner who stored his generator gas in a shed at the back of a neighborhood that backed up to a huge dental office complex. Never added stabilizer, and in July, it went kaboom with the right hit of sun, tinder dry cypress mulch, and up went that entire dental complex. The court battle finally ended 2 years later.

To be honest, most city borough apt dwelling NYers are not able to own generators, so that is moot....I was one once, and I also grew up in hurricane country, so generators go with our life now, but they do require regular maintenance even if you never have used them. O'Reilly was an idiot if he didn't pay attention to that fact, probably told to him by the seller.

I was disgusted the day after the storm when people were yelling for food to be brought to them. I don't know a single household that doesn't have a minimun of a weeks worth of food. They knew the storm was coming.

I know for a fact that buried power lines are more reliable and cheaper in the long run. So the birds don't have a place to sit. Chop them up in a windmill.

#27 some of us have the same thoughts. Seeing photos of men in knee deep water pulling boats with people. Like you older or helpless but....others not so much.

I feel bad for the hell people in NJ are going through now, but, you know, having Romney and W out there right now would be like hitting the ball out of the park in the bottom of the ninth, and five days before we show Obie and Bite Me the door.

As a Californian and lived through many horrible earthquakes both in LA and SF, where there is NO warning, I do not understand how those in NYC and NJ on an island and on along an enormous shore, did not frickin' evacuate. The property damage is just horrific, but people remaining despite the horrible lesson learned from Katrina, any one that remained in the hardest hit areas are just plain stupid. And unlike the areas hit in LA, the areas in NYC and along the Jersey shore are very affluent, so the people definitely had the means to leave.