First person account of a utility restoration following a national disaster

Dear, Friends:

Over the last couple of days, I have received several phone calls and text messages to check in on me and see how I am doing with the approaching storm.  I’ve been unable to respond for some combination of working nights and I’m sleeping during the day, having extremely poor cell reception in the Tin Can (my work trailer) and coordinating some men/materials for the weather event.  All told, things are going as well as possible.

The Company has a very dedicated team of safety professionals and in-house meteorologists to help anticipate the affects of such storms and the best way to keep the Company’s employees out of harm’s way.  If the storm has a serious impact then I will likely be “locked-in” at the Manhattan location, which means I’d work 7p-7a then be forced to stay at work for my own safety.  The bridges and tunnels will likely be closed in this case anyways so it’s not like there would be anywhere for me to go!  I’d be surrounded by hundreds of great people with ample supplies of food and safety.  This is much more than can be said for the millions of people who rely on us for electricity, gas, and steam utilities.

Rest assured, that I have “practiced what I preached” insofaras having a very capable “Go-Bag” chock full of goodies.  Non-perishable food, flashlight, batteries, portable water container, enough medical supplies to make a certain helicopter combat medic proud and even Bananagrams so that I can whittle away any boredom should things slow down.  I will be 100% honest and say that I miss my guns, which are safely stored with trusted and responsible friends until I get my NYC license but not every Kinetically Instigated Trans-Territorial Environmental Nuisance (Cutesy Acronym Bonus: KITTEN!!!) can be met with all of the ideal factors.

Somewhere out there is a family, or a group of friends, or a store-owner who is just as meaningful to their friends, loved ones and the economy as each of you are to me.  Somewhere out there is a guy who would put himself in uncertain circumstances in order to bring you safety and comfort.  A few examples are [past co-workers] AC, JS, JR and [Company] employees: KI, CC, DW, TZ, VF, SF, JF, and SB.

No matter what utility serves you or what occurs in your service territory.  We’re On It.

Comments

SS: Stay safe buddy!

JR: Thanks, man! All good in the borough of Brooklyn!

SB: So glad to know you have a plan. I won’t worry about you!! xoxo.. Keep us posted!

JR: Thanks, Sandy-Lion! I hope all is well at home. I’m looking forward to some big mugs of hot cocoa and even bigger hugs for the holidays. 🙂

WW: hang in there playa

SG: Glad you guys have a plan! Stay safe brother! Xo.

JR: Sistah from Anotha Mistahhhh! Looking forward to seeing you over Christmas time! :):D

SB: Hows it goin?

JR: I live in Bay Ridge, which still has power and is well-above the water table. Practically zero damage here other than a flooded out 86 St Subway station.

I have cell signal which leads me to believe the towers still have power but data/voice will not go to/from my phone so I’m guessing that the towers are flooded with too many data/voice requests. That makes sense with how many people are checking in with family and friends.

Now that the storm has passed, I’m sure there is going to be a serious effort to pump out hundreds of sub-surface electrical structures (transformer vaults and manholes) to get the sea-water out of them and start turning people back on.

JR: ” I know these circumstances are sucky but the vacuum of power and technology is often filled back in by the feelings of community and closeness that are all-too-often vacant from our modernized society.”

In Summary: Make the most of the time you have with special people! Don’t sit in front of the TV or your instagram account. Re-connect with those friends you keep blowing off.

Turn this into something positive.

NP: I was going to call you this morning!!!! I saw pictures and got scared!!

JR: No worries, NP… I hope you’re doing well! I see a need for dumplings and Dragon Bowls at Lotus when this is all said and done!

NP: I love you! Come back home and well party it up at lotus 🙂

JR: Day 3: Steady reports are trickling in from the company that two networks in Manhattan (2,800 customers) and all of Brighton Beach (Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, 28000 customers) were picked up… Good news but there are still 3/4 Million without power! Its frustrating and arduous to get everything back and running but I’m getting frequent texts from the lovely lady and bumping a house-set from my boy DJ Joonyer! Makes the day(night) go by much faster.

JR: Day 5: the duty to serve our customers often is accompanied by tiny sacrifices. Many men I know have received calls during their emergency assignments to learn that their child has taken their first steps or some other milestone event.

During my summer Contingency assignment, I missed my dear friend Kasia’s wedding. Yesterday, I missed my girlfriend’s Opening Night party for her first Broadway show. Sacrifices made to serve the greater good. Missed smiles and hugs from friends and loved ones. All adding up.

Today, portions of Manhattan have been getting power back; tens of thousands restored… There is still a feeling of frustration because several of my men haven’t been able to find gasoline and will soon be unable to report to work, yet so much remains to be done. There is so much we wish we could do but haste makes waste and exacerbate the situation and get someone killed. Then the child taking first steps now will only know their father or mother via photographs and in stories that always seem to include some mention of Hurricane Sandy.

Meteorologists predict a winter storm next week which will test the mettle of those who chose to be unprepared for this first, let alone a subsequent, storm.

I guess we’ll see what the landscape looks like in another seven days…

LS: Proud of you Josh!!

JR: Day 6: this morning, 13 networks were restored in Manhattan. Some buildings may remain without lights due to basement flooding but most of them are back in business! Lots of work to do in outer boros and progress is frustrating for everyone.

My biggest issue right now is that gas shortages are starting to hit my mechanics and soon they won’t have any fuel to report to work. One guy was turned away from four stations while another lives in NJ and gas-rationing is making it tough to get anything. I’m trying to help out by picking guys up and/or dropping them off but there’s only so much I can do. :O/

I am thinking we’ll be working this for another week and a half.

JR: Day 11: so far, the company has restored power to 800K+ of the 950K+ people who lost power in our service territory. We’ve yet to fully recover from Sandy but now we’re wrestling with a winter storm dumping all kinds of rain/hail/snow. There are a lot of people to whom we cannot restore power because their personally owned equipment was destroyed by flood waters and there are a lot of problems with people finding adequate fuel for their generators or vehicles, including some of my own co-workers who are leaving their families each day to work on the system. It’s my 11th night working a 12, or 15, hour overnight shift and its definitely wearing on my guys and myself. We miss our personal lives and our significant others miss the good people who’ve been replaced by grumpy bastards (or is that just me, lol). I’m guessing this will go on for at least another week…

SW: stay strong Remer!

 

Follow-up: This note and the corresponding notes took place in the immediate time-frame of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.  Many details are just fleeting images that all kind of blurred together but the images of Lower Manhattan and Coney Island are indelible because of how dramatically it changed the atmosphere.

Lower Manhattan, including the South Street Seaport, Times Square, Tribeca, was dark for everything south of 14^th street.  No apartment lights, no streetlights, no glow of neon lights from small bodegas.  Just some headlights, police and fire lights visible from several blocks away, and the occasional hand held flashlight casting a pitiful glow.   After a few days this gave way to the persistent drone of tractor-trailer mounted generators and the stink of diesel fumes.  There were dozens of commercial generating units brought into the area to power up the buildings and they imparted a low-frequency vibration to every surface. The R line remained closed for weeks due to the flooded tracks,

Coney Island was especially foreign as the storm surge pushed sand dunes across Ocean Parkway and the normally social area near Nathan’s was practically void of people.  Front loaders and bulldozers eventually pushed the sand into huge mounds lining the street so we could get into inspection and repairs of underground distribution boxes.  Unfortunately, in many cases, this was to cut off service leads to buildings whose equipment was not ready to return to service.

It is a reminder that the services provided by a large metropolitan center are truly convenient when they are working properly.  If they aren’t working properly then you are in direct competition with thousands of people for the exact same basic necessities.  Do yourself a favor and have some sort of emergency supplies available, functional, and portable.  Even if you don’t have to use them, there will be an enormous boost of morale just by having them on-hand.

“You can survive thirty days without food, three days without water, three hours without shelter, three minutes without oxygen, but only three seconds without hope.”  – Travis Haley, paraphrased from a quote by Hal Lindsey