The ill wind named Irene blew through Connecticut in less than 24 hours, but inquiries into the response likely will last closer to 24 months.
State agencies and local politicians already are asking increasingly rude questions as the blackout continues for thousands of residents and businesses:
• Should CL&P have been better prepared to respond, given the days of fairly accurate forecasting of the storm’s track?
• Should utilities have had mutual aid relationships established long before any storm?
• Is the collapse of AT&T’s cell tower network a self-inflicted design problem, or is this just a ripple effect of the power outage?
• Why did the state’s telephone alert system fail to deliver its message for several days?
• Why did some communities — Glastonbury and Danbury come to mind — receive virtually no attention for days?
Talk radio is alive with ticked off residents who swear they haven’t seen a repair truck anywhere in their town. Some see conspiracy theories or some sort of politically-inspired discrimination. Most of it involves too many tired people making too many unsubstantiated leaps of reasoning.
We’ll wait for the official reviews to turn up additional facts before taking a position on the response efforts.
But one conspiracy theory rings true: That weakened storm shouldn’t have had enough strength left to cause 995,789 customers to lose electricity unless our infrastructure was weak and complicit.
A 60 mph wind is certainly unusual; so is 8-10 inches of rainfall. But in the final analysis, the storm wasn’t even a hurricane. The 35 mph winds and 3-5 inches of rain experienced by most of Central Connecticut should not have produced this kind of catastrophic event.
The state still is tallying damages, but an early estimate puts the cost north of $280 million. Looking at the losses suffered by business — particularly service establishments like restaurants and hotels that can never recoup their losses — we’d guess the real figure will be much higher.
Part of our charm as a state is our rich canopy of trees. The fall ‘leaf peeper’ business attracts tourists from far and wide to look at the changing colors. But leafy branches hanging over power lines are a recipe for disaster that Irene served with vigor. So too are a forest of decaying telephone poles — most of which seem to have some tilt.
We’re a big fan of underground wires, but that alone isn’t a fix, as Wethersfield’s experience demonstrates. The system is only as strong as its weakest link. Here in Connecticut, as Irene exposed, we have a lot of weak links.
The time will come to point fingers — once the power is back on and everyone gets a shower and a good night’s sleep. It’s a human nature turned into an art form. And plenty of people, companies and systems didn’t perform up to expectations.
One of those systems that can be fixed is hardening of our power infrastructure. Florida has undertaken a program to address traffic signals that were blowing to Oz in every storm. Michigan did work to prevent routine snow from bringing down the power grid. Connecticut needs a program of its own.
The utilities likely are to blame any infrastructure weakness or deferred maintenance on the state’s regulated rate structure. Maybe the answer is an infrastructure surcharge committing the utilities to a performance standard. Maybe part of the solution is stepped up local code enforcement holding homeowners responsible for trimming trees.
We need to avoid a repeat performance. Investing a few million dollars now may end up saving us a whole lot more in the long run.
