Ok, ok … I admit I know next to nothing about hurricanes. Just curious about what I was hearing on the news reports is all. It seems if I want to know how severe a particular hurricane is going to be, I should only pay attention to the forecast no earlier than just before it hits landfall.
George, the most accurate news about hurricanes comes from the local meteorologist reports in the path of the storm! Same goes for news after the storm. Gloom, doom, and woe populates the national news. The stories about locals rolling up their sleeves and helping each other recover runs on local news.
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We had a satellite on the launch pad when a hurricane came through. We started asking about hurricane preparations a few days before the hurricane was scheduled to reach Cape Canaveral. The launch contractor told us they didn’t pay a lot of attention until a day before estimated arrival because the hurricane path often changed. Early predictions were worth watching just in case but final preparations for the hurricane would not start until the day before arrival. The hurricane and went through didn’t cause any damage fortunately.
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You folks got my legal juices flowing concerning whether or not flooded cars will be covered by insurance. So just a thought and will be interesting to see how it shakes out, especially for that million dollar machine,
So there is a principal that insureds need to take actions to mitigate their losses. If vandals break the windows out and you don’t tarp it and it rains, insurance would not be expected to pay the additional loss. So just wondering if there was a duty or not to move cars to higher ground in anticipation or was that even possible? Drive 50 miles away, park in a ramp, I dunno? Just the logistics of the whole thing would be bewildering. Might come down to what would be considered reasonable. If the order came to evacuate and didn’t do it? Not a criticism but just a thought. There are going to be huge auto insurance losses.
That is also running on local NY/NJ Metro news, in addition to nightly network news.
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Might be because so many NY and NJ folks have moved here ( 
) or have vacation homes here. Glad to know you’ve see that. Too much news is “if it bleeds…it leads!”
I personally haven’t seen too many “good news” stories about Florida on the national news in print or on TV. I think the recovery success measure is the sooner we STOP getting covered!
Just a note… Sanibel Island bridge was damaged by the storm… early news reports said 2 years to rebuild, the county then reported 2 months to rebuild, then Gov DeSantis said it will be open by the end of October… Well, it was open yesterday to a parade of trucks from the local utility going to clear debris and restore power!
Yes I saw that on a YouTube. Amazing work. I don’t see much network news and what I do see is so limited or distorted, I just don’t bother with it anymore. Follow wink in ft myers if you want the local stories. But then you have to look a little for folks East or north of there who were also impacted.
Interesting that npr did a big story on how Babcock ranch survived with nary a problem. New community, solar, underground lines, hefty construction, etc. of course they don’t mention the average home cost, annual dues, or the fact they are 30 miles from the coast, or the fact that they use natural gas for power in the off hours. Everyone should be so lucky. That’s what I mean by distorted. It’s a nice place but kinda reminds you of the stepfield wives like the Disney communities.
WINK news actually got flooded! They were off for a few days.
Babcock Ranch is built to the latest codes, and is inland so no big issues. Most of the newer homes had little to no issues. Many of the old Florida wood frame homes had few issues either! The old timers knew what worked.
The biggest hits were, as always, mobile home parks. Especially the older ones that can’t get insurance at all.
The homes near me with solar panels did not lose their panels. Impressive. Didn’t help keep their power on because of how code requires them to be connected, either.
could you expand on that? I am just curious. thanks
I think they have to be connected to the power grid to give and take, at least around here. But don’t know about the sunshine state.
maybe I misunderstood. I thought he was talking about the homeowner’s power. like it only works somehow when connected to the grid, the grid has to have power for the solar to work in the homeowner’s house that has solar panels.
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Exactly! If tnere is no grid power, the solar is disconnected from everything. Surprised me when a solar company came to pitch me on a system that it was not configured like a backup generator. There was a model that had limited output from a single outlet beneath the inverter. I’d have to run an extension cord from that outlet.
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I doubt that the power company could levy that sort of requirement without state laws to back them up. Is that the case?
Electrical installs are governed by the National Electrical Code, state requirements and local code requirements. But considering you are hooking a power source into the grid, the utility gets some say in this.
The technology certainly exists to switch the solar supply like a backup generator so it doesn’t back feed into the grid and kill linemen. I have talked to 3 solar suppliers and all seem somewhat confused by this request.
I spoke to my son who is an electrician and works for a solar company.
He said a solar company won’t hook up something like a transfer switch like a generator uses unless the solar system has back-up batteries. if I understood him correctly, he said it was because the inverter that has the electronics in it to control the system needs 240v in which it gets it from the power grid. so, unless you have back-up batteries to supply the 240v the inverter will not have the processing power to control the whole system. and like you said when the power goes out you will only be able to get a little power from the inverter to run an extension cord or two.
he was busy at work and talking fast because he had to go but I think this is what he meant.
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It makes sense to me that a ‘standard’ solar installation can’t power a home if it’s cut off from the grid. The power output is too variable, with clouds, etc. Hooked up, it makes what contribution it can, with excess going to the grid, the grid supplying what the panels can’t. Won’t work without the grid. Get a setup with significant battery storage, that’s a different matter.
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My sister moved to an earthquake-prone section of N. California. Asked insurance agent what quake insurance might cost.
“Very, very, expensive premiums.”
OK, she said but can you give me an idea?
“Extremely high…but you do have very good fire coverage.”
They went back and forth on this as he explained that sometimes gas lines break due to shaking, etc.
“Wait a minute, are you suggesting that I set my damaged house on fire?”
“Oh, I would never say that,” says the agent “but you do have very good fire coverage!”
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There was one in the news yesterday. House on Sanibel made it through the storm but the car in the garage caught fire and destroyed the house. Fire chief was pleading for help from the manufacturers on how to deal with the fires. Water doesn’t seem to help.
Only if done by permit. I agree there should be a shut off to prevent danger to the lineman. That is how the lp and deisel generators I am familiar with work. Of course when I use my portable generator I cut off the main breaker just to be sure, as I may feed lights tv fridge and freezer off of it.
Maybe lithium-ion batteries are too new and local fire companies aren’t familiar with the correct methods. According to the resource attached below, water is one of the best methods because it cools the battery and that will prevent reignition. Typically it isn’t the lithium in the battery since it is not metallic lithium, but a lithium salt. However water is not recommended for electrical fires. Maybe carbon dioxide or halide extinguishers could be used to out the fire out in an electrically energized system and then the battery could be cooled with water. It seems to me that professionals at fire departments should be aware of this. I’m not a fire safety professional and there is likely more to it.