Hurricane Irene Update

The view down my driveway to the street.  So far, just an afternoon of cleaning up twigs, leaves, pine cones and junk.  We’ve been lucky.

The rest of the state has a bit more in terms of damage:

But Progress Energy is doing yeoman’s work:

The company has amassed an army of more than 1,000 line workers, tree crews and support staff from five states – more than three times the normal complement of workers in the region – and crews are ready to conduct damage assessment and begin large-scale repairs as soon as weather conditions permit. In some areas, tropical storm-force winds are expected to linger through Saturday evening, hampering repair efforts. To ensure their safety, crews cannot work in winds of 39 mph or higher.

North Carolina counties with the largest numbers of outages as of 10 a.m. included New Hanover (58,000); Carteret (22,000); Onslow (19,000); Craven (16,000); Johnston (13,200); Wake (12,000); Lenoir (10,200); Pender (10,000); Columbus (9,000); Brunswick (8,300); Duplin (8,000); Sampson (7,000); Nash (6,600). Numerous other counties had scattered outages from the coast to the Triangle.

Keep those workers in your thoughts and prayers.

But, do we think we’ll suffer the fate of Japan?

NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Nuclear power plants along the U.S. East Coast are braced for the impact of Hurricane Irene which is churning north toward New York and New England after making landfall in North Carolina on Saturday.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it sent additional staff to monitor conditions and storm preparation at the fourteen nuclear units from Maryland to New Hampshire in Irene’s path as well as a nuclear fuel production plant in North Carolina.

Plant employees are securing equipment and readying extra staff for the storm.  Dominion Resources Inc will reduce power at its two-unit 2,111-megawatt Millstone plant in Connecticut ahead of the storm, a company spokesman said on Saturday.  Progress Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant, perched on the North Carolina coast, cut to 65 percent power late on Friday and does not expect to return to full power until after the storm has fully passed, a spokesman said on Saturday.

Dominion shut down its North Anna nuclear power station because of an earthquake on Tuesday.  The two-unit, 1,950-megawatt North Anna nuclear plant will remain shut through the storm.  The company’s two-unit, 1,598-MW Surry plant in Virginia was designed to withstand winds of 360 miles per hour and is expected to remain at full power throughout the storm, a spokesman said on Saturday.

It appears that our power plants are well tended to:

It’s not over, she’s slowed down, but it appears that it could have been a lot worse here in Carolina than it could have been.

God’s speed to those in her path as she moves North!

3 responses to “Hurricane Irene Update

  1. Glad you got off light. Just heard from a friend in Bearsville NY, which is about an hour up the Hudson River from NYC. They are expecting to be hit. She said the outer bands have begun showing up. She’s got the kerosene lamps lined up in the kitchen!

    • Glad you got off light.

      Thanks Moe; we got lucky.

      She said the outer bands have begun showing up.

      It could be a long night for her.

      She’s got the kerosene lamps lined up in the kitchen!

      Ummm……she knows not to use in the house, right?

  2. Yeah, there’s an around the house porch that’s pretty protected, she’ll try to use them out there. Otherwise it’s batteries and candles. Old hand at this.

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