Hurricane Ike Series - Powerless

Posted by Eric Fry (Houston, TX, United States) on 27 September 2008 in Miscellaneous.

Power lines were down all over the Houston area, with over two dozen in my neighborhood. Linemen from all over the U.S have converged on the Houston area to begin the huge task of setting new poles, hanging new line, and restoring power to the communities. While the workers have done an outstanding job, the management of CenterPoint Energy is drawing a great deal of well-deserved criticism for their decisions on how to proceed with repairs. This photo was taken on 24 September, 12 days after Hurricane Ike had passed. It was the first work done in my neighborhood, a community of about 6000 people. Hopefully the power will be back on at my house by the time you read this! (edit to add: My electricity came on yesterday evening about 5:00 pm. 13 days without power. Boy am I glad to be back on the grid!)

Various businesses, religious organizations, and non-governmental relief organizations have also done an outstanding job of getting aid and relief supplies out to people in need. Sadly, the response from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has been slow, uncoordinated, and unprepared. FEMA gave local governments assurances that aid supplies were pre-positioned throughout the region, and that their response would be immediate. Either this was untrue, or they are so badly mismanaged that they are almost incapable of handling their appointed tasks; I feel it is a combination of both. Many people here in Houston would probably agree that their name should be changed to the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency...

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you all have a great day,
Eric

Check out the photography of a friend of mine outside of Aminus3:
Brian Dykes' Blue Echoes Photography - Beautiful nature and city images from the guy that turned me on to Adobe Lightroom

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