Hurricane Milton and Power Outages
Its Surprising To See How many Electricity Power Lines are Above Ground
First of all, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the people of Florida who've lost family, homes and businesses because of these two devastating Hurricanes.
When I read that two million homes and businesses are still without power, even though the storm had passed through, and saw pictures of overhead cables affected by the storm, I had to ask myself why the power lines had not been buried.
I realise that the US is a massive country and such an undertaking would be huge, but come on - if Florida is affected by hurricanes every year, why doesn't the Government do something?
Today, a day after the hurricane, I've been reading about people being electrocuted by power lines in the water - electricity and water don't mix!
The reason I feel strongly about this is because it has taken me 14 years to get the power lines buried in our village.
This is the 'H' pole in my garden with a transformer attached.
The transformer no longer works. Years ago I was working in my garden, under the transformer clearing nettles and overgrown brushwood. At 3.30pm I decided to walk to the local Garden Centre to buy some new plants. When I returned my neighbour was at my front door asking if I was ok.
Apparently after I left there was a massive bang, a loud 'whoosing' noise and the electricity went out all over the village. I could have been killed because electricity can 'jump' - I would have been fried to a crisp.
The power company visited in the next few days, but it was my neighbour who arranged for generators to get us switched on again.
Then the Drama Started
The farmer, who owned the land around my property, had been trying to get the cables buried, he said for 10 years, but nothing had happened. He used to tell everyone that he wanted to build a 'trout lake'. The Test Valley where I live is famous for its trout fishing. The gin clear water of the chalk streams provide the perfect environment to support the diversity of trout, perch and minnows. I think he just like an audience and was always talking about the things he was 'going to do' - very little got done.
Well, I don't wish to bore you with the details, but he turned out to be the most obstructive person I'd ever encountered. Every time a way forward was agreed he would dig his heels in and refused to sign the documentation. For years it felt like a game of 'snakes and ladders'.
In the meantime, a firm of lawyers were making a very good living by suing the power companies and securing payment for their clients who had electrical equipment on their land.
Another few years of messing around, with the farmer just making everyone's life a misery, and then the Power Company announced that they no longer buried cables on private land - they were going to bury the cables under the road running into the village (Hallelujah!).
Teams descended on the village, they disconnected the overhead wires, removed some of the pylons, but would have to return in the better weather to dig up the concrete foundations of the pylons.
Sadly, the old farmer passed away, he always said he would be buried before the electricity cables were. Not such a good idea to tempt providence. I had actually given up by this stage not believing it would ever happen.
Most of the work has now been done, they just need to remove the telegraph poles ... and then I will CELEBRATE!
About the Creator
Pamella Richards
Beekeeper and lover of the countryside. Writer, Gardener and Astrologer
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