Windpocalyse 2006: Let’s jump to conclusions like good liberals do
I was going to ask the question that was bugging me — Why was almost all the power restored in North Seattle by Friday evening while South and West Seattle remained in the dark — but Seattlest and the Slog got to it first.
So, as a resident of North Seattle, I think I get to do something the Slog and Seattlest can’t do — answer the question as a local.
We never lost power. It blinked, especially between 10pm and 1am, but we never went dark. And, in fact, that was the case for a number of areas in North Seattle. Crown Hill and North Ballard kept their power. Most of Broadview only saw very short outages. Ballard had flooding problems, but the power held. If you lived west of Aurora and north of the Ship Canal, you likely never went black. That’s nearly 40% of North Seattle right there.
Why did the north stay warm while most of the rest of the city went dark? No one’s really sure. It appears that most of the feeder lines held, something that didn’t happen in the Rainier Valley or West Seattle. Judging by the pictures, the damage in West Seattle looks far worse than it is in my neighborhood. We only had a couple of trees come down. But then, we only have a couple of trees that COULD come down. There’s very little “wild” here (other than Carkeek Park).
So, there were far fewer repairs that needed to happen in the North. It was fairly easy to fix those feeders, reconnect Shoreline, then make a beeline for the South to help everyone working down there.
If it is truly racism, why is Madrona, a mostly all-white enclave, still in the dark, while Greenwood, a fairly multi-racial area, not?
If there’s any racism involved, it’s in the state of the power grid in the South compared to the North. Seattle north of 85th gets its power from the substation at 105th and Fremont, on the old Interurban ROW. It’s newer than the ones the handle the South’s power, but not that much newer. Is there some sort of neglect — benign or otherwise — involved with this?
It’s certainly not political power getting the North its power first. Exactly one city council member — Steinbrueck — lives north of the Canal. The other eight, and the mayor, don’t. This despite the North having something like 40% of the population.
Why did the North get their power restored earlier? Fewer outages to start with? Or sekrit alliance between the KKK, City Light, and The Man? Put on your tinfoil hats, people, and let me know.
Fewer outages, less damage…
Y’know, there are many times that I’m ashamed of having some conservative views when I see what other conservatives do.
Then there are times I’m ashamed of more closely aligning myself with liberals when I see what other liberals do.
And I’m very frightened to see that the amount of times is consistently growing equal. But then, I’ve always considered myself more ‘middle of the road’ anyways, but that Slog piece was just… sad.
The theory didn’t hold water, or wind, over here in WS either. We’ve been tracking specific West Seattle areas and as of last night, the two biggest outage areas were extremely far from the poorest — a major section of waterfront Beach Drive, and a big chunk of blufftop upper Fauntleroy, both laden with view-riffic million-dollar-plus homes. (The latter is back on now, won’t know about the former till after dusk since we don’t know anyone there personally.)
And what about the rest of the Puget Sound area that doesn’t even get a shred of the news reportage or attention, and yet they’re just as or even more strapped for power and supplies? Hello?
My home on Bainbridge Island is now going into its 5th day without power (interior temp near freezing). Whidbey Island and Camano Island were wiped completely off the grid and still among the last to get attention. The shelves at local stores in these communities were wiped clean of batteries, flashlights, firewood and the like well before the first 24 hours even passed.
Last time I checked, these island communities weren’t parts of the Puget Sound most associated with the kind of demographics that suggest a sinister plot against the less fortunate and/or nonwhite.
Oh, I know the outliers are still without juice. Friend of mine in Olympia just got her power back this evening. Cow orker of my wife’s lives in Duvall and was told it’d probably be Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.
Is Whidbey still completely in the dark? Last I heard it was black from Clinton to Anacortes, but the feral conditions of Bellevue/Kirkland folks distracted the news people.
“Last I heard it was black from Clinton to Anacortes, but the feral conditions of Bellevue/Kirkland folks distracted the news people.”
LOL! Folks across the Great Pond feel this pain every day when they tune into the nightly news (not Laughing so Loud)
At any rate, Whidbey’s up tonight. Bainbridge Island supposed to be up Fri and the rest of Kitsap by Sun, though this news is not much comfort to folks after 5+ days living in a fridge…but hey, at least it’ll be just in time for the Christmas holiday.