In addition to the regular election updates and gas price woes that dominate national news these days, this past week brought a flurry of strong storms throughout the United States that left much of the country, our area included, feeling the effects.
Among the worst was a storm system that sparked a tornado that killed four Boy Scouts at a summer camp in Iowa, soaking rains that have parts of the Mississippi River overflowing its banks, and numerous communities dealing with clean-up that could cost millions of dollars. Here in the Hudson Valley, several strong storms knocked out power more than once, and residents were left to struggle with the aftereffects, including wind damage, downed trees and the consequences of being without electricity for a prolonged period of time. City of Poughkeepsie residents, in particular, complained about spoiled food and other miserable conditions after some lost power for more than 24 hours.
It can be hard to understand, given the modern conveniences we’ve grown accustomed to, how homes and neighborhoods can end up without electricity for long periods of time. In an age of wireless Internet, TiVo and laptops, the power grid is something we take for granted, and that’s saying nothing of the fully stocked freezers and refrigerators found in some homes. So when the storm starts and the lights flicker, there’s a natural tendency to assume that things will be easily fixed. Sometimes, that’s not the case.
Residents in the City of Poughkeepsie’s 7th Ward complained at a Common Council meeting this week about extended power loss after a weekend storm, with the council being urged to look into the problem. That’s understandable, given the desire to restore electricity as quickly as possible after an outage. Unfortunately, though, that’s not always possible, especially with the city’s lines being split above and below-ground and damage sometimes difficult to spot in the wake of a violent storm.
People would be wise to prepare for violent weather this summer – while tornado warnings for Poughkeepsie, as we had this week, are rare, they can happen, and when wind and trees knock out power, residents must be prepared. Despite the desire to blame Central Hudson for not solving the problem soon enough, we’re still subject to the whims of nature. If that sounds unintentionally simple, bear in mind that restoring power can often be a 24-hour job after a storm, much the same way that clearing snow can be a days-long process in the cold of winter.
Residents have a right to be concerned when left without power for an extended period of time, but we should also be thankful that we avoided the weather-related tragedies that struck the Midwest this past week. Losing electricity is an inconvenience, certainly, but not usually a deadly one. Next time the wind blows, that’s worth remembering, too.