Why is Texas infrastructure so brittle? It’s a wealthy, prosperous state unencumbered by regulation or legacy stuff that tends to cause issues in other states.
We all know...
Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
111–120 of 462 posts
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I can't imagine the city is remotely prepared for (god forbid, and idk how likely it is that far inland anyway) a cat 4 or 5. In the past they've never had a cat 5. The last cat 5 was Carla in 1961. The last cat 3 was Alicia in 1983. The last cat 2 was Alicia in 2008 (although that was actually east of Houston and just hit Houston with its weaker winds). Climate change should make such storms more likely to form, b…
I'd expect the population of Houston in those days was also a little more self selective, in that of you couldn't deal with that heat, you probably didn't want to live there anyways. There's a reason a lot of southwestern cities like Phoenix started booming in population when AC became more readily available.
Probably right, but also you don't miss what you've never had. Not having air conditioning was just normal.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#113Why is Texas infrastructure so brittle? It’s a wealthy, prosperous state unencumbered by regulation or legacy stuff that tends to cause issues in other states.
Seems like this was a problem with last mile delivery, which isn't a uniquely Texas problem. Oregon and California have had plenty of major outages due to wind and cold snaps in the last few years as well.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#114[flagged]
Houston city government is largely comprised on Democrats and has been for some time.
Also, California has dealt with issues related to electric reliability and is by no means a conservative state.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#115Why is Texas infrastructure so brittle? It’s a wealthy, prosperous state unencumbered by regulation or legacy stuff that tends to cause issues in other states.
You've answered your own question. The incentives of capitalism "unencumbered by regulation" and the necessities of investing in and maintaining infrastructure are often at odds.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, building the infrastructure in the cheapest way possible has consequences. Underground lines would not be vulnerable to falling trees. But they are a lot more expensive to install, and when they require maintenence for any other reasons.
As European I find it strange how few power and telecom wires seem to be buried in the US. What's up with that? I get that in rural regions digging a ditch isn't worth it, but the Houston area has pretty high population density and still has wires on poles.
For comparison, the Houston metro area (which is basically just the original city limits + what used to be its suburbs but have really just all grown together) is the size of the entire country of Belgium.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#117I was there last weekend & for the day of the hurricane. This was just a cat 1 hurricane at the time it passed through Houston, and there was SO much damage. I can't imagine the city is remotely prepared for (god forbid, and idk how likely it is that far inland anyway) a cat 4 or 5. We were staying in a hotel that had a backup generator, but every single other building that was visible from our hotel had lost power d…
It's likely a combination of multiple factors. Texas, being a red state, most certainly has a stronger climate denial sentiment, which is going to affect policies and regulations. Texas may be unprepared because major hurricanes were uncommon in the past. Global warming means hotter temperatures which makes long power outages more unbearable. And probably other reasons I can't think of.
I expect things will improve, but it may take some years. As these events become more common and people have to suffer every year, voters are going to get fed up, and Republicans would be foolish to keep up their climate denial stance.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's obvious that everyone wants to blame it on their favorite villain, whatever that is. A more rational approach would be to look at comparable cities and see how they cope with big storms, whatever the storms' cat numbers. My guess is, no matter what comparables you pick, Houston comes out on the bottom. Maybe it IS deregulation! You can be in favor of it in general, and still admit, "OK, maybe in this instance it…
[flagged]
Let's rephrase that. "Centerpoint Energy comes out on the bottom".
I believe that's a statement Houstonians can get behind enthusiastically.
(Although PG&E is also doing well in this race to the bottom".
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd expect the population of Houston in those days was also a little more self selective, in that of you couldn't deal with that heat, you probably didn't want to live there anyways. There's a reason a lot of southwestern cities like Phoenix started booming in population when AC became more readily available.
Probably right, but also you don't miss what you've never had. Not having air conditioning was just normal.
It might have been normal but people are people and would still seek out more comfortable climates. And if you stretch the definition of air conditioning a bit, we've had that for about as long as we've been living in semi enclosed spaces. Running a fire at night to keep the cave warm is air conditioning. Building your home to have water flowing under the floors so that you can cool or heat the floors passively (I believe the Romans were doing this) is air conditioning. Hanging a wet towel to allow the water to evaporate and cool the room a little is air conditioning.
Re: Houston-area residents enter sixth day without power, air conditioning
#120To me it's crazy people run so much AC at home. It's like making global warming a worse problem with AC, so it gets hotter and we use more AC. I live in Rome, Italy, we had 40C (104F) degree max temperatures during day, and even at night it doesn't fall below 29C (84) and we survive without AC just fine, not just me but the rest of my family in their houses too, of course it is sometimes uncomfortable, but that's sum…
Many homes in the US are not build with stone but thin wood. Houses in Europe with stone take some time to heat up. We lived in a 100 year old house in Berlin and it took 2 months until the walls were warm. Also took some months in winter until walls are cold again. [Edit] This is not about insulation but heat capacity.
Modern "stick built" homes in the US are well insulated and actually quite efficient. Stone walls would be a poor choice in most areas in the US due to extreme conditions.
As you mention, once a stone house heats up in the summer, that is an incredible amount of thermal mass to cool. Your AC would run non-stop. Similar issue in the winter, super high heating costs in cold regions.