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Cause of enormous Indianapolis home blast that killed 2 unknown

admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:27:52 +0000

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An enormous blast in the U.S. Midwest that killed two people, obliterated two homes and made dozens more uninhabitable came with no hint of warning, and authorities on Monday were still trying to find the cause of the explosion.

Fire officials expressed amazement that only two people died late Saturday in the Indianapolis explosion, which rocked several houses from their foundations. Hundreds of residents evacuated. A fire burned for hours, engulfing dozens of homes.

Early Monday, Indianapolis public safety director Troy Riggs told WISH-TV that forensic investigators were talking with utility companies and others as they tried to determine the cause.

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, who represents the area, has said he had been told a bomb or meth lab explosion had been ruled out. Deputy Fire Chief Kenny Bacon said investigators hadn’t ruled out any possible causes.

Citizens Energy had received no calls from people in the area smelling the rotten-egg odor of a chemical added to the odorless natural gas, utility spokesman Dan Considine said.

“Most of the time when there’s a gas leak, people smell it,” he said. “But not always.”

Officials have not released the identities of the two people killed. A candlelight vigil was held Sunday for teacher Jennifer Longworth. She and her husband, John Dion Longworth, lived in one of the homes destroyed in the blast.

Deputy Code Enforcement Director Adam Collins said 80 homes were damaged, including 31 that might need to be demolished. He estimated the damage at $3.6 million.

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Vivint Home Automation Solutions Keep Military Families Safe

admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:27:49 +0000

PROVO, Utah — Vivint, the largest home automation services company in North America, is celebrating Military Family Month by protecting families and individuals serving in the United States Armed Forces.

“Military families make a tremendous contribution to the lives of every American,” said Steve Dixon, vice president of operations at Vivint. “When a father or mother is called to serve in a combat zone, the Vivint Home Automation solution ensures the safety of their families on the home front. Vivint is proud to recognize the service of all of our military personnel.”

November is designated as Military Family Month and Veterans Day is an official United States holiday in November honoring armed service veterans. With the Vivint Home Automation system, military personnel can remotely view live video feeds of their home from a smart phone or computer. They can also control door locks, thermostats, lighting features, alarms, motion detectors, and a variety of sensors.

Tariq and Jodi Hunter of Belleville, Ill., said their Vivint Home Automation system eased the burden of being apart during long deployments. Jodi added that her husband wanted the security of knowing that she was safe while he was away.

“I never know how long my husband’s deployments will last,” Hunter said. “The fact that he can stay connected with me through the system’s video cameras is comforting. Just seeing and hearing me keeps him going. Although we don’t know how we’re going to spend our next anniversary or holiday, Vivint is bringing us closer together.”

The Vivint Home Automation system can be programmed to send alerts to smart phones when specific events occur, like if a window is broken or when exterior doors are opened. Keyless locks can be programmed with personalized entry codes for family members or even neighbors. The system can be programmed to send a text message when a code is entered so customers know exactly who is coming and going, and when.

Tyson Barker, of Oak Grove, Ky., was skeptical when a Vivint sales representative first approached him. His uncertainty disappeared after learning about Vivint’s wireless monitoring features and the ability to control the entire system from a smart phone.

“I am in the military, so I’m gone a lot,” Barker said. “Knowing my family is safe while I am gone is a huge bonus. I can watch a live video feed, lock and unlock my doors, and set and monitor the alarm status all from my phone or laptop. And it is easy to use. My young kids are able to activate and disarm the system without any problems.”

Vivint’s Home Automation solution provides simple, affordable home management. The Vivint system can manage thermostats, lighting features and small appliances. Customers can also add or subtract products to create a unique package that meets the needs of their homes, families, and lives. To learn more about Vivint’s fire safety, home security and home automation products, visit www.vivint.com.

About Vivint

Vivint Inc. is a leading provider of home technology services. Vivint services are delivered through a technology-based platform that integrates a wide range of wireless features and components to provide simple, affordable home security, energy management, home automation, and solar solutions. Our vision is to connect customers to the things that matter most—their homes, families, health, cars, and businesses. In 2011, Vivint’s Home Automation package and Advanced Security package received a Consumers Digest “Best Buy” rating. Vivint also received the 2012 CSAA Central Station of the Year award for overall excellence in monitoring, training, and quality relationships with customers. Dedicated to protecting families, increasing energy efficiency, and simplifying lives, Vivint has over 13 years of experience and supports more than 675,000 customers throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.vivint.com.

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KWQC-TV6 News and Weather For The Quad Cities – Israel, Gaza militants trade …

admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:27:41 +0000

By ARON HELLER and IBRAHIM BARZAK

JERUALEM (AP) – Israeli forces struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing one Palestinian and wounding more than 30 others as militants launched dozens of rockets in some of the heaviest fighting the area has seen in months.

The flare-up increased pressure on the Israeli government to put an end to the violence, which escalated over the weekend and could turn into a major conflagration just two months before the country’s general election.

Israeli leaders quickly amped up their rhetoric, warning Gaza’s Islamic Hamas rulers they will pay a heavy price should they allow rocket fire toward Israel to continue.

“The world must understand that Israel will not sit idly in the face of attempts to attack us,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We are prepared to intensify the response.”

Low-level cross-border fighting is common in the border area, but clashes escalated Thursday night when an explosives-packed tunnel under the Gaza-Israel frontier blew up, in what the Israeli military called an attempt by Palestinian militants to kill or kidnap soldiers. Palestinians said the blast was a roadside bomb to avenge the death of an 11-year-old boy who was shot dead earlier in the evening during an exchange of fire with Israelis.

Then on Saturday, militants fired an anti-tank missile into an Israeli military jeep patrolling the border fence, wounding four soldiers – one critically. Casualties of that order are rare for the Israeli military in clashes with Gaza militants.

In response, Israel launched airstrikes that have killed six Gazans and wounded almost 40. Palestinian rocket and mortar barrages have wounded four Israeli civilians and kept a large swath of the country running for cover. The military said more than 80 rockets had landed in Israel and 12,000 Israeli students stayed home from school on Sunday. Later in the day, the military said a Palestinian rocket made a direct hit on an Israeli home in the town of Sderot. No injuries were reported.

Yael Talker, a resident of Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel, said her family spent the night in a makeshift shelter in their home.

“Each time the alarms ring, we hope it’s the last,” she said. “Our patience is running out … when we sleep, we dream about bombs. It must stop.”

Nearly four years ago, before the last national election, Israel carried out a broad military offensive in Gaza to stop years of rocket fire. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the operation, including hundreds of civilians. Since then, sporadic rocket fire has continued, but Gaza’s Hamas rulers have largely refrained from major rocket attacks.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel was assessing the situation. He rejected the suggestion that Israel’s upcoming Jan. 22 elections could affect the government’s response to the current round of violence.

“I don’t think the elections have to have any effect on our response,” he said. “It shouldn’t cause us to refrain from acting, it’s not handcuffing us. But it shouldn’t provoke us to take an opportunity to launch an operation.”

Later, following more rocket attacks, he struck an even stronger tone.

“The upcoming elections in Israel are not and will not be a source of immunity for Hamas,” he said in Tel Aviv. “We will strike with an ever-growing intensity. … If we are forced to go back into Gaza in order to deal Hamas a blow and restore security for all of Israel’s citizens, then we will not hesitate to do so.”

Hamas’ military wing acknowledged taking part in the weekend rocket fire but it accused Netanyahu’s hardline government of escalating the violence in order to win votes in January elections.

“The Israeli government is responsible for all the consequences and implications of its escalation,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. “Hamas will not let Palestinian blood be a price for Israeli political and electoral gains.”

Israel considers Hamas responsible for all violence that comes from Gaza, but Hamas’ active participation in the fighting could prompt Israel to respond more harshly to the attacks.

In a precautionary measure, Hamas evacuated major security installations in fear of an Israeli attack. But political leaders and government officials worked in their offices as usual.

While it remains virulently anti-Israel, Hamas has largely refrained from major attacks over the past four years. It has also sought to keep things quiet as it consolidates control in the territory, which it seized five years ago in a violent takeover.

It is under pressure, however, from smaller militant groups in Gaza to prove it continues to uphold its armed resistance to Israel, and it sometimes joins the hostilities.

The coastal strip is home to numerous militant groups, including murky al-Qaida-inspired organizations that do not answer to Hamas. Gaza has also been flooded with weapons in recent years, many of them believed to have been smuggled from northern Africa and into Gaza through tunnels under the Egyptian border.

—–

Barzak reported from Gaza City. Additional reporting from Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah and Lauren E. Bohn in Jerusalem.

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How do we adapt to what may be weather’s new normal?

admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:27:38 +0000

The list grows longer.

Irene. The October snowstorm. Violent summer thunderstorms that flooded the Passaic and Hackensack river systems. Sea level rise. Three straight years of above-average temperatures.

Now, Sandy — and an early nor’easter.

Especially for those who experienced the destruction brought by the past weeks’ storms, it is easy to view this as the new weather reality. And while the debate over climate change may still rage in some corners, the changing weather patterns have prompted more policymakers to start talking about how to address the effects of that change.

Some political leaders who had to deal with Sandy’s impact insisted as much, while Governor Christie’s administration has said the science remains in flux, so the solutions are still unclear. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the recent series of extreme weather events, and the destruction from Sandy’s storm surge, which flooded Manhattan’s tunnels and subway system — requires that the city not only rebuild, but “build it back smarter,” with climate change in mind.

And New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had refrained from endorsing a presidential candidate all year, threw his support behind President Obama, arguing that Obama would show more leadership on climate change. Sandy’s devastation, Bloomberg wrote on Bloomberg.com, “brought the stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election in to sharp relief.”

“Our climate is changing,” Bloomberg wrote. And the increase in extreme weather “should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”

There are, of course, still some who dismiss global warming entirely, saying the weather extremes are purely random. Conservative groups, such as the American Policy Roundtable and the Heartland Institute, for instance, say global warming concerns are overblown and misdirected, arguing, among other things, that the computer models used to predict the changes are too crude. They also say that moderate climate change would actually benefit mankind, pointing out that warmer temperatures during part of the Middle Ages coincided with the growth of key civilizations.

Governor Christie has said that climate change is real and that human activity has contributed to it. In the aftermath of Sandy, he said the state’s focus is on restoring power and the immediate needs of displaced residents — and that there will be time aplenty down the road to discuss rebuilding and the best way to handle climate change.

For the large majority of climate experts, the evidence now is overwhelming.

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November traugh: Colorado snow blizards and severe storms in Kansas

admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:27:34 +0000

Yesterday, as Spoternet and Skywarn severe weather trackers, we followed a negative tilt low pressure system, that moved through Colorado drawing cold winds down from the north, and producing snow and icy roads in Colorado, while bringing strong warm surface winds up from the south forming violent severe weather thunderstorms from Dodge City, up past I-70 and beyond Russel, Kansas yesterday evening.

This was a particularly interesting storm system to track. I left Colorado in a light snow storm with fog, and 40f temperatures heading east bound on I-70. I was traveling a few hours behind Basehunters: Colt Forney and Lauren Hill.

Driving through the low pressure system I managed to leave the snow behind, and reached clear skies near Burlington, Colorado. I then crossed a dryline boundary a few miles east of Colby, Kansas. The change in atmospheric conditions were amazingly abrupt. Just east of Colby, (within 5 miles), I went from experiencing moderate north winds and 40f temperatures, to strong 56 mph south-backed surface winds containing a powerful dust storm, and warm 75f temperatures.

39.301658630371
; -102.27200317383

At Wakeneey, Kansas, I drove south on HWY 283 to Jetmore, and then east towards Kinsley, and stopped briefly about 5 miles east of Burdett, KS. I encountered a violent line of severe thunderstorms a bit east. These severe storms produced non-stop lightning an hail, and my particular cell produced strong inflow bands, a well defined wall cloud with a number of funnels, including one rain wrapped funnel. The rotation seemed to be occurring in kinks in the line of severe storms that produced a number of discrete-yet-connected supercell-like structures (See slideshow of pictures of these severe warned storms).

While watching a rotating wall cloud, I got a surprise emergency weather notice on my Android cell phone that warned me of severe weather conditions in my area, based on my current GPS position!

I had heard NWS was working on the software to let people know of warnings via cell phones, if they were entering, or were located within a watch area, and yesterday, I actually got to experience a cell phone warning on my location, first hand!

I think such warnings can save many lives, especially for casual tourists who are not monitoring weather conditions during road trips, or for people at home or at work, and who are in the path of a dangerous storm, and happen to have either an iPhone or Android. This emergency warning technology is a great early warning advance.

After watching my strong storm move northeastward, I made a long trip back to Colorado. The road conditions were fairly dry until Burlington, Colorado, and then conditions became treacherous. I had a Radar Scope application on my cell phone, and noticed the back side of the eastward progressing low pressure system was creating blizzard conditions right where I was planning to drive.

Between Burlington and Limon, Colorado, the air temperature dropped below 32 degrees, and blizzard-like conditions hit my area of I-70 with a vengeance. The previously wet roads quickly iced-up under the dropping temperatures (below 32 degrees) and roads were coated with black ice, followed by several inches of solid slick rhyme ice. Ahead of me were cars in ditches on each side of the road. I called-in the first few vehicles I saw to police, but as the number ditched vehicles kept increasing, I headed west-bound, now fearing for my own survival, as a number of semi trucks that had passed me earlier, were in the ditch as I passed. The blizzard got more dangerous, as I continued for almost 190 more miles over some of the worst icy roads I have ever driven.

Fortunately, I made it to Denver where ‘magnesium chloride’ removed the dangerous ice, and I finally made it back home at around 3 am.

I found yesterday’s experience of driving across a low pressure system (from west to east), and from cold blowing snow to violent thunderstorms and warm night temperatures with relatively high dew points, a very interesting experience to happen within a single day.

One warning I take from yesterday is how fast conditions can change within a few hundred miles. I now realize it is conceivable to be stranded in a snow blizzard or caught in a tornado within a 300 mile drive. Fortunately, I had both down jackets, food, water and winter survival equipment in my car, along with rain jackets and severe weather emergency equipment, as well, and realized both could have become necessary yesterday. The next thing I learned about experiencing vastly different dangerous storm conditions, is that just because severe thunderstorms appear to line up and as such appear non-tornadic, there can be kinks in a line of severe thunderstorms that can develop discrete rotations, and therefore pose a potential tornado threat, as well.

From yesterday’s experience, it has become apparent to me that preparing for a number of extreme weather threats when driving cross country is an important consideration for all travelers.

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Mekeni gets world-class food safety certification

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 19:24:13 +0000

Meat processing company Mekeni Food Corp. received a world-class certification for food safety management as the company plans expansion at home and abroad.

The firm’s hotdog processing plant in Porac, Pampanga became the first in the country to be awarded food safety system certification or FSSC 22000.

The certification, recognized by benchmarking organization Global Food Safety Initiative, allows the company to use the FSSC 22000 standard to meet the requirements of global retailers and major branded food companies under one, internationally-recognized food safety management system.

Mekeni Food president Prudencio Garcia said the company continued to search for improvement and surpass previous achievements. He credited the company’s team for the success of the business and for achieving a world-class certification that was expected to boost the company’s expansion plans.

“Instead of sending Filipinos outside [of the country], we’ll send our products outside,” he said.

Mekeni Food, during the recent awarding of food safety certification, unveiled its newest tagline “Masarap na, world-class pa!” which sets its vision in exporting Mekeni products around the world.

SGS Philippines managing director Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury said the FSSC award received by Mekeni was even higher than its previous certification under ISO 22000, otherwise known as food safety management system.

The company made history in 2006 when it was conferred with the ISO 22000, a first in the Philippines and in Asia, and second in the world.

Bradbury confirmed that Mekeni Food was the first company to be awarded the FSSC 22000 certification in the meat processing industry particularly in the hotdog category.

The Agriculture Department congratulated Mekeni for its leadership in food safety and quality and for upgrading the quality level of Filipino products in the global market.

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Rockwell to Sell China Aircraft Safety Devices

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 19:24:07 +0000

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3 children, man killed in fire at Maine home

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 07:22:38 +0000

ORRINGTON, Maine – A fire at a rural wood home early Saturday killed a father and his three children, while the kids’ mother escaped and was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said.

The victims were identified as Benjamin Johnson III, 30, and the couple’s children: two boys, 9-year-old Ben and 4-year-old Ryan, and one girl, 8-year-old Leslie, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Public Safety Department.

Their mother, Christine Johnson, 31, escaped Saturday’s pre-dawn fire and was being treated at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for smoke inhalation, McCausland said.

The home is in a rural area of Orrington, a town of about 3,900 residents that serves as a bedroom community to Bangor six miles to the north. Firefighting crews from Bangor and four other towns were called in after the fire was reported at around 2:30 a.m., and it took an hour to extinguish the blaze, said Scott Stewart, assistant fire chief in Orrington. The fire was reported by neighbors who heard a woman screaming, McCausland said.

The children attended Center Drive School in town, where Principal Roy Allen described them as “great kids, very nice kids.”

“This is just such a tragedy. It’s going to be devastating for the kids because it’s such a small school and everybody knows everybody,” Allen told the Bangor Daily News.

Officials from the state fire marshal’s office, aided by state police detectives, were investigating the fire. The victims’ bodies were taken to the state medical examiner’s officer in Augusta.

The Johnsons moved into the rented house about six months ago from Bangor, McCausland said. Johnson worked at Hollywood Casino in Bangor, and Christine Johnson is an author who worked out of the house.

Investigators are expected to return to the scene Sunday.

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Safety-check issues hamper power restoration

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 07:22:34 +0000

Originally published: November 10, 2012 10:55 PM
Updated: November 10, 2012 10:56 PM

By MACKENZIE ISSLER AND ROBERT BRODSKY
mackenzie.issler@newsday.com,robert.brodsky@newsday.com

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Long Islanders fight to reclaim their lives after Sandy. (November 10, 2012 11:06 PM)

The effort to turn power back on for almost 90,000 Long Island LIPA customers was beset by confusion and controversy Saturday as inspectors went house to house in some affected South Shore communities to determine if conditions were safe.

On the 12th day since Sandy hit full-force, 64,402 LIPA customers in Nassau and 24,315 in Suffolk were still without power, the utility said Saturday. Company officials say 99 percent of those customers able to receive power — those with intact electrical systems — should have service restored by Tuesday.

Impatience and anger with the Long Island Power Authority’s pace of recovery boiled over at three separate rallies Saturday and official news conferences, all demanding answers as to why they have been left in the dark for nearly two weeks.

Long Island Power Authority and National Grid officials acknowledged shortcomings in communications with customers but cited the unprecedented damage from Sandy.

“At the end of the day, we need to improve that process. No question about it,” said Michael Hervey, LIPA’s chief operating officer.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone says he won’t talk to LIPA’s top management any more. He said he is bypassing LIPA’s top managers and working directly with local substation coordinators to exchange information because, “It became clear we couldn’t rely on what the people at LIPA headquarters were telling us.”

At a residents’ protest in Massapequa, Dawn Kostakis, 41, said, “There is no communication and nobody has come to tell us what is going on.”

Not far away, a LIPA-hired crew, which included a team of about 40 firefighters, went door to door with clipboards in one powerless Massapequa neighborhood to survey electrical panels. With permission, they entered residents’ basements and garages using flashlights to check whether the panels were damaged by water.

“If they’re not home, they’re going to get their meter pulled, because we can’t afford to have the grid blow,” said an East Meadow-based private electrical inspector overseeing the survey team for LIPA who did not want his name published.

For those who failed the test, there was despair.

“It’s time to figure out where we’re going to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it won’t be here,” said Loretta O’Connor, 74, whose home on Division Avenue in Massapequa was deemed too unsafe for power restoration.

In Merrick, a homeowner said his home sustained electrical damage, but his power was turned on anyway.

Richard Zemser said LIPA told him that he and his neighbors wouldn’t have electricity until every house on his block was inspected. But Zemser, 67, said his power was restored Friday without an inspection. Soon after, he heard his circuit breaker trip and went to his basement to find melted wires.

Saturday, a Westbury electrician inspected his home, giving him bad news — his electrical appliances were damaged by saltwater and his house would need work before he could safely have power again.

Bob Baram, a frustrated Baldwin Harbor resident, also hired a private electrician after he was told by LIPA earlier in the week that he needed an inspection to get his power back.

Baram, 66, said that he passed inspection Thursday, but as of Saturday night, his home remained dark. He said he plans to deduct the inspection’s $160 cost from his next electric bill.

“It is not about the money . . . it is about the arrogance and inefficiency of LIPA,” he said.

Residents on Massapequa’s Division Avenue said they had absolutely no notice that survey teams would be in the area.

On Bayview Place, Mike Liardi, 40, wasn’t home when the inspectors first came by earlier in the day. But he was able to flag down a firefighter to take a look at his circuit breaker. “I passed,” he told his neighbors, holding up the form.

At least part of lower Massapequa got power back Saturday night. P.J. Conaty, 51, said he noticed that the power had returned on Division Avenue about 7:30 p.m., but said most of his neighbors weren’t home to celebrate the fact.

“It feels warmer here already with the lights — even without the heat,” he said.

The procedures to turn on the lights varied between Nassau and Suffolk counties.

In Nassau, town officials are communicating directly with the LIPA substations, telling them areas where it is safe to turn power back on. Inspections are continuing for homes and structures that were flooded.

In Suffolk County, county and town officials in Islip, Babylon and Brookhaven weren’t requiring inspections but they were urging residents, especially those in flooded areas, to turn off their main circuit breakers and contact licensed electricians to assess and repair damaged portions of the electrical systems

Bellone said officials have gone door to door, made phone calls, posted notices in affected areas and put statements on their websites

Bellone criticized LIPA, saying its inspection plan was a “system thrown together five days after the storm.” The idea that the inspections were for protecting the public was “ludicrous” and “lawyers trying to cover themselves,” he said.

When asked if he thought bypassing the inspections could cause unsafe conditions, like fires, he said the towns are preparing for these possibilities. He noted Babylon has coordinated with its fire departments to have crews on standby, ready to react when power is restored.

“There is no way in the aftermath of the storm to prevent every eventuality that will occur . . . you have to balance the hazards and safety risks,” Bellone said.

Islip Supervisor Tom Croci said it has its own team of licensed electricians and inspectors who are assessing homes there “to give fire services and residents an extra level of comfort.”

Hervey, during the news conference in Hicksville Saturday, offered this advice: “If you’re in a flooded home, open your circuit breakers in your house before we energize the area. That way there’s no safety issue inside of the house.”

Of what it took to get the inspections going, Hervey said, “I think there were more areas to cover than inspectors.”

John Bruckner, president of National Grid’s Long Island electric group, was asked why thousands of homes inland, in communities such as Jericho and Plainview far from the shore, remained without power.

“The number of customers impacted by this storm was just so tremendous,” he said. “Those areas in the center of the island, while we had resources there, just demanded so many additional resources.”

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo joined Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and Long Beach City Manager Jack Schnirman Saturday at a food and supply distribution point on East Park Avenue. The trio helped distribute buckets filled with cleaning supplies to residents waiting in line.

Cuomo continued to criticize the area’s utility companies including LIPA for “failing to do their service.”

“I’m going to hold them accountable, we’re doing everything we can to make sure they get the power up, and they get it up quickly,” Cuomo said. “I understand this was a storm and it was catastrophic storm and we want to be fair to the utilities, but I think they could have been better prepared. I think they could have responded faster than they have, and we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to hold them accountable.”

LIPA TIMELINE

Oct. 29 Superstorm Sandy initially knocks out power to 640,000 of LIPA’s 1.1. million customers, the utility says. Chief Operating Officer Michael Hervey says “customers should expect quite a long restoration” period.

Oct. 30 LIPA says a record 945,000 customers lost power due to Sandy. It will take at least 10 days, and “very possibly more,” to fix the problems, Hervey says.

Oct. 31 Hervey says crews on Nov. 1 will finally make it to neighborhoods and businesses darkened by Sandy. More than 790,000 customers remain without electricity. in the dark.

Nov. 1 With customers losing patience and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo directly threatening LIPA’s management, the utility says it expects power to most customers will be restored by Nov. 10-11, though it “could take an additional week or more.” More than 635,000 customers are without power.

Nov. 2 Hervey promises to have “90 percent of all customers who can receive power restored” by Nov. 7.

Nov. 3 LIPA says it has restored power to roughly half its customers, but criticism of the utility’s performance by state and local officials intensifies.

Nov. 4 Responding to renewed Cuomo criticism, Hervey insists the utility is doing all it can. About 280,000 customers have no power.

Monday, Nov. 5 The outages are down to about 200,000.

Tuesday Customers in storm-surge areas are incensed to learn their homes and businesses now need new evaluations before getting power restored.

Wednesday A snowstorm knocks out power to 59,000 more LI customers, delaying a massive South Shore grid-evaluation effort.

Thursday LIPA acknowledges it has missed its 90 percent power-restoration goal. The number of outages spikes after LIPA adds 40,000 customers from the Rockaways and Long Beach to its outage map.

Friday LIPA Chairman Howard Steinberg agrees with the chorus of residents and local elected leaders blasting the utility’s poor communication since Sandy.

Yesterday About 126,000 LIPA customers, including the Rockaways, are still without power. Company officials say 99 percent of customers able to receive power should have service restored by Tuesday.

– Compiled by Kevin Deutsch

Power outages by region

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Albany holds severe weather preparedness fair – WALB

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 07:22:08 +0000

ALBANY, GA (WALB) -

A fair in Albany this weekend taught people how to protect themselves and their families if flooding or severe weather occurs.

The Albany and Dougherty County Flood and Severe Weather Preparedness Fair featured indoor exhibits at the Thronateeska Science Museum.

Organizers say many people who live in Albany today might not have experienced the “great floods” of 1994, and 1998, so they might be unaware of potential dangers.

The fair educated residents on how to be prepare in case severe weather occurs.

“People need to be ready today, they need to be ready for when it happens, they need to be ready with their three day kit, they need to have a plan, and they need to what their risk is for flooding” says Peggy Hegarty, Albany Planning and Development Services.

Agencies participating in the fair include The National Weather Service, MCLB, Emergency Management Agency, Albany Dougherty Search and Rescue Squad and many more.

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Cause of enormous Indianapolis home blast that killed 2 unknown

Vivint Home Automation Solutions Keep Military Families Safe

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3 children, man killed in fire at Maine home

Safety-check issues hamper power restoration

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