[cudabachi]

A comment in another thread really got my attention. Someone mentioned that the fact that when storms anywhere in the country knock out power over a large area, electrical crews from far and wide converge on the area to get it back on its feet electrical-service-wise.

Thinking about the severity of the hurricanes that have struck the U.S. over the last few years, and the amount of damage that they've caused (I recall one estimate that Katrina affected 90,000 sq. miles), I can imagine things being pretty grim when there are fuel shortages hampering the relief effort.

Heck, with all those crews working 24/7, my brother (living north of New Orleans) was without power for over 2 weeks. One can only imagine how long it will take to get power to those who are living in rural areas.

[gnm]

If ocean temps keep rising (and it appears to be that they have every reason to keep doing so) then I would expect storms and hurricanes to become both more frequent AND more vilolent. It wouldn't take long to make coastal living in storm prone areas untenable. If not from destruction of infrastructure then simply because no insurance company will cover you and no one will finance you. Personally if I lived within 50 miles of these areas I'd move inland real soon. This hurricane season should be real interesting. Can you imagine another major hit on New Orleans? OR what if Miami takes that kind of destruction? Who will keep paying to rebuild in doomed areas? Its gonna play hell with all those oil rigs out in the gulf as well!

-G

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gnm', 'T')his hurricane season should be real interesting. Can you imagine another major hit on New Orleans? OR what if Miami takes that kind of destruction? Who will keep paying to rebuild in doomed areas? Its gonna play hell with all those oil rigs out in the gulf as well!

[crude_intentions]

I can easily see it getting to the point where Tropical storms and hurricanes would be in almost continual development in the Atlantic. If the Gulf Stream ever shutdown it would not be a pretty picture for the South-East U.S.

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('crude_intentions', ' ') If the Gulf Stream ever shutdown it would not be a pretty picture for the South-East U.S.

[backstop]

Turtle -

"When the Gulf Stream [s]ever [/s]shuts down it will not be a pretty picture for the [s]South-East [/s]entire Eastern U.S. seaboard "

I guess you may be mistaken there.

Following that potential loss, with the trees growing through the ruins of mile after mile of storm-wrecked McMansions,
with a good covering of snow over the whole scene, perhaps you may agree that the view would actually be much prettier ?

regards,

Backstop

[backstop]

Cudabachi -

it's a very valid point you make -

Back in '87 we had a weird rapid unprecedented windstorm that hit the UK's S. coast one night (with no public warning) and was gone off the E coast by dawn.

The wind guages broke at 125mph, but it was turbulence, rather than average windspeeds, that threw 4 MTonnes of tree trunks, plus crowns and root-plates, across the landscape.

I was living only 17 mls S of the major city of Southampton at the time, and the country-wide destruction was such that it was 6 weeks before we got the power back on.

Had there been either a succession of such storms, or a severe spike in energy costs, there's simply no telling how long we'd have been offline.

It's my guess that in hurricane-prone areas over the next 10 to 20 years there is going to be massive loss of mortguageable capital assets, not least owing to the withdrawal of affordable insurance cover.

Somewhere down that road it will cease to be economic to repair above-ground transmission lines, but with a declining housing stock the cost of burying them doesn't appear much of an alternative.

regards,

Backstop