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218 comments on Hurricane Ike, Energy Infrastructure, Refineries and Damage Models Thread #4 (Updated 9/12 23:00 EDT)

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PolR on September 12, 2008 - 10:26am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

With a storm as big as Ike, certainly there will be a huge impact to electricity infrastructure.

I am not sure about that. Everyone sees Ike as relatively low intensity for winds. Flooding is the major risk.

In such circumstances residential distribution lines are at risk and we should see lots of homes without current due the the large surface covered by Ike, But I would expect high voltage transmission lines to be built to hurricane tolerances in places like Texas. I suspect it would take some major wind force to take them out. This could help refineries to do fine electricity wise.

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wisco on September 12, 2008 - 10:29am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

See my question below: what wave force is the transmission infrastructure rated for? "Flooding" seems like the wrong term- hurricane-driven waves will bring a lot of force to bear on anything solid and attached to the ground.

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RSFB on September 12, 2008 - 10:32am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Gustav managed to damage high voltage lines even at a smaller size and being a Cat 2 storm at landfall. Ike is much bigger and probably a Cat 2/3 at landfall.

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paal myrtvedt on September 12, 2008 - 10:41am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

But I would expect high voltage transmission lines to be built to hurricane tolerances in places like Texas

I follow you. I would expect people NOT to build their homes on the very beach of Texas, due to .... you know.BTW which insurance company do they use?

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damac on September 12, 2008 - 10:53am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Yes, however, the substations and other equipment are still on the ground. I've seen flood remediation work on flooded homes. Basically, ALL the electrical stuff that gets wet has to be replaced. The water carries dirt and grit that settles into everything, and makes future use of the electrical equipment dodgy.

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research24 on September 12, 2008 - 5:39pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

When the ground turns to soup due to flooding, its hard to keep things standing upright even in 50mph winds.

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PolR on September 12, 2008 - 6:12pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

That logic goes for coastal areas. In land it is another story.

In related news Jeff Masters now predicts the largest power failure in the history of Texas. He knows far better than me. I will crawl back under my soap box.

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218 comments on Hurricane Ike, Energy Infrastructure, Refineries and Damage Models Thread #4 (Updated 9/12 23:00 EDT)

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