I know that posting this so late will get little attention but it's what we need to do.

[Eko]

144,000 were out of power from the storm in PA , hundreds of thousands more in the states next to it. The heat related deaths at this time are unknown but are only going to get larger as global warming increases. We need to fix our power lines to protect them from storms such as this. Waiting will only make the suffering exponentially larger. This is one of the biggest things we need to do and can do with broad support. Whether the government pays for it or the power companies are forced to or a combination we need to get this done. It’s only going to get hotter and the storms are only going to get stronger. This is going to be a serous problem but we can start to prepare for it now and save lives.

[Melon]

1. Did lines go down with the storm ? Or was it something bigger?

If it went down due to a storm, it’s usually because they have above ground lines. Most of those outages will be hours. Are you saying people are dying from this storm due to heat?

Edit. I read a few articles on it. It was mostly high wind. If you are saying bury all lines?? That’s usually cost prohibitive anywhere and has other issues.

[Keepthesoulalive]

2. We need to find ways to backup the grid or other ways to get power

There are only so many linemen and if you get a major storm during the summer months people will die from the heat.this cretin has destroyed investment in other sources of energy and destroyed FEMA. They are building data centers that are depleting our thin resources. I think they should be made to pay for their development and find alternate solutions to fund their ego projects.

[Melon]

3. The power lines went down in a major storm.

I worked with the same issue with above ground lines going to the refineries.

This particular issue doesn’t sound like redundancy. They are not going to run two sets of lines to everyone’s home. Burying lines when we quoted cost 300% more than above ground utilities. This is a failure that unfortunately relies on fast repairs versus some manic bullet.

[Eko]

5. Well, we don't want to intrude on the power companies bottom line

Just to save some people’s lives now would we?

[Keepthesoulalive]

6. I am not a scientist nor an engineer

Better minds can find ways to improve our energy backup. If we don’t have enough linemen having dual power lines won’t help. Doing things the same way we have done them since the depression when they started the rural electricity program is not the answer.

[Eko]

4. The power company is saying they will restore power

On the 8th. Yes it is because of the storm. Yes, above ground, yes people are dying from the heat. Burying all lines may not be way to address this but I am not limiting us to just one way. Just the way that will work the best and be cost effective.

[FakeNoose]

7. I live on the northside of Pittsburgh and the storm wasn't too bad here THIS time!

But we've had many storms where trees came down or branches knocked down power lines. Our area consists of older houses that were mostly built in the 1930s and 40s. Almost all the properties have older trees which drop branches from time to time.

A few years ago we had a bad storm, a tree came down on our power line and my entire neighborhood was without power for 6 days! Whenever these problems occur it's almost always where the power lines are above ground, and the trees haven't been trimmed back. The rescue/repair workers can only fix so many problems per day and they cannot work in the dark, only during the daylight hours. It's a matter of prioritizing which neighborhoods get repaired first.