Both the Navy and by proxy the Marine Corps have what are reffered to as MEP ships. They are merchant marine vessels, that carry everything needed to invade and support troops on the ground. But what they also have on them are hundreds of reverse osmosis units, as well as a large one on ship for making drinking water. (Which include many extra enoumous pumps.) They also have hundreds of generators from 30-500kw and a few high voltage 2Mw's, not to mention ship to shore power. (Enough to light a conservitively lit city.) Shrink-wrapped helicopters. They also have hundreds of Hummvees, and 5ton trucks that ford water from 4-6'+. Amphibious landing craft. Tents, food, water, and reffer units. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of deisel fuel. All in one big boat. A one stop shop for everything to invade a country, or get one out of severe need in a flood. I have un-loaded and loaded dozens of these. They float these things world wide and always have a few in case a situation arises. (I believe two are even based out of NOLA, although they may not be there now.) Think the situation has arisen. Hopefully a few will be seen there soon.
Now back to something electrical.... Having done some "field expediant wiring" myself. Which can be real quick, and on the fly, but works when you need it. They can start getting power to certain key places in the city real quick by isolating them from the grid, most of which is down. Then placing generators every few blocks or so. Or right under the transformer cans. Un-do the LV side, and connect that to the generator. Do the short hunt, and get some power back on while the HV side gets re-worked. When the transformer gets hot again, switch it back over. You just gotta make sure that everyone cooperates, and leaves the AC off. Otherwise a 60kw will run a whole residential city block or two easy. All of the hospitals should have generators already. If not the same can be done with a larger gen set. It's a lot of gen sets, but like I said, the military has them, by the 10's of thousands. And it doesn't have to be the whole city, just a few key places. Some lights at night, and some food in a fridge would add some comfort to a very uncomfortable situation.
