From the heart of Ike's landfall. Lots of work ahead for EC's and linemen. 2 mi+ without power. Lots of infrastructure damage. Transmission towers down north and south of Houston. Falling trees caused most of the damage. I have no power, working of generator. Estimates of 4 to 6 weeks or more to restore power. I can tell you driving around, it is a major task. Robert

I was without power for 8 days after Isabel in 2003, and many areas around me were out much longer, I feel your pain! It was a crew that had come up from New Orleans that finally restored power to my house, and our crews returned the favor two years later after Katrina. The entire nation will pool together resources to get power back to Houston, Galveston and the heavy-hit areas- I tell you what, it really is amazing to see so many power trucks from so many areas concentrated in one area after a big storm.

People may bitch about how long it takes, but let me tell you, there is some CHEERING when the power does come back, and as far as I'm concerned, the ECs and linemen who work night and day to restore power after storms like this are heros.

Best of luck with the recovery effort! And if you happen to have time to take any pictures of downed transmission towers or things like that, I know we'd love to see

Although it is not really "electrical" I am also interested in the structures that made it and ones that didn't. Of particular interest is how well newer building codes affected the damage. I assume you have tougher wind codes than you had 15 or 20 years ago.
You could put them in the "other codes" topic or "photos"

Although I have not too strayed far from home due to gas shortage, what I have seen so far as far as the smaller structures the new ones have held up as well or much better than the older ones as far as wind damage. There is a lot of windows out of high rise bldg. downtown, with stuff blown out of them. Galveston, 60 miles south of Houston suffered lots of storm surge damage, the water completely covered the island despite the seawall. They will require a long time to recover.Most of the damage I saw here in Houston was caused by falling trees, signs & flying debris. I rode it out at a Fire station (as a EOC communications worker) Saw lots of 12KV lines falting. Quite a fireworks show.In the area I am in (Kingwood)out of 15 sq miles I think less than 5% has power Robert

Robert:
Not much I can say to you people in the area except 'stay safe'. Watching CNN?MSNBC/Fox and seeing the TV versions of the destruction, ad the heroism of the rescue crews, can only be a small view into the devastation.

Our POCO, PSE&G has 12 trucks and crews that left last evening for the 1600 mile ride. THey will do what they can, for as long as they are welcome.

Take care

The POCO's have a daunting task. Only people in the business truly understand the task they face. Bonehead reporters asking stupid questions are NO help. As if reconnecting 2.5 million services is like running a cord to an receptacle. I now have power back due to the hard work of these people. Each line crew is preceded by a forestry crew clearing the large pine trees that fell across the lines. This area is heavy forest with 100' tall pines. Most feeders go thru the forest in a 50' wide easement. The homes are served by a mixture of UG & overhead service. Google Kingwood TX and you will understand. And, we are but 15-20 sq miles of hundreds of sq miles of mostly dark area. Big task at hand. My many thanks to all the crews from across the US sending us help. Trust me MANY here appreciate the help. Robert

From my experience with Charley and then Wilma I will say the next one will be easier on you. Most of the trees that are going down are down.
After Charley we had tractor trailers following the claw trucks down the road picking up the trees that were cut.
I had a crane over here getting a big tree off my house and then I took him around to some neighbors who needed a crane too.
When Wilma hit we didn't really have that much tree related damage. The down side was some structures, mostly trailers, failed because the trees didn't break the wind.