The Lessons Florida Learned from Past Hurricanes

The New York Times has published an article on five takeaways Florida has accumulated from its past experiences with hurricanes. In one excerpt, Florida Power & Light had to rethink how it delivered electricity after 2004 and 2005, when seven hurricanes hit the state. One of these was Hurricane Wilma, a Category 3 storm that necessitated replacing tens of thousands of power polls and left some customers without power for as long as two weeks. Concrete power poles have replaced many older wooden ones. New switches installed in transformers allow the devices to be reset without sending out repair crews. All five million customers have meters that allow the company to know when someone has no power, even if they are out of town. Drones buzz over neighborhoods after storms to help identify problems with the lines. Company officials said they had also focused on improving electrical connections with critical infrastructure like hospitals and 911 centers, and vastly improved plans for staging resources before a storm hits. At the same time, the company acknowledges that some level or power failure is inevitable, requiring its customers to prepare themselves for this potential. Read the article at the New York Times.