(original image on Flickr by P-Kittye)
Thirteen hours. That's how long we were without power yesterday. Yes, I know it was raining, and in Los Angeles that's the excuse for civilization to fall into total disarray. But seriously, THIRTEEN HOURS?
Living in Los Angeles is pretty funny when it rains. Funny in an "OMG, this is insane so we may as well laugh" kind of way. The biggest problem is that people forget how to drive. They slam on their brakes in the middle of a flooded street, force backwash up the tailpipes of their cars and then wonder why their cars stall. Or they speed up and try and make it through as quickly as possible, then act surprised when the resulting aquaplaning sends them hurtling into the nearest parked car.
Sorry if I sound all superior here, but if there's one thing English people know how to cope with, it's rain. Sure, those verdant green fields look pretty when you're looking out of the window of a plane, but once you've landed, you'll soon discover exactly WHY everything's so green. So while the slightest glimpse of sunshine sends us English folk into a frenzy of suntan lotion, rolled up trouser legs and lunchtime sunburns, it's rain that we're really comfortable with.
Anyway, back to my point about yesterday. It started to rain hard in the Hollywood Hills around 11am, and by 11:30am the power was out. No big deal--it happens pretty much every time there's rain or wind or excess heat. Come to think of it, it happens every time the weather does anything out of the ordinary. Normally, it lasts for 15-30 minutes and then comes back on. Not this time.
By 2pm I called the DWP and asked for an estimated time for getting our power back. "We're not sure," I was told. "It could be 10-12 hours." 10-12 HOURS? I asked what the problem was. "We're not sure." Again with the not sure-ness. The nice operator went on to tell me it could be a power line down, a transformer out, a transformer on fire, a transformer down and on fire, a flaming power line wrapped around a flaming transformer lying on the still-burning ground...the possibilities were endless. OK, so I may have embellished a little. But still, they didn't know.
Here's my point (I do have one, I promise). The electricity rates in Los Angeles have been increasing, supposedly to get people to conserve power. Where does all that extra money go? The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (LOVE that name!) recently made a video about the lack of maintenance of LA's aging water and power systems. The DWP has reduced critical staff to the point where basic maintenance and updating of the system simply doesn't happen. Workers and customers are both frustrated, and so far there isn't any sign of things changing. Here's a press release that gives more details: IBEW Local 18 releases video about the crisis in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
We finally had our power restored at around 12:30am. Others are still waiting. I'm not sure what ordinary people can do about this except complain to each other. And blog. I may be powerless, but I'm loud about it. And that's something, right?
