Why utilities don’t move power lines out of hurricanes’ way
Millions of Floridians are getting on with their recovery from Hurricane Irma, which roared through the state, pummeling homes and flooding streets. But for the moment, many are stuck anxiously waiting in the sweltering heat for the power (and the all-important air conditioning) to come back on.
The outages have already proven to be one of the storm’s deadliest effects: Eight people died and 115 were evacuated from a Hollywood, Florida, nursing home after the air conditioning system went out during the storm. There’s now a criminal investigation into the incident. Power outages also contributed to the (relatively low) death toll from Hurricane Harvey a few weeks ago, where people suffered as lifesaving medical equipment shut off.