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AirborneRodent t1_j8oi08t wrote

Reply to comment by nazerall in Austin’s city manager fired over widespread power outages by Sebekiz

The city manager didn't cause the power outages. The outages were caused because of a combination of an ice storm that froze all the trees, and high winds that snapped the frozen branches. Tens of thousands of trees, tree limbs, and tree branches fell all over the city, and many of them damaged power lines as they fell.

What the city manager was responsible for was the cleanup and repair after the storm was over. It took over two weeks to restore power to everybody, and people are accusing the city manager of not organizing the repair crews properly.

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reddig33 t1_j8oluxz wrote

Cronk was also responsible for making sure the trees were trimmed or the power lines buried. He did a half assed job.

Austin residents have wanted him out ever since the police force here injured civilians and bystanders during the BLM protests. He didn’t do anything about that either.

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JohnGillnitz t1_j8pslo6 wrote

I seem to remember the Council itself was responsible for killing the tree trimming program because people didn't like their trees being cut.

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reddig33 t1_j8q0smj wrote

Back in 2006. In 2019 that changed. Council actually increased funding for trimming in the last couple of years, and is now asking where that money went.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/city-council-approves-auditing-austin-energys-vegetation-plan/ar-AA17lrC2

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SpaceTabs t1_j8qim3h wrote

Local citizens micro managed the vegetation management on utility right of way? Hopefully they learned something. Don't let a few assholes at a council meeting cause a huge outage.

"During the blast, Austin Energy’s Vice President of Field Operations Elton Richards said they have a backlog since changing that policy three years ago."

“Prior to me arriving here, the city council had restricted trimming of trees down to an unsustainable manner,” said Richards, “Since that time we’ve been just pounding on the vegetation. It’s probably going to take another 3 years to get the whole city back on a normal cycle.”

"In 2012, Austin Energy reported that they invested about 9 million annually in its tree trimming program. Council members said that funding has increased in the past two years. Adam Andrzejewski, founder of Open The Books, took a closer look at their recent investments."

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Bi-Han t1_j8p0lz6 wrote

Austin is one the feeds I remember watching live. What a shitshow that was.

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moleratical t1_j8pnzb9 wrote

Same thing happened in Houston after Ike, many were out of power for a month, including me.

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rnobgyn t1_j8quirq wrote

Austin doesn’t trim their trees properly around power lines. Born and raised here, the power line damage could’ve been extremely mitigated had we properly prepared for bad weather (it’s Texas.. what’s new 🤷🏼)

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