Our fragile, neglected infrastructure

[patric]

News reports recalling the 1983 destruction of a Tulsa Southwestern Bell telephone switching office expressed confidence that the widespread communications outages resulting from thieves taking a chainsaw to the facility couldn't happen today because fewer people are dependent on pre-cellular phone service served by copper wires.

The attack on the Bell System Central Office was intended to disrupt the intrusion alarm of a warehouse the thieves were burglarizing.
https://oklahoman.com/article/2011054/5-charged-in-tulsa-warehouse-heist

Fast forward to Christmas Day 2020, where a truck bomb parked outside a Nashville AT&T switching office laid bare the vulnerable condition of modern-day internet, wireless, and 911 communications in several states.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/29/nashville-bombing-area-communications-network-exposed-achilles-heel/4070797001/

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The vulnerability of the telecommunications system in Nashville and beyond became clear Christmas Day when AT&T's central office in downtown became the site of a bombing.

State and local officials and experts say the fact that a multi-state region could be brought to its knees by a single bombing is a "wake-up call," exposing vulnerabilities many didn't know existed and predicting it would lead to intense conversations about the future.
"This was one of the worst case scenarios that happened," Durbin said. "... To have (AT&T)completely taken out ... was even broader impact than we thought." "This affected our entire Southeast region," Bailey said. "There were multiple states that had issues because of this."

"How does a city as a whole function if we go through something like this again or a natural disaster?"

[dbacksfan 2.0]

I was just thinking about the SW Bell cable cutting/Bergen Brunswig robbery while watching this unfold. The minute they said there was an AT&T building on that street I looked it up on Google Maps, and saw about where the bomb was placed, a non hardened/reinforced service entrance that's probably where the back up generator is located. You don't have to bring the building down to create a problem, and sadly I doubt that any of the old Bell System switch centers like this one, have any reinforcement, and I also have serious doubts about their disaster recovery plans.

https://goo.gl/maps/kskWEqRpL2AzqbLk9

I kept waiting for the next shoe to drop knowing that they just shut down most all major communications in that area of the state. I was thinking that there was going to be some other action taken.

[patric]

I heard from a friend who was one of the first lucky folks to be a part of the rolling blackouts in Tulsa right now.
PSO says they will notify customers before a scheduled blackout, but didnt say how.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/watch-now-controlled-power-interruptions-ongoing-today-pso-says-as-energy-emergency-again-upgraded-by/article_bd9d5e76-6fb4-11eb-bcce-132e5a5dcade.html


At least we have some strong, residual-Trump leadership at the helm:

Gov. Stitt declares emergency, goes on vacation
https://www.thelostogle.com/2021/02/15/kevin-stitt-hits-new-mexico-slopes-while-oklahoma-deals-with-massive-winter-storm/


Stitt's office did not answer specific questions about whether the governor and his family self-quarantined after traveling to New Mexico or whether they took COVID-19 tests upon arrival.
It's unlikely Stitt self-quarantined prior to the trip because he held a news conference at the Oklahoma state Capitol on Thursday.
https://oklahoman.com/article/5682428/gov-kevin-stitt-family-back-in-oklahoma-after-new-mexico-vacation-during-weather-emergency

[Tulsa Zephyr]

I just hope Stitt's wife didn't drive...

[heironymouspasparagus]

I heard from a friend who was one of the first lucky folks to be a part of the rolling blackouts in Tulsa right now.
PSO says they will notify customers before a scheduled blackout, but didnt say how.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/watch-now-controlled-power-interruptions-ongoing-today-pso-says-as-energy-emergency-again-upgraded-by/article_bd9d5e76-6fb4-11eb-bcce-132e5a5dcade.html


At least we have some strong, residual-Trump leadership at the helm:

Gov. Stitt declares emergency, goes on vacation
https://www.thelostogle.com/2021/02/15/kevin-stitt-hits-new-mexico-slopes-while-oklahoma-deals-with-massive-winter-storm/


Stitt's office did not answer specific questions about whether the governor and his family self-quarantined after traveling to New Mexico or whether they took COVID-19 tests upon arrival.
It's unlikely Stitt self-quarantined prior to the trip because he held a news conference at the Oklahoma state Capitol on Thursday.
https://oklahoman.com/article/5682428/gov-kevin-stitt-family-back-in-oklahoma-after-new-mexico-vacation-during-weather-emergency

Smaller scale version of Baja Oklahoma Senator Cruz going to Cancun while 4 million people with no power.  And 11 million without water!  Guess I will call Salvation Army tomorrow and see if they need a driver to take a truck of water down there.... since Cruz can't be bothered to help his own people!

If I could carry some electricity, would do that, too, since ERCOT can't be bothered to keep the natural gas, coal, and nuclear power plants going!

[patric]

I just hope Stitt's wife didn't drive...

Surprised she didnt use the lights and siren like Scott Pruitt. 


Meanwhile in a nearby state that had a nuclear reactor literally ice up...



"I'm in a little bit of hot water, which is something I'm told people in Texas don't have."

https://www.vox.com/2021/2/21/22293818/snl-cold-open-freebritney-ted-cruz-cancun-andrew-cuomo-scandal

[heironymouspasparagus]

.

Well, at least evangelicals have their graven image to worship at the feet of.  At least they have finally come out and admitted exactly what they are.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/golden-trump-statue-turns-heads-at-cpac/ar-BB1e3mPO

[patric]

I was just thinking about the SW Bell cable cutting/Bergen Brunswig robbery while watching this unfold. The minute they said there was an AT&T building on that street I looked it up on Google Maps, and saw about where the bomb was placed, a non hardened/reinforced service entrance that's probably where the back up generator is located. You don't have to bring the building down to create a problem, and sadly I doubt that any of the old Bell System switch centers like this one, have any reinforcement, and I also have serious doubts about their disaster recovery plans.

https://goo.gl/maps/kskWEqRpL2AzqbLk9

I kept waiting for the next shoe to drop knowing that they just shut down most all major communications in that area of the state. I was thinking that there was going to be some other action taken.

The spot in front of the at&t building where the former at&t employee parked his truck bomb one year ago:

https://goo.gl/maps/JR3pHandYo2egshY9

https://www.newsweek.com/christmas-day-bombing-raised-fears-donald-trump-conspiracists-terrorists-1661300

[patric]

Smaller scale version of Baja Oklahoma Senator Cruz going to Cancun while 4 million people with no power.  And 11 million without water!  Guess I will call Salvation Army tomorrow and see if they need a driver to take a truck of water down there.... since Cruz can't be bothered to help his own people!

If I could carry some electricity, would do that, too, since ERCOT can't be bothered to keep the natural gas, coal, and nuclear power plants going!

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said "no one can guarantee" power outages won't happen again as the state prepares for freezing and inclement weather, despite previous assurances the grid had been upgraded and fixed.

A load shed event occurs when the demand for electricity outweighs the available supply, resulting in rolling blackouts as the operators of the electrical grid try to avoid the system's collapse. Texans experienced load shedding on a large scale in 2021 when at least 2.8 million people went without power during a deadly winter freeze that killed at least 246 people.

https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-governor-said-he-cant-guarantee-power-outages-wont-happen-2022-2

[heironymouspasparagus]

.

Has anyone heard.... did Ted Cruz get his tickets to Cancun yet?    Asking for a friend....

[patric]

Some hints that Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 might not be a once-in-a-lifetime event (even though we may be paying for the gas price gouging the rest of our lives):

"sometimes the polar vortex gets disrupted and can become displaced from the North Pole. It will meander off its path and go elsewhere, usually toward Eurasia or North America. This is when we can see cold outbreaks similar to the one in 2021.

"There was actually a dramatic warming in January 2021 before the ice storm," Cohen said. "This was potentially a precursor to the February ice storm of 2021."
According to Cohen, there was a disruption in the vortex and it was stretched, allowing for that warm air to rush north and fill the void. Cohen said it was missed at the time, but in hindsight, noticing it could have predicted that dramatic freeze.

There are strong signs that winter will start off mild and then trend cooler, he said.

"Martin Luther King Day should be the official start of winter," Cohen jokes. "It seems like it is becoming harder and harder to get a white Christmas. It is really more likely that we will see a white St. Patty's Day."

But Cohen believes there are trends to suggest that February will actually bring an impressive cooling trend down the center of the country, including Tulsa.
https://tulsaworld.com/weather/long-range-winter-forecast-harder-and-harder-to-get-a-white-christmas/article_3a957b12-5987-11ed-8f17-2bcdb56d75b1.html