"...transformers exploded in the pre-dawn sky."

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Sat Sep-24-05 09:53 AM
Original message

"...transformers exploded in the pre-dawn sky."

Hurricane Rita comes ashore, threatening flooding from New Orleans to Houston
Associated Press
Published Saturday, September 24, 2005

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - Hurricane Rita plowed into the Gulf Coast early Saturday, lashing Texas and Louisiana with driving rain, threatening to flood low-lying regions and knocking power out more than half a million people as transformers exploded in the pre-dawn sky.
>More<
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=103895�ion=news

What again? There is no follow up that I can see in the rest of the article. Only since Katrina and the levees have I heard of transformers blowing up all over the place. Show me a picture of a transformer after it has exploded. Knowing the construction of a power transformer, there should be an intact core left as only the case would come apart.

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iamjoy

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Sat Sep-24-05 09:58 AM
Response to Original message

1. Don't Think It Means Exploded Literally

as in blown up or apart.

When a transformer "blows" or goes out, it generates a green flash that looks like an explosion or lightning, depending on how far away you are. Some people may call this an explosion. If you are close enough, you may see blue sparks.

They go out all the time in hurricanes or severe storms.

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Qibing Zero

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Sat Sep-24-05 11:23 AM
Response to Reply #1

9. Exactly

During Frances (which was basically a tropical storm that lasted for DAYS where I live, in the middle of the state), they were firing off alllll over the place.

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iamjoy

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Sat Sep-24-05 11:59 AM
Response to Reply #9

11. Yeah, I'm In Central Florida

and I listened to the news & they said the green flashes were not lightning (there is none during a hurricane), but transformers.

Were you in Polk or Osceola County

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tammywammy

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Sat Sep-24-05 11:26 AM
Response to Reply #1

10. I agree

I've also seen one "blow" up across the freeway from where I work. It was a sight, and it was just during a normal N. Texas spring thunderstorm.

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global1

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Sat Sep-24-05 09:59 AM
Response to Original message

2. Why Can't They Place The Tranformers and Electric Cables Underground? ....

It seems to me that if they just repair the transformers and electric lines above ground that they are just going to have to do it again when the next storm hits. Why can't they engineer underground electric lines?

Ya know - "Fool me once ...er .. I guess you fool me... er ...."

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porphyrian

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Sat Sep-24-05 10:01 AM
Response to Reply #2

3. That costs money.

And, especially in areas near or below sea level, the ground is too wet.

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The Magistrate

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Sat Sep-24-05 10:04 AM
Response to Reply #2

4. Probably Questions Of Cooling And Isolation, Sir

Having them in the open aids the first, and may contribute to the second. Smaller ones are up poles, and so difficult to approach, larger ones are usually fenced in or in buildings. We had one blow several weeks ago in the alley behind our home, a small one up a pole, and it certainly does sound like an explosion when one goes out.

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kedrys

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Sat Sep-24-05 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #2

6. The area of west Houston we live in has underground cabling

We never lost power (knock on wood, the storm's not over). Big improvement over the place we moved out of in May, near downtown.

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global1

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Sat Sep-24-05 11:20 AM
Response to Reply #6

8. So If They Can Do It There They Can Do It Anywhere, It Maybe....

more costly to do it originally but it saves money in the long run if you have to continually replace or repair above ground utilities.

It's the same argument of the people that continually go back to their waterfront homes and rebuild after a storm. Why should we keep paying for people's stupidity? And we all do pay in higher insurance rates to subsidize these people.

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Mr_Spock

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Sat Sep-24-05 10:07 AM
Response to Original message

5. reminds me of the national anthem

nothing else.

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NancyG

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Sat Sep-24-05 10:10 AM
Response to Original message

7. I live in the redwoods

and when it rains, we're like a Third World country, with transformers popping and lights out again. Sounds like a gun shot.

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