Ike's damages--and the future

Eric Berger has some interesting analysis of absolute and relative costs here:

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2008/09/post_53.html


In addition, there is one regional issue that will demand to be addressed once a state of normalcy is restored, and that's the massive loss of power. It's true that Ike was a once-in-a-generation storm, but it seems to me that some measures can be taken to ameliorate the near-perfect annihilation of the electrical grid in southeast Texas. Continued hardening the major transmission lines and critical points and aggressive maintenance of electrical rights of way from overgrowth seem two obvious items that could be put on a prioritized year-to-year progress plan. I know it's ugly when the limbs well-shaped trees are lopped to allow clearance for power lines, but I think a memory of the current hardships endured by many should suffice to procure agreement on a reasonable compromise here.