Two neighbors on my street died during Snowstorm Power Out

[RamboLiberal]

I'm a little shaken to read this morning that 2 of the neighbors on my 3 block street were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning yesterday morning. We had a power outage of 24+ hours duration and being that it was very cold here they were using some kind of generator or heater to try to keep warm. It was a father 60 and his 19 year old daughter. I didn't know them personally but nonetheless I do feel sad and as I said it has shaken me a bit.

It's an unusual situation for us. I've lived on this street for 58 years and this is the first time we've had an extended power outage of more than a few hours. As I write this I know that while we were lucky last night to get our power back just as we faced a night in single digit temperatures - but too late for my two neighbors - tens of thousands in my area are still without power and hundreds of thousands in the mid-Atlantic. I hope we will see no more deaths like my neighbor but I fear we will. And now having experienced this myself in the dead of winter I feel even more for them than I may have in the past where it was a passing news story.

The only news we got on the power outage yesterday as we dug out was word of mouth. Seems none of the PTB were out informing people. Calling the power company was a long hold only to be told we have no time estimate - it may be days. Calling the mayor's office it was a voice mail and our normal business hours are 8-4 M-F. A police officer didn't drive by till late in the evening Saturday and he didn't have a clue when our power would be back. The one piece of news we got was a guy driving by in a 4WD pickup truck who said he talked to the public works supervisor who said it would be 4-5 hours more. It was 7 so he was close at least. We're small enough a city now the mayor should've been out in 4 wheeler informing his constituents or even our council members. Heck I remember back when I was a kid the mayor was out driving a big road grader plowing out the alleys of his constituents as his road crews plowed out the streets.

But that was the days when big steel made big tax payments to the city and the city could afford big plow trucks and even a road grader. Now we're down to a small dump truck and a pick up truck with a plow.

And the power outages perhaps they were unavoidable but I also wonder if they are part of the deteriorating infrastructure and crew cutbacks by power companies. Kudos to the power crews out there in this weather who got our power restored but I know the power company cut crews probably a decade plus ago.

News media - heck if you can't get TV or the internet forget it. I was fortunate that I had enough battery power in my laptop I could login for a short time to check the local news. I called and left an angry message to the local mostly conservative talk radio station KDKA who pride themselves on covering big local stories but on this one behaved like MSNBC on a weekend. While they did intermittent reports during the day they mostly stuck with their paid live programs. They actually had a couple of hours of Tradio in the midst of a local emergency. Only from 6PM on did they get a clue and have their hosts cover the storm and let listeners to call in to vent.

What was a bit of an adventure sadly now hit close to home and I also saw the tragedy.


A man and his daughter were found dead today, the apparent result of carbon monoxide poisoning that resulted from the use of a generator, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office. The father and daughter were using the generator for heat because of an electric outage at their home in McKeesport.

Also, the examiner's office is investigating what could be a third weather-related death. A man was found dead in his North Side home Saturday night, not long after he had been shoveling a sidewalk at his sister's nearby home.

The father and daughter were identified as George Mateyo, 60, and Joelle Mateya, 19.

Their bodies were found at 12:18 a.m. today at their home on Milburn Street by a friend who was concerned because he hadn't heard from them Saturday.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10038/1034248-100.stm#ixzz0es4MVNoD

[Beaverhausen]

1. That's so sad. I'm really sorry to read this

[AndyA]

2. I'm so sorry to hear about your neighbors. Extreme winter weather can really cause problems

for power lines.

In December 2007, we got hit with a horrible ice storm that broke huge tree limbs, taking down thousands of power lines. My house was without power for 4 long, cold days. I have a gas fireplace with gas logs in it, and even though we kept it going all night, the house was still very cold.

If anything good is to result from this, do your part in getting word out that people should have carbon monoxide detectors in their homes. They aren't expensive, and they could very well save a life. Anyone with any gas burning equipment should have a detector to warn them. If you have a neighborhood association, perhaps a reminder in a newsletter will be enough.

Areas of the country that are subject to ice storms or heavy snows should have buried power lines. My neighborhood has all the lines buried, but some of the feeder lines to the neighborhood aren't buried, and they are the weak link in the system.

My sympathies to the friends and family of those who died, and I hope everyone stays safe the rest of the winter.

[RamboLiberal]

3. Buried Power Lines - my thoughts as well

That's one of the ongoing infrastructure projects the Feds should be pushing. It just seems crazy that every major snow or wind storm we endure these days long power outages in this country. As proven in the case of my neighbors it can be deadly. And also think of the number of people in this country who depend on electrically driven medical equipment to keep living.

IMHO this country is facing a disaster in future infrastructure failures, power, water, sewage lines, etc.