Storm Readiness: The Need to Be Proactive, and Proactively Reactive

In August 2024, warnings were ample for U.S. electric utilities serving coastal areas: the federal government forecast a 90 percent chance of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season – an “extremely active” run that could rank among the busiest on record. Nature quickly served notice just weeks after that, with hurricanes Helene and Milton striking as a devastating one-two punch to the Southeast.

For U.S. power providers, there’s just no getting around the threats of weather and climate disasters. From 1980 to early September 2024, there’ve been 396 of them in which overall damages or costs have tallied at least $1 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The combined total: More than $2.78 trillion.

The increasing frequency has been astounding: from 2019 through 2023, billion-dollar disasters came an average of 16 days apart, compared to 82 days in the 1980s.

Traditionally stretching from June through November, hurricane seasons that include tropical storms make for anxiety at all times of the day for power providers and the countless homes and businesses that depend on them in vulnerable regions, given that hurricanes can make landfall at any moment. Increasingly, power providers outside of coastal areas also are experiencing significant climate-change-induced storms – and other fallout, including wildfires, droughts and landslides – that are significantly impacting their ability to provide power to their customers.

Efforts to mitigate it all applies to both bracing for such unpredictable, menacing forces of nature as well as dealing with the aftermath, the anxiety is justified. In July, Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to nearly 3 million people around Houston – the country’s fourth-biggest city – after becoming the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic on record. In early August, Hurricane Debby left hundreds of thousands without electricity after making landfall in Florida, then slinking up the eastern seaboard wreaking havoc in her path. Hurricane Helene hit the coast in late September, followed less than two weeks later by Hurricane Milton, each leaving millions without power.

For utilities grappling with the decades-long challenge of aging infrastructure vulnerable to extreme weather, the pressure is mounting to invest in grid upgrades that enhance operational resiliency. To help restore the power more quickly, efficiently and sustainably when disasters strike, there’s also an imperative to marshal the resources – from boots and specialized trucks on the ground to drones in the sky – along with other technologies and essential replacement parts such as poles and transformers.

It’s about being both proactive and reactive, leveraging the expertise of a critical infrastructure solutions provider to formulate a multi-dimensional approach that ensures preparedness, responsiveness, recovery and a mitigation path forward.