Comments on: How do I find out if a certain address has power yet?

Question: How do I find out if a certain address has power yet?

rmless — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:37:10 -0800

Does zip code 77006 (in Houston) have power? How could I find out if a certain address has power yet?

I saw this but it is a week old and this has no reports from today.

By: RustyBrooks

RustyBrooks — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:40:25 -0800

Do you have an answering machine? Call and see if it picks up. That's the advice I gave my in-laws.

By: rmless

rmless — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:42:10 -0800

Nope, I am in NY and not in Houston, and I'd like to know if this address has power without contacting the inhabitants directly.

By: sanko

sanko — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:44:01 -0800

The Chronicle has a pretty good database here.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:48:00 -0800

And according to that, looks like the power is on.

By: dog food sugar

dog food sugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:56:49 -0800

I'm in 06 and just got power. It's still spotty. For the last week my neighbors 4 doors down had power while we did not. Lots of 09 is still in the dark too. It's spotty and random all over town.

By: rmless

rmless — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:58:12 -0800

Hmm, would it be wrong to assume that if on a street, house #5xx has power and #8xx has power, #6xx would have power too?

By: nomisxid

nomisxid — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:23:11 -0800

It's certainly possible for only one house out of a block to be down. If I have a tree in my yard that takes out my connection to the pole, fixing that issue is a lot lower priority for the power company than fixing the tree that took out the whole neighborhood.
I'd also point out that fixing power for the even side of the street doesn't mean it's fixed for the odd side.

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:24:43 -0800

I've been using the Chronicle website, they seem to have pretty up to date info.

By: Uncle Jimmy

Uncle Jimmy — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:28:47 -0800

Centerpoint Energy says that as of 5AM about 13% of that zip code is still without power.

By: *s

*s — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:53:44 -0800

From personal experience, you can't assume that #6xx has power just because #5xx and #8xx do. (It would be somewhat safer to assume that if several blocks are out, a house in the middle is out as well). Two houses on either side of me numerically (61X and 61X+2) had power a full week and a half before I did because a tree got jammed in my transformer and started a fire when Centerpoint switched on the juice. It takes longer to replace transformers and up downed lines than to flip the switches. I work with several people in 06 and about half are still without power.

By: halogen

halogen — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:47:05 -0800

I currently live in 77006, and a lot of the traffic lights (on Richmond and W Alabama especially) were still out afternoon, a good indication that the houses are still without electricity. I'm surprised it's just 13%; driving at night is certainly rather depressing, still, as many blocks are completely dark.

By: mmascolino

mmascolino — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:28:33 -0800

2nd *s. it really is hard to generalize these things because of how and where problems occurred. Here in Cincinnati where we had crazy bad wind storms as a result of the Ike aftermath, my house was without power for six days whereas the power restored within24-36 hours to houses and traffic lights only a couple of blocks away.

By: ajr

ajr — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:09:50 -0800

Assuming phone lines work and you know someone on the street that has an answering machine, you can call to see if it picks up.