Katrina SGER: Damage Assessment of Power Infrastructure for Distribution, Telecommunications, and Back-Up

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This SGER project involves damage assessment to power infrastructure due to Hurricane Katrina. The assessment addresses distribution-level power, telecommunications power supplies, and back-up power generation. While transmission system power is addressed by other means, these more localized components of the power system may be overlooked. However, if damaged they could be very difficult to repair. The negative impact on communications and other power functions is severe. The Intellectual Merit of this work lies in a scientific and systematic assessment of damage due to in the New Orleans area. The data collection will enable a damage report that will suggest alternative "power-of-last-resort" concepts that could be deployed to mitigate future problems during natural disasters, though investigation of these alternatives is beyond the scope of the project. The Broader Impacts of this work relates directly to the impact of power and communications networks on life-critical and economic aspects of natural disasters. A major criticism of the post-disaster effort was lack of preparedness across many organizations. The proposed assessment should provide a useful guide for future contingency planning, and if successful, prevent unnecessary loss of life.