From utility-mandated rolling blackouts in California to a record-setting number of hurricanes in the South and East that prompted the alphabetical naming scheme to resort to Greek characters, the biggest weather-related U.S. blackouts of 2020 represented yet another blemish in a year marred by worries and woes. Leaving millions of outages in their wake, the storms impacted customers across the entire country, with Eaton capturing the most severe. Eaton is a power management company that specializes in providing backup power solutions to businesses. Over the last decade, we have followed and reported on power outages by the numbers but know the devastation they can cause both personally and professionally. Our thoughts are with all that have been touched by such events. Below is a roundup of the most significant weather-related outages of 2020. Click here to see more: https://switchon.eaton.com/plug/article/724/the-top-15-most-significant-weather-related-

1. Top 10 most significant
weather-related power
outages

2. 1. East Coast under siege. At least nine people were killed
and more than 3.7 million were left without power after
Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes, dumped rain, and
toggled between hurricane and tropical storm strength the
first week of August. Outages blanketed the East Coast as a
result of whipping winds and fallen trees, impacting
customers in multiple states including North Carolina, New
York, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
The restoration process lasted days in some areas.

3. 2. Zealous Zeta. On Oct. 28, Hurricane Zeta slammed into
Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane before pummeling other
states as a tropical storm, leaving more than 2.5 million people
in the dark. At least six people were killed, thousands of trees
were downed, and buildings were shattered by the storm that
stretched from Louisiana to Virginia with sustained winds of
more than 50 mph.

4. 3. Roll with it. An estimated 2 million Californians were
plunged into darkness over a four-hour period on August 14
as multiple utility companies instigated rolling blackouts during
a record-setting heat wave. As the state’s electric grid became
overtaxed by air conditioners and fans, operators began to
shut down customers without notification, with outages lasting
for 60 to 90 minutes on a rotating basis.

5. 4. Dastardly derecho. More than 1 million customers across
the Midwest lost power August 10 after a powerful storm
system known as a ‘derecho’ slammed the region, bringing
winds that exceeded 90 mph to parts of Iowa and Illinois.
Nearly a week later, ComEd reported that 57 customers were
still without power.

6. 5. Sneaky Sally. More than 540,000 homes and businesses
across Florida, Alabama and Georgia were left without
electricity on Sept. 16 as Hurricane Sally brought high winds
and massive flooding. Rescuers along the Gulf Coast used
high-water vehicles to reach people cut off by flooding while
the region braced for a delayed, second round of floods.

7. 6. Lashing Laura. The backbone of Louisiana's power grid
suffered catastrophic damage after Hurricane Laura barreled
ashore on August 27, killing at least 14 people and cutting
power to more than 400,000. Restoration efforts were slowed
after the storm destroyed utility equipment, knocked down
thousands of utility poles and ripped away power lines. Utility
officials reported that the damage was so extensive in some
areas, it would need to be rebuilt from the ground up. With
sustained winds of 150 mph, Laura was the strongest storm to
hit Louisiana since the mid-1800s.

8. 7. Premeditated power loss. PG&E intentionally cut power to
some 345,000 Californians on Oct. 27 as part of a Public
Safety Power Shutoff sparked by high fire danger from strong
winds, extremely low humidity, dry vegetation and severe
drought. Noting that there were 130 incidents of equipment
damage during the week's wind event, utility officials said that
had these power lines been active when they were damaged,
they could have sparked a wildfire.

9. 8. There’s no place like home? Tell that to the 290,000
Columbia, S.C. customers who were left in the dark April 15
after the National Weather Service confirmed 14 tornadoes in
the region. The utility had to solicit helicopter assistance to
help with damage assessment of power lines.

10. 9. A tree tragedy. Officials in Oklahoma City deemed an Oct.
27 weather event as the “worst nightmare of an autumn ice
storm” after it wrecked trees and power lines and left more
than 200,000 without electricity. Tree branches littered streets,
others were uprooted altogether, and leaves on branches
weighted down with ice, causing a rebound effect when it
melted and branches bounced back up.

11. 10. All in a week’s work. It took nearly a week to restore
power to all 131,000 Nashville Electric Service customers after
storms swept across the region the first week of May. Crews
worked around the clock in an effort to restore power,
replacing 250 damaged power poles during 14-hour rotating
shifts. Local linemen were assisted by 36 additional bucket
trucks and 90 workers from Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky..

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