The 10-12 Storm

Every great catastrophe should have a memorable name. The Great Ice Storm of '08 is OK for a movie title, but a little long for casual conversation. Now we can call it the 10-12 Storm:

Bringing power back to Fort Wayne after the Dec. 19 ice storm will end up costing Indiana Michigan Power Co. $10 million to $12 million.

Mike Brian, a spokesman for the utility, said Monday that figure includes overtime for I&M workers; the cost of housing, feeding and paying emergency help from other regions; and the replacement of equipment, ranging from about 100 toppled utility poles to blown transformers.

[. . .]

The cost of the storm will be carried by the utility. Brian said the utility does not insure against natural disasters; instead, it budgets $4 million or $5 million to cover the kind of storm damage I&M encounters in a typical year.

"The $10 million storm" or "The $12 million storm" would be catchier, but if the utility isn't going to be precise, what can we do? I'm glad they're not going to recover the cost with a rate increase (at least not for now, the cynic in me thinks). I had expenses, too. Adding up the cost of the hotel room, the purchase of a kerosene heater I ended up not using and various expenses such as replacing the food in my refrigerator, I figure this was my $800 Storm, and I consider myself one of the lucky ones.