As I see, the main problem is not the bad weather, but under-investment in infrastructure (i.e. private ownership of service delivery aka capitalism) - most of our power lines are above ground and thus susceptible to falling trees.
--- Right on. I'll never forget my mother's disappointmet, fresh off the boat, driving around L.A. and noticing the power lines. In backwards Romania, you only see the power lines in the provinces. In the city, they're buried.
Joanna