Resilience

That's what they call it when you invest a lot of money in preparing for the most extreme conditions, "hardening" your infrastructure against any reasonable threat, right? It's a very popular concept. We read about it all the time. Not sure where balmy autumn weather falls on the risk scale there.

Aside from Entergy power, the 60-hertz pumps – two of which were operating early Saturday before trouble struck – can run on electricity generated from the utility’s Turbine No. 6, an estimated $31 million piece of equipment built in 2014. Asked why that turbine was not used after the Entergy pole was hit, Korban said it was taken offline about a week ago because it cannot operate in temperatures at 45 degrees or lower.

“It was designed to function during the hurricane season, the warmer season,” Korban said, “and it did not have the safeguards or the specifications to allow it to function all year round.