At least for one resident, Comcast has confirmed that they will not be crediting people affected by Hurricane Irene for Internet, phone and cable service. Comcast representatives stated that the storm has been named an "act of God" and therefore will not be held responsible for services that some people still do not have.I have a couple of thoughts:
1) Comcast are a bunch of dicks if this is true. Well, in my experience they are anyway, but this is extra dicky.
2) I had no idea the whole of Comcast was that religious. While I can see individual members being religious, the idea that the whole company working that way and in charge of my information feed store scares me. Especially if they go to the Chick-Fil-A model and close down services on Sundays.
3) I survived Hurricane Katrina. I lived 120 miles from where it came ashore and it was still classified a hurricane when it passed within 10 miles of my apartment. (If that does not sound that close, look at the images of hurricanes. They are kinda big things.) I might have been drunk, but that was one tense freaking night. The neighborhood rooster was lost (long story). The next day was a war zone and people immediately got to work cleaning up the fallen trees. We got power back in about a week, later for those that lived farther out of town. We got credited for everything. Lesson: if you have high speed Internet and a hurricane a'comin, surround yourself with rednecks with chainsaws and see how fast things get done.
4) I really want to end on a good note, so here is a story where a library is/was offering power to people.