Part of the problem stems from the fact that a lot of the infrastructure, particularly in the NE, is old and the wires (power, phone, cable) are above ground just waiting to be taken down by a falling tree.
Above ground installation was fast and easy to connect a lot of people at one time.
Underground utilites are the way to go but who is going to pay the bill to retrofit the above-ground systems to underground systems?
We sometimes lose power for days at a time- a day and a half in Irene, four days in Floyd. That's why a lot of us have generators.