Power Outages in the Northeast of North America

[Bardo Thodol]

I am certainly not insensitive to the current situation for persons and communities, who are currently in the effected areas of this massive power outage.  However, I could not help but think of TEOTWAWKI and the speculation and fears that Y2k inspired.

Please jump in here and discuss this as the story and situation unfolds.

Scott

[Guest PROVO_SIX]

I drive 40 miles each way to center city Philadelphia.  It is no cake walk, but it takes 1.5 hours driving.  I've gotten quite fond of the trek after several years and a favorite path.

Yesterday, 1 measly felled tree led to a closed road, and then a multi alarm fire closed a major highway 1 mile from my home.  It took me 2.75 hours and I about went bonkers.

My mental clock and linear train of thought makes very few provisions for Y2k type shut-downs.  There is such a strange urge to JUST GET HOME!  A full scale power ottage would make me instantly reconsider working closer to home where contingency planning is easier.  

I was exhasperated yesterday -- and had to pee :) -- and I can empathize with big city workers and their reliance on being able to exit the rat race -- be it in cars or public transport.  I took the train for 4 years and it was okay except for those occasions where power went out during hot evenings, especially on one HOT FRIDAY summer night.  That's when I switched to driving, next I will just quit and work closer.

[Guest Wellington]

Hi

yes, got some news on the radio this morning, and a live interview of a new-yorker. 18th floor with no light... no tap water... car locked in the basement... no phone (he had batteries for his own)... no news (who has a battery operated radio nowadays?)... no fridge... every shop closed... They got some lessons from precedent events like this one, for example, they anticipated the water shortage by filling a bath as soon as they could.

50 million people with no electricity! Make it last more than one week and I truly wonder what the consequences would be on society! Where to find even a sandwich? Natural selection would be acting fast I guess, with survival of the fittest. It might be far worse than any catastrophy: instead of mutual help and compassion, envy would arise quickly in minds, leading to non politically correct behaviours, I guess.

I truly hope it will be over soon! Big luck it is summer and not the coldest of winter...

Regards

[Raven Wolf]

This seems very insignificant... in light of all the people having to live through it first-hand... But it's interesting how an event like that can effect the life of someone far away from it.  I'm in Georgia, and the man I'm seeing, Kayan Kolli, works in Cleaveland, though he lives in Georgia!  He's supposed to come home this weekend, and it will be interesting to see if his flight ever even makes it off the ground!

~Raven Wolf (Erin)

[Guest nuno]

Hi, i live on the other side of the atlantic but, i heard on the news about the power outage. Here where i live we are use to power cuts so, we have flash lights at home or in the mail box at the entry of the bilding were we live. Many companies have their own power generatores and small business have ups to garanty some hours of power. Quality of life and evolution puts people in a gowing dependence of each other and in a larger dependence of complex vulnerable machines operated by someone we don't know, who's agenda we don't know. I don't want to sound paranoid but civilization teach us every day more about less. Some day we wont be able to dress ourselfes because something will do it for us. And if something goes wrong we all die because our teached inability for simple survivor.

[Guest Justa Fan]

Hats Off To All You New Yorkers!

Looks like New York got through the Blackout

pretty well.  Man, it's great to see a city as

big and sprawling as The Big Apple, pull together

and get through a real mess like the Blackout.

Well done NYC!!  

[Bardo Thodol]

I agree!  Hats off to NYers pulling through so well!  It is not a surprise actually, considering how you pulled together during 9-11!

And a special BRAVO to any of our members here who reside in NYC!

Scott