Power Outages - Inconvenient for Some; Life-Threatening for Others

[MineralMan]

We often take having electrical power for granted, as long as we pay our bill on time. Occasionally, though, most people experience a power outage at their home or work. We had one of those last night, starting at about midnight. Blink! The lights went out. So, we got up, grabbed the battery-operated lantern, turned it on and checked on the dogs, who appeared to be unaware of anything out of the ordinary. Then, my wife called to report the outage to the power company. That's always a good idea, just in case nobody else has.

Then, we went back to sleep. About an hour later, the lights came back on, waking us up, so we turned off the lantern and went back to sleep again. No big deal. The longest power outage I remember in my life lasted just four hours. They're a little inconvenient, but that's about it.

It's not just inconvenient, though, when it lasts for days or weeks, as is happening in Puerto Rico. People die in such cases. People in hospitals. People who depend electricity to operate medical equipment. Power outages like that are life-threatening, and the longer they last, the more dangerous they are. Generators can help, but they require fuel, which is often unavailable during widespread power outages. People's lives are in danger in Puerto Rico due to power outages.

So, the next time you have a brief one, try imagining what it would be like if it went on for days or weeks. That's scary stuff.

[Cattledog]

1. We were without power here in Atlanta for 4 days after Irma blew through.

Can't imagine what those folks in PR are going through.

[MineralMan]

2. Yes. And people in the Northeast often have multi-day

power outages after blizzards. That kind of outage is way more than inconvenient. Even longer outages become emergencies of their own. I hope Puerto Rico and the other places hit in the Caribbean are getting the help they need restoring power. Here in the US, a big-time outage gets electric utility trucks driving in from many other states to assist. That's not possible on an island.

[Siwsan]

3. I was a week without power, after an ice storm

It was Christmas week and it was also bitter cold. My house was so cold, you could see your breath. On the up side, I never lost anything that was in the freezer or refrigerator.

I had a fireplace for heat and eventually a generator to keep the sump pump running. Before that, for 2 1/2 days, every 45 minutes, or so, around the clock, I was lugging bucket after bucket after bucket of water up from the basement, to dump out the front door. I honestly don't know how I did it. At the time, my sister and mother were both suffering from serious health issues, so any spare family members were needed for them. People stopped by or called to check on me, whenever they could, but for the most part, I was on my own.

I spend most of my time flat out on the couch, in a down sleeping bag and under two feather comforters. Oh, and the cats were curled up, with me. I didn't change my clothes, and barely ate anything, for a week. I read books, during the day, but even then it was by candle or lantern light.

Then my brother stopped by and realized, just in time, that the wind shifted, and it was blowing some of the carbon monoxide fumes from the generator back into the house. It was out in the open doorway of an open screened in porch, but that wasn't enough of a precaution. It's always a risk, using a generator in a wide spread emergency situation. The entire county was sold out so they were at a premium. Putting it too far from the house risked someone stealing it. Putting it too near risked carbon monoxide. I was oblivious to what was happening to me and attributed the light headedness to breathing in some plain old gas fumes, that I could smell. Beling flat out on the couch kept me beneath the build up and having to leave the house to buy more gasoline helped to clear my head, but I know, for a fact, that my brother saved my life by running out and getting a carbon monoxide detector.

I never want to go through anything like that, again. My heart goes out to the people in Puerto Rico who will be suffering from the power outages, for a much longer and more dangerous amount of time.