You know, I type this after the electricity has been off for almost 6 hours here in San Diego California. Right after it shut off we were in disbelief and then we scrambled to find batteries for flash lights, filled water bottles with water, move milk containers into the freezer, and dug through countless drawers looking for flashlights and a battery powered radio so we could tune in and find out how bad the power outage was.

Turns out that the power was off across 3 states, New Mexico, Arizona, much of Southern California, and parts of northern Mexico.
This is a wake up call! For me as a new father of a 14 month old baby girl and provider to my girlfriend and her two boys, I realized that we were COMPLETELY and ABSOLUTELY UNPREPARED for ANY kind of power outage.

The idea hit home while listening to the radio on my cell phone that food will only stay good in your fridge for 6-8 hours, and in the freezer for 2 days.

Let’s set some perspective. we have NO TRANSPORTATION! and NO CASH on hand! Only debit/credit cards, and they are WORTHLESS when the power is out!

This means we cannot go to the store, we can’t go to an ATM (no power to pull it out) and we’re completely at the mercy of the grid, and the city.

We live almost downtown in a small city north of San Diego proper. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, that I might not be able to feed my baby, and the boys. That scares the living daylights out of me!

Listening to the people on the radio they were saying the blackout covered an area of thousands of square miles, and many millions upon millions of people were without power for about 6 hours.

Fortunately the power was restored and I can type this message, but right away you realize things aren’t normal and you feel helpless, because you are helpless. Unless you’re prepared for something like this.

Water will not run forever when the power is out. It will shut down eventually. backup power systems only power the essential emergency systems like Medical, Police, Fire Dept, and other emergency systems. But even that is finite.

What if the power had stayed off for more than a week. Even three days would have been enough to spoil all the milk and meat we have in the freezer.

Veggies would go bad, all food in the fridge would spoil, and the frozen foods would last two days AT BEST.

That means 48 hours MAX before food and perhaps water runs out. What then?

What do you do when you have no food, no transportation, and no cash. You starve and die, or pack up and leave for somewhere safe that can provide you with a meal, shelter, clean water, and a place to sleep.

Problem is, the emergency services from city and county officials are not prepared to handle millions of unprepared people.

They have enough problems managing the city, county, police, fire, rescue and all the 911 calls reporting automobile accidents and injured people. They do not have time or the manpower to fix your problems.

That’s when I realized we were truly on our own, and it was left up to us, to provide and protect our own families. There was going to be no help. Once the food in the grocery stores (which were shut down) spoiled, then what? Where would we get food? Water? Shelter? Were we safe in our home in the city? Not if the power were off for any length of time. What if it were 3 days, 4 days, 5 days? What if it were a week or more? No stores would have food, we’d run out, and our dry goods in the pantry would only last 4-5 days, maybe a week MAX! We’d run out of food, and with no transportation, would have to call on relatives (if our phones still worked after a day or two).

This can’t happen. This is stupid. Why do we live on and take the grid for granted like it will always be there? It won’t.

We need to change!

We’re addicted to the grid! It’s time to get off the grid!

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Power Outage New Stories:

Mass blackout hits California, Arizona and Mexico: “A major power outage knocked out electricity to up to 5 million people in California, Arizona and Mexico, bringing San Diego and Tijuana to a standstill”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/09/blackout-california-arizona-mexico-san-diego

Major power outage in California, Arizona, Mexico; at least 1.4 mn customers were left without electricity:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/major-power-outage-in-california-arizona-mexico-at-least-1-4-mn-customers-were-left-without-electricity/articleshow/9920105.cms

1.4 Million Lose Electricity in Area Around San Diego

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/us/09power.html

Developing: ‘Massive’ Power Outage In San Diego, Points East

 

Southern California Hit By a Big Power Outage:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576559322589333398.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Power company employee caused massive blackout, utility says

“…An Arizona power company said Thursday that a worker probably caused the power outage that left large parts of Southern California and the surrounding region in the dark.

APS, which is Arizona’s largest electric utility said a power line was tripped near Yuma, Ariz., at 3:30 p.m. Thursday during maintenance work.

PHOTOS: Blackout leaves 1.4 million without power

“The outage appears to be related to a procedure an APS employee was carrying out in the North Gila substation, which is located northeast of Yuma,” an APS press release said. “Operating and protection protocols typically would have isolated the resulting outage to the Yuma area. The reason that did not occur in this case will be the focal point of the investigation into the event, which already is underway.”

San Diego Gas & Electric said it is attempting to begin restoring power in some areas. But they said the outage might last into Friday evening in some areas.

More than 1.4 million people in a large swath of Southern California and beyond were affected as a blackout brought normal life to a halt….” SOURCE http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/power-company-employee-caused-massive-blackout-utility-says.html

One Electrical Worker Blamed for Leaving Millions Without Power in California, Arizona and Mexico

“A single worker’s error led to a massive power outage that swept across Arizona, Southern California and Mexico, left millions of people in the dark and brought major West Coast cities to a standstill, according to a local power company.

The North Gila-Hassayampa 500 kV transmission line near Yuma, Ariz. was tripped offline when a single APS employee was carrying out a procedure in the North Gila substation, according to Arizona Power Service.”

http://abcnews.go.com/US/electrical-worker-blamed-leaving-millions-power-california-arizona/story?id=14478198

 

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