People keep referring to the blackout from a few years ago. I remember it very clearly because it happened on the day of my bridal shower (August 10, 1996). The lights went out a few hours before we were supposed to get started. As my sister, my best friend and I tried to figure out what to do I realized that I didn't have a radio to hear the news. I went out to my car to listen to the radio and couldn't get any stations. It was very eerie. As I left my car people began leaving their apartments all along the parking lot. Each had a rumor. "The whole complex is dark." "The north Valley is dark." "All of Phoenix..." "All of Arizona..." I went inside and called my mom and she had heard that all the power was down from Washington to parts of Texas. Many wonderful friends braved the signal-less streets to come to my shower, and some of my neighbors pulled the gate to the parking lot open. I had my shower in the dark... and in the HEAT! I held my gifts up (carefully) to the candles I had (I am very into decorative candles, so had lots of those). About an hour after the party had mostly broken up the lights came back on.

The blackout came at a terrible time for Phoenix residents. We had already been bombarded with fierce summer storms that had downed power lines around the valley and APS was slow in getting some areas up again. My fiance was staying with his parents and their house was powerless for around one week.

I don't remember what the cause of that blackout was, but it seemed really stupid to me at the time (like a tree fell or something like that). I can't get this off my mind as I consider Y2K. It doesn't boost my confidence in utils.

Anyway, I will be relieved when this is over... sometime in '05 you say?

Sorry to be so gloomy :-(

Cel

-- Celestine (maxcel@swlink.net), December 15, 1999

Answers

I remember...

I was without electricity for 4 to 5 hours in the afternoon. It was a 110 plus August afternoon and my home got very HOT.

Eight states and part of Canada (the western grid). I think it started in Oregon (?). It was caused by something minor like a tree limb. Just a glitch (BITR). ;-)

We here in Phoenix could handle January weather better than August if we had no power. The desert (south) part of the state will have lows of 35 and highs of 65, give or take 5 degrees.

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), December 15, 1999.

Remember the (1966)November? blackout that did the East Coast and Canada? My dad had months of work "growing" in the greenhouse, mostly chrysanthemums for Thanksgiving, and, bingo, no heat. We never really lost power before that, so it was a big deal, coming at night and all. Anyway, Dad had to stay up all night in the cold greenhouse with smudge pots or some home made thing (we slept) and, finally, the power came back on. The other BIG ONE was 1977 summer/hot/thunderstorm and than, whack, no Con Ed and Harlem just exploded within no time. Scary stuff. Sometimes it seems like civilization has such a thin veneer of ,well, civility over it.

-- Dot (dromano03@snet.com), December 15, 1999.

I remember that one, pulled out the genny turned on the airconditioner, and watched movies on the tube (VCR).

Nothing like being prepared.

Things will get worse before they get better.

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), December 15, 1999.

In July of 1990 I moved to St. George UT. The day after I got there, a forest fire burned so hot that it took down several towers in the central part of the state, leaving the entire southern half of the state without electricity for almost a week. The temps there are almost as hot as Las Vegas, and it was well over 100 degrees the whole time. We had water, but nothing else. My neighborhood, for some reason, was the last sector to come back onto the grid. Every time they turned the switch, it shorted out. I don't know if they ever figured that part out. But I would still rather have hot weather and no electricity that to be here (Minnesota) in the winter without power. No question about it.

-- Liz (lizpavek@hotmail.com), December 15, 1999.

Cel,

I remember that day clearly, but in a positive way. I was over at my Dad's house when the power went off. My brother happens to have a generator. So, he fired it up and, viola, we had power. Plugged in the refrigerator, TV, fans, even streched a cord across the street so the neighbors could watch what was going on, on TV.

I know we weren't prepared for a sustained outage, like what Y2K could bring, but it demonstrates the value and comfort provided by just a modicum of preparation.

-- No Polly (nopolly@hotmail.com), December 15, 1999.

My deepest instincts have told me all along, if we continue to have power, we can pick up the pieces no matter how miserable they may be, without power, I don't really feel it's possible. I not looking forward to the wind chill in January off Lake Erie here in Buffalo, NY.

Without power, it's almost unthinkable. Don't even want to think about Lake Effect Snow!!!

-- Michael (michaelteever@buffalo.com), December 15, 1999.

I have been working on this heating problem in Wisconsin for over two years now and still don't have it licked. Can't afford a chimney for the wood stoves, am concerned about propane indoors and the generator is only good as long as we have heating gas and gasoline to run it. I'm finally down to this: if a person is indoors, dressed to the nines (and I don't mean fancy) and is reasonably well-fed, would that person be okay? Very cold, yes, but cold beyond functionality?

-- Clare (clarehamilton@mindspring.com), December 15, 1999.

If it started in Oregon it was a drunken squirrel jumping up and down on the tree limb that fell.

-- squeak (squeak@squeak.squeak), December 15, 1999.

Clare,

I'm in central Wisconsin and had my old 'show' fireplace torn out and a wooden stove put in and it is a beauty! If there is anyway you can get one put in, I'd do it. I had a local handy man buy it for me (used at an auction) for less than $100 bucks and install it. It was a major pain for him, but he did it. And it warms nearly half of my 1800 sq. foot home. Unbelievable. I'm completely sold.

Now, as for your question: If being dressed warmly is enough, I'd say probably not. No way. Not in Wisconsin winters. Try it sometime now just for a test.

(As you know) in January and February it get's so darn cold that you'll think you're literally going to freeze to death unless you have some kind of heat. Please think of a way to heat a small space if you can (extra insulation, vented kerosene heater, plastic sheeting, _then_ blankets, extra clothing, etc.).

Others will have better advice, but that's my $.02. Good luck!

I'm pulling for ya!

-- Lara (nprbuff@hotmail.com), December 15, 1999.

Problem WAS Y2k related. Brother-in-law is Vice-prez of elec. company on west coast. Said the black-out was due to Y2k testing, but won't tell press that because of definate (not possible) lawsuits that would entail.

-- justme (justme@myhouse.com), December 15, 1999.

We have rural electric here, and every time a cloud belches, our power goes out, sometime for hours on end. We can see the street lights on, (City power) and we are in the dark. We have had this to happen in the dead of winter and the heat of summer. I have two generators now, also a emergency water system to work the toilet, we are on septic. I have three water pumps, manual, and much water both potable, and for use in the toilet. If we have a very serious outage of power, somebody always gets sick, and needs the toilet in a hurry. You will find that is a real treasure in emergencies. Since Comarad Klinton said we are 99.9 percent compliant, I am really scared, that means that the government is probably at best about 5 percent compliant. Of course the bunkers state and federal government have are to improve the landscape.

-- Frank J. Surface (Fsur439@aol.com), December 15, 1999.

The most important thing is to create a "warm room" by closing off most of the house and heating the smallest space possible. Use tarps in open doorways, etc. If the space is small enough you can heat it mostly with body heat. Add insulation to the walls of whatever you select as your warm room, by blowing into wall spaces or hanging blankets.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), December 16, 1999.

Clare,

My first question to the forum upon GI was 'Warmest place in house with no heat'-- the link to that thread is:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0012IZ

and was just before the prep forum started up separately. You may also want to go over to the prep forum and take a look through the warmth threads.

Because we grew up without central heat and no insulation, I thought maybe we would be able to get by without a heat source-- same climate that your're in. However, since that time, a GI friend convinced me that we would not be alright without an alternate heat source. We bought some wood and will use our fireplace.

After being told countless times about the inefficiency of 'just a fireplace' I half began to wonder if people felt that it was better to go without heat altogether than to use a fireplace. It is the only option we happen to have.

Best wishes to you.

-- winter wondering (winterwondring@yahoo.com), December 16, 1999.

Click here

-- c (fr@f.l), December 16, 1999.

I have a later Victorian house in southern WI. We have a natural gas heater now--if I were to put a woodstove in the house, would it explose? Or in the basement?

-- jess (alisaunde@aol.com), December 17, 1999.