10 things the recent D.C. power outage taught us about a real, large-scale collapse

Natural News ^ | 7/8/12 | Mike Adams

[Kartographer]

#1) The power grid is ridiculously vulnerable to disruptions and failure

#2) Without electricity, acquiring food and water in a major U.S. city can become a difficult task

#3) Most people are simply not prepared and therefore worsen any crisis

#4) Cell phones are a fragile technology that can't be counted on in an emergency

#5) The internet is wildly vulnerable to natural disasters

#6) Many people have no clue what to do in an emergency

#7) 911 and other emergency services are quickly overwhelmed or completely offline

#8) A national grid-down situation would be far more complex to repair

#9) Modern cities are built on systems that have little redundancy

#10) Mother Nature will humble humanity

[Kartographer]

I understand that a few FReepers have a grudge with Mike Adams, but I thing over all this article is a fair assessment of the recent VA/DC power outage.

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!

[molson209]

lots of those trees that crushed houses looked like they were rotten in the center of the trunk ,just waiting to fall down

[nascarnation]

Don’t know who the guy is, but most of what he wrote makes sense.

Without electricity, heap big trouble Kemosabe.

I suspect the reason it didn’t turn really ugly in DC is because the LEO presence there is massive.

In Cleveland, Detroit, or Chicago it likely would have been pretty out of control.

[Tzimisce]

#11 - our government doesn’t care about the suffering of the little people

[grumpygresh]

Any recommendations for generators?

[PapaBear3625]

#11: If you switched your phone to fiber-optic service, your landline phone will only work for a few hours after power goes out. A decade ago, the phone system supplied its own power over the phone line. Now, with fiber, it relies on a rechargeable battery in your basement, which will only last a few hours.

[MeganC]

“Any recommendations for generators?”

Yes.

1. Buy something that is QUIET so your neighbors don’t hear it and try to steal it.

2. Have a professional install it *inside* your house with the exhaust routed out an inconspicuous place on your roof.

3. During a crisis be SURE to turn off your lights, radios, and etc. at night so no one can see that you have power.

4. Buy something that is fuel efficient and powerful enough to run your refrigerator and your well (if you have one) and then buy a second one as a backup.

5. Buy a large enough firearm with plenty of ammo to protect it.

[Kartographer]

"#3) Most people are simply not prepared and therefore worsen any crisis."



Do be that guy! Don't be the guy standing on the bridge waiting for FEMA to bring him a bottle of water, an MRE and a warm blanket so as to provide the Network Anchors their background ‘Money Shot’.

I am not saying that you have to prep for Mad Max/Book of Eli, but things can easily breakdown for 30 to 60 days during which basic supplies, goods and services stop, banking stops (No checks No Credit Cards, No Debit Cards so on...) now how many people do you think are ready for such?

And between those not ready and those who have always had the ‘gubberment’ hand them everything what do you think the reaction will be?

Their reaction I think can be summed up in one of my favorite quotes:

Quark: Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They’re a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don’t believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes. ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’: The Siege of AR-558 (#7.8)” (1998)

For those who are just starting or are old hands at prepping you may find my Preparedness Manual helpfull. You can download it at: http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf

NOTE! THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD. I DO NOT MAKE ONE CENT OFF MY PREPAREDNESS MANUAL!

For those of you who haven’t started already it’s time to prepare almost past time maybe. You needed to be stocking up on food guns, ammo, basic household supplies like soap, papergoods, cleaning supplies, good sturdy clothes including extra socks, underwear and extra shoes and boots, a extra couple changes of oil and filters for your car, tools, things you buy everyday start buying two and put one up.

As the LDS say “When the emergency is upon us the time for preparedness has past.”

Or as the bible says: A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. NIV Proverbs 22:3

Lastly this for the doubters and the scoffers.

“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger. Underestimation can be fatal.”

[molson209]

#11 - our government doesn’t care about the suffering of the little people

if Bush was president ,the Dems would be on TV attacking him ,but with Obama ,nothing ,crickets

[Paladin2]

It's always a BIG deal when calamity hits DC or NYC. Not so much in flyover country where folks seem to get hit more often and are more prepared to cope, on average.

Of course the media hand wringing alone is enough to make eschew living anywhere close to either place.

[Paladin2]

It's always a BIG deal when calamity hits DC or NYC. Not so much in flyover country where folks seem to get hit more often and are more prepared to cope, on average.

Of course the media hand wringing alone is enough to make me eschew living anywhere close to either place.

[Kartographer]

I don't have any certain one or even brand in mind. I would say if you can afford it and you live some where with frequent power outage that a backup unit power by natural gas would be good, but there was a FReeper in Virginia and a tree ripped up the gas line to his when it went over so one never knows!

Anyone have any recommendations?

[discostu]

#11 things don’t really collapse

Really, things have gone pretty smooth in there. Civilization has a lot of inertia.

[MeganC]

Wow, I’ve just looked at your .pdf and it is amazing! Thank you for posting that!

[COBOL2Java]

#11: If you owned this car, you were screwed!

[mamelukesabre]

forget it.

As soon as the sun goes down you will be a magnet for thieves and bandits. People do not go to sleep when it is 90 plus degrees inside their homes. They will go wandering about like the walking dead creating all kinds of mischief because there is nothing else to do in the dark when the power is out and you can’t sleep.

[PLMerite]

“I suspect the reason it didn’t turn really ugly in DC is because the LEO presence there is massive.”

That, and a couple of other things.

The power outages were spotty so a person could go somewhere to cool down, get ice, etc.

It was just too damn hot the first two days for anyone to get too riled up. Food was still availale, and power restoration started in some neighborhoods on Monday.

If everyone who was without power Friday night (like me) was still without power a week later, then it would have started to get bad. I got power back tuesday night and in the meantime had been able relocate a few miles up the road to someplace with electricity, comms and a/c.

[Paladin2]

Inverters hooked to a car battery or two are pretty quiet. The pseudo ("modified") sine wave ones are cheap and can run radios and lights well on extension cords run into the house. The car can recharge the battery. That works well for a couple of days ('cept for the 'fridge/furnace). A sine wave inverter can run the motors in a furnace or 'fridge, but they cost more). A couple of solar panels would be a big help

I'd think that a Diesel generator would be the way to go as it's easier and safer to store Diesel than gasoline).

I'm not sure how long the natural gas utilities will be supplying gas when the big one hits, but as long as you have a good supply of gas or propane, you might consider a generator powered by one (or more) of those fuels).

Redundancy or alternative power supplies would seem like a good idea.

[I Drive Too Fast]

That would fall under “Charging times will vary” as in VERY long.