Just when you think one person can't possibly make a difference in this over populated world we live in, some random event happens to prove you wrong. It took just one ordinary Arizona power company employee to throw 4 million people into chaos. Wow! That's a major coup! One dude in a uniform doing routine maintenance disrupted the lives of 4 million people spanning two countries. A cell of committed terrorists couldn't have done better.
In the middle of a heat wave with temperatures in the 100's, millions lost power, not because there wasn't adequate power but because the grid providing the power went down. My Girl in San Diego was in the center of the gridlock trying to drive the 25 miles home from work with no traffic lights. When the power went down everyone from all over San Diego County left work and the transportation system just isn't designed to handle an entire county on the move at the same time. To make matters worse there simply aren't enough cops to do traffic duty so every intersection is a 4 way stop. Some people abandoned their cars by the side of the road. Others heeded the call of nature despite onlookers. With so many on the roads, anyone requiring roadside assistance was on their own.
Our reliance on electronics makes a power outage a personal disaster in a severe heat wave. People on oxygen were advised to go to a hospital to avoid overheating their oxygen tank and risking an explosion. Scary! As temperatures rise in your house to over 90 and your refrigerator remains quiet, what food you have begins to warm and spoil. Lots of garbage for next week's pickup. If you have cash you can't buy food because the stores have closed as have the restaurants. If you don't carry cash like many of us who rely on ATM/Debit cards, you might as well be flat broke because you have no way to get any money. Water was the only utility my girl in San Diego had at her house.
Those on the edge of the outage could drive to areas with power. A friend and her family were able to get to a restaurant and eat in air conditioned comfort before returning to sleep in their 90 degree house. The Boy lives on the edge with power so he was lucky and could turn on the AC in the 100 degree heat. BTW why doesn't a keyboard have a degree sign?
Of course a day without power is nothing compared to the suffering endured by people in areas hit by hurricanes and tornados. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't make the people affected by the power outage feel much better. When I was a kid I never wanted to "clean my plate" just because "people in China" were starving. How was that supposed to make me hungry? Same thing applies here. How does knowing that some people are homeless due to a hurricane make it easier to sleep in 90 degree heat?
There are lessons to be learned here. The same ones all Californians should know by heart. Always carry some cash in small bills. Keep a supply of water at your house and in your car. Carry comfortable shoes in your car. Stock up on flashlights and batteries. And in this day and age keep all of your electrical devices charged. That means laptops, phones, iPads, iPods, Kindles and any other device necessary for communication and entertainment. It's a real drag to get home and find all your electronics out of juice.
When the power comes back on, officials ought to be prepared for a massive surge as 4 million people plug in and power up. I hope they're ready.
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