The third cup 8/17

Sunday, August 17, 2003

Hi neighbors. I hope you have batteries in your flashlights. And a thermos for your coffee. The big news this week was the east coast blackout. Not only that it happened, but why it happened, and how the people reacted to it. I was happily impressed with the people in New York City and every where else affected by the blackout. People were walking calmly down the streets, trying to get home before dark. As a Midwesterner, used to wide open spaces and easy transit, the sight of millions of people, some driving, but most walking; was fascinating. As the red eye of the camera would approach, people would smile and wave, and continue on their way. Some were eating hot dogs or other vendor foods as they walked. Many had several miles to trod to get home. Hopefully not in high heels. They all seemed calm and not even in too bad a mood. There weren't massive robberies, looting or murders. People were helping each other as best they could. Some citizens were directing traffic, some giving out ice cream and water because the heat was really bad. My first thought was to anyone who may have been caught in an elevator. I have been caught in an elevator when the power goes off, and I know the lights go out, the air conditioning stops, and the air circulation fan goes off. Very scary situation and life threatening in 90 plus heat. Why did it happen? No one wants to take the blame yet, but after the fear of terrorists and hackers declined, lightening was considered, a random fire, power surge, etc. When the answer is found, it will probably be a simple thing that malfunctioned. The problem is, one small thing breaking should not domino into several states without power. With all the emphasis on homeland security, I think we all assumed the government had set some regulations and inspections on the power companies. Maybe it's time we stopped "assuming" anything about the government's knowledge of what's going on. The homeland security information grid itself seemed to function as expected. Mayors, governors, and the federal offices were all in instant communication. Plans for dealing with terrorist emergencies served everyone well in dealing with this domestic emergency. That was a very comforting thought. Of course, even more comforting would be knowing that we have adapted old systems to prevent domestic emergencies from occurring when they are preventable. As this one was. I'm sure that qualified people will work out some solution that will make these types of power outages a thing of the past. But is that a safe assumption? We won't know till the next time it happens I guess. I feel some laws should be passed that certain buildings must have emergency generators; at least buildings where people live and office buildings more than five stories tall. Buildings with closed air circulation systems should have to have emergency power systems. Any multi-level building, either business or residential, should have one elevator designated as the emergency exit with it's own power source and ventilation system. I think all towns, including Nevada, should have designated shelters for storms, and other natural or other disasters with emergency generators and alternative communications and security systems. If you grew up in the country, being out in the dark with no lights isn't such a big thing. There's nothing darker than walking down a country road at night without even a flashlight. Before everyone had yard lights that came on automatically when it went dark, farm yards got pretty dark too. At least in the country there is often moon light to see by. But people who have grown up and lived in a large city take street lights and building lights for granted. Buildings towering overhead make moonlight ineffective. Walking down a city street, there are always lights. If one is burnt out, or broken, you go across the street to where a light works. I hope we don't hear any bad news about what happened in the black out. There was some good news. Millions of people got to see the stars above Manhattan! Maybe they caught a glimpse of Mars now so close to Earth for a short time. I hope so. Until the next time friends remember; familiar things look a lot different when the lights go out. Remaining calm and helping each other can make any situation look a lot brighter.

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