disaster:- if there is no electricity....

Well 9 days at a stretch is too much and I don’t remember ever having to go thru such a nightmare. But being an Indian, I am fairly used to frequent power-cuts and we have emergency lights and small residential generators for it. But sometimes, due to some repair work, the lights are turned off and the pumps wont work and there is no water. However, in such circumstances, we are informed well in advance so we take necessary precautions like storing water.

hmmm. that means there's no way our office will be open so there's no work for a week.. and i got about 4 books at home that i've been meaning to read but can't seem to get time to read.. and i have three work-in-progress stories that i've been meaning to finish but can't find the concentration and energy to do so.. charcoal grilled food is my favorite.. breads in our neighbourhood are baked through wood fire ovens.. and aside from my mobile phone and laptop, there's nothing much to miss.. i think i'll survive.. even if life throw another more week as a bonus..

I think it would depend on your age and also your attitude how you would cope. Older people would be better prepared with candles, wood and perhaps even petrol and water stored. Canned goods for emergencies is also a good idea in case the refrigerator doesn't work. A good supply of canned meats and veggies, powedered milk and grains, a camp oven and the means to make a fire for cooking are all necessary. Anyone who has been camping and roughed it would survive well provided they have supplies. People who are lazy and selfish and think only of themselves and care nothing for their environment would be hit worst of all. I'm thinking of those people who constantly waste water and electricity while seeing to their own comfort...the idea of not having airconditioning or a hot shower or phones or tv would drive these folk crazy in a short space of time. It's these people that would expect others to help and support them as if it was their right and others duty to do so.

We went without electric for a week but being it was winter and an ice storm brought the lines down behind our mobile home, we were able to move all our food outside to keep cold. Refridgerated food went into coolers surrounded by straw so they wouldn't freeze and the freezer food just went into rubbermaid containers and set out on the porch. We heated with a kerosene heater and cooked either on the charcoal grill or the camp stove. It was the best week of our life! I was also 8mos. preggy at the time.

What would I do if I had no electricity for a week? I would probably die after the first day! (LOL) I know I would probably go crazy without it, but that's to be expected, I suppose. I wouldn't like it very much. I wouldn't be able to go to work if there was no power since work probably wouldn't have power either. I don't know if the toilet would flush, but I would sure hope so! (Obviously, I haven't been without power for longer than a few hours.) I think I'd still be able to take a cold shower or bath even though I wouldn't be very comfortable doing so, so that would be ok. If there was no power in my town, then I wouldn't have to go to work, so I wouldn't have to have electricity to heat up my straightener to do my hair in the morning or to dry my hair after my bath or shower at night. I guess I'd probably just hope for a sunny day so I could lie around and read books all day. I absolutely love to read and don't really have enough time to do that nowadays. That would be the perfect time for me to do something like that. I'd also probably organize my room while it was light outside and get rid of unwanted items. I would organize my file box and perhaps even work on my scrapbook. It would actually be pretty fun now that I think about it!

Hi Bbsr, For me, I think I would be having less problem on it. At hoome we always store water on big container and spend it the next day. It is our way to be prepared of unannounced blackouts. Aside from that, we use wood as fuel, we used our hands to wash clothes and never have washing machine. To iron clothes, we can use charcoal. And at night, we can use lamp during blackouts, my mother has always prepared a lamp at home with full of gas. She stored it safely and in times of blackouts we used that instead of candles or flashlights. During the day, I would just read books, as I love reading. I have no time to read but if blackout will occur for a day or a couple of days, then that would be a good opportunity for me to read books. I would be bored a little bit anyhow because I will not be able to check mylot, to watch our favorite noon time game show and night soap operas.

I remember the incident you are talking about, (at least I think so). Is what you are talking about when The East Coast as far West as Ohio and Michigan lost power? If that is the incident, I do remember that. It was something with a main power grid that went out. I was in the drivethru lane at Burger King, not far from my house. We heard a loud noise and that was that, no power for days. Things shut down. I was so very lucky, one block away there was no power, my house was fine. Some of the lucky ones had generators. Overall people were lucky it wasn't in the winter. I suppose if it did happen to me, you deal with it. You can't change it. I would not like it, I don't even like it when it happens for a few hours. You don't know how much you miss something till its gone.

Well I will do what all the others do.I will rely in oil lamps and try to remember the days and relive the life of our ancestors.If you cannot beat it love it is my policy.

oh my gosh, i dont know what i will do, specially now most of our things is from elctronics,i think it will be not easy for all of us.

I did not experienced that yet but if ever then i maybe at a loss since ive got no preparations for the next few days..no food , water and other important things..

It depends on what time of year it is. In summer people could survive, but in winter it would be a disaster. Here in Manitoba, unless you lived in the country, had a wood burning stove or gas, plus candles, there would be bodies in the street, especially in winter. Even our gas furnaces require electricity to start the pilot lights. Top it off that there is a law that saws you cannot burn refuse, like wood and paper outside, so those who only have electricity and gas cannot even keep themselves warm. The country would survive, the cities would shut down and I am not talking about not being able to watch Opra on Tv, it would be no food except dry stuff and cans and with the law against not building fires outside, we could not even heat those. We would have to go to those who have wood burning stoves in their basements.

I'd do a lot of writing and drawing or hang out with my boyfriend and friends.No electricity needed.All that is needed is a candle or the warmth of our never ending love for each other.

Been there and done that. First time was due to hurricane and we were without for at least 2 weeks and some even longer. When we were able to find a store that was selling things, even though they had no elect. also, we bought what paraffin was left and was able to make a few candles since we had gas cooking stove. The second time was on Thanksgiving afternoon, watching Dallas Cowboys playing and we were having an ice storm and the power went out, we were without for several days. That time wasn't as bad since we had propane heaters, cook stove and had oil lamps, we lived in the country that time.

Well I think that if that would happen I would have to make the best of it ... If it consist of taking my family to another family members place and waiting it out then so be it. But I would have to do what ever is necessary to make it through.

I'm all set as far as power outages go. I've had it happen before where we were without power for almost a whole week and I've learned that the best way to handle it is to be prepared. I have a gas grill that I can cook on, and plenty of canned and frozen foods. I have extra drinking water stored in the freezer, and if I need more there is a natural spring that has approved drinking water coming from it. In the basement I keep large cans of water for flushing the toilet, since if there is no power the pump won't run. I also have an extra heat source that is free-standing and uses kerosine. The last time I lost power was in the winter time, and I almost froze! Plus I had no way to even heat a cup of something warm. I have it under control so that will never ever happen to me again!!

A couple of years ago our city was directly hit by a typhoon. We lost electricity I think for about a week. It was tough not having TV, computer, and refrigerator. It was a major hassle but we survived. This is something we should really prepare for. I heard there will be a major solar storm in 2012 and that will disrupt power grids all over.

If there was no electricity, most of my life would be shut down. Like everything in our lives runs on electricity such as our nightlife and especially all those heavy duty electronics that we love to utilize. I could never imagine not having any electricity at all and sometimes the simplest blackouts that only last maybe a couple of hours or less bugs me out. I definitely would have to cut back on a lot of things thought, that's for sure.

Been there...done that...got the T-shirt...After Hurricane Ivan...almost 2 weeks without power...so I know what I would do...I would just fire up my generator...

Like honeylore, this wouldn't phase me much. I have a two weeks' supply worth of food and water stored; I'm working on a bigger supply and of course I have medical supplies, etc. I have a flashlight in every room and more batteries for them all. I have a little grill put away for cooking, fuel for it, etc. Plus, I have two weeks worth of dog food for my dogs and all our medications that I rotate monthly! It always pays to be prepared. Don't ever, ever rely on any government agency or anyone else to help you--be responsible for yourself!

This is something that's easy to say cause electricity isn't a problem for me. I could light a candle and wait for it the electricity to come back. If it was for 9 days I probably would be out all day and sleep very early in the night.