I am surprised that nothing is mentioned about weather, as people have been moving to cities that are dependent on air conditioning.
It estimates that about 1% of the population [of Phoenix], or 13,250 people, would die, and half the city, or 816,570 people, would be put in emergency rooms if power was completely out for two days, then slowly restored throughout the region over the next three.
There was a multi-state blackout in 2003 that lasted up to 4 days in some areas. It was pretty bad. The gas pumps, requiring electricity, didn’t work. People quickly ran out of gas and left their cars abandoned at the station, waiting for power to be restored.
I had about half a tank and remember just heading west, hoping I hit an area with power before I ran out of gas… thankfully I did.
I feel for you. Went one to two weeks without power a few times from hurricanes over the years. One time our power came on after two weeks just as I came home. I had two hours to enjoy it before a storm came through and knocked it out again. Had to wait a few more days. I had a super loud gas generator and was worried about the noise but my neighbor just begged me to use it to dry her hair. I threw an extension chord over the fence and told her to keep it there.
If America went dark I think parts of it would be OK. ERCOT and hurricanes have forced quite a bit of resilience throughout my region.
I know of multiple people in the TX hill country with thousands of gallons of buried propane on site and brand new generators waiting to be fired up for the very first time. If the weather is mild, most of these people could go two solid months before refueling.
Some parts of the country are going to be more resilient than others.
I grew up 45 minutes away from Boston and all of the neighbors had standby generators. Even more have wood stoves. Water is abundant. Actually a lot of the old houses were built pre electrification or shortly after so there’s no limit to how long you could survive without the grid.
It estimates that about 1% of the population [of Phoenix], or 13,250 people, would die, and half the city, or 816,570 people, would be put in emergency rooms if power was completely out for two days, then slowly restored throughout the region over the next three.
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2023/06/05/study-phoenix-face...
I had about half a tank and remember just heading west, hoping I hit an area with power before I ran out of gas… thankfully I did.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003
I know of multiple people in the TX hill country with thousands of gallons of buried propane on site and brand new generators waiting to be fired up for the very first time. If the weather is mild, most of these people could go two solid months before refueling.
I grew up 45 minutes away from Boston and all of the neighbors had standby generators. Even more have wood stoves. Water is abundant. Actually a lot of the old houses were built pre electrification or shortly after so there’s no limit to how long you could survive without the grid.
WTF NYT?