Life without Electricity

Don M.

Don M.

SF VIP
Location
central Missouri
These last few weeks have seen some extremely bad storms and the Mexican earthquake. One of the worst "side effects" that may cause major human suffering is the almost total loss of the electrical infrastructure in Puerto Rica. Even the most optimistic projections call for most of that island to be without power for many weeks...perhaps months, in some areas. Given that electrical power is perhaps the most important source of maintaining decent and civilized living conditions...lighting, communications, climate control, food and fuel distribution, etc., etc., it will be interesting to see how the people of that area cope with such a loss. Given the massive destruction, I would not be surprised if a major share of that population exercises their citizenship rights, and tries to migrate to the mainland U.S.
 

I wouldn't blame them at all for trying to migrate to the mainland US, Don. Life without electricity for extended periods of time is almost impossible. I often thought about the electrical grid going down in the US due to an attack or natural event. Like you say, there would be no gas, computers run everything including the pumps. Without gas, no food or supply delivery, no service at hospitals, etc. People soon turn to looting and crime to take from others so they can survive. I think it's terrible what's happening in Puerto Rico, Mexico and all places affected by these disasters.
 
It will definitely be rough for the people in Puerto Rico.

With the other storms on the US mainland we have been able to draw resources from other areas of the country but it is not as easy or practical to deploy men and machinery from other power companies to assist the island with repairs.

I have lived for brief periods without electricity and the conveniences that come with it but I've done it in places that were compatible with the situation. IMO it would be extremely difficult to cope with the loss of electricity in my modern city apartment.

It would not surprise me at all if many people come to the United States. It may become a humanitarian option for the United States government to airlift the most vulnerable and distribute them to temporary homes on the mainland until repairs can be made.

My biggest concern for Puerto Rico is that they are the last in a string of natural disasters. Governments, charities and individuals develop a sort of giving fatigue after already helping so many people that it can leave these most recent victims in a precarious position.
 
From what they were saying on our local radio station this morning, Congress is already preparing to send aid and help rebuild PR again. Even at best, though, it is still going to take time, because the country was so badly devastated by hurricane Irma.
We have an online friend who lives in the Domican Republic, and he said that they are used to have power intermittently, so they are already pretty well set up for that. They use rian barrels and water tanks to collect water, and make use of the electricity when it is on.
It is very likely that some of the people in PR might also be used to not always having electrical or water, and if so, then they would cope with it better than we can here, where we are not equipped to live without conveniences.
When we had the bad tornadoes here in 2011, we were without power for almost two weeks, and the whole city of Huntsville was shut down. No stores were open because there was no electricity, signal lights were out, and for the first few days, all of the roads were pretty much impassable anyway because of the trees and power lines that were down.
Everyone was stuck at home (or sometimes at work) with whatever preparation that had on hand, and it was over 24 hours before emergency services even started coming through our neighborhood. Once they finally could get through, it was non-stop sirens for another whole day as they rescued people trapped in the rubble.
With a tornado, there are often no warnings ahead of time, whereas with a hurricane, they knew it was coming from days ahead, and people had some time to prepare.
Hopefully, we will get some help down to PR right away and help them to get power and water as fast as possible.
 
It's very hard to get help to them, as their airports and roads are out of commission. How would the help get there? Maybe air lifts? Dropping food and medical supplies via helicopter?

Don, for those who are able bodied and have the means to escape, it would make absolute sense for them to come here by any means possible. Nothing for them down there but illness, poverty, misery, and death.
Of course, anybody in his right mind would try to get out!
 
there is a very large naval base in puerto rico at roosevelt roads. the navy has large power generating ship and cargo ships that can do most of the work.... (i think they still have them)
 
I wonder if the Naval base is that speck of light at the right side of the big island in the lower photo.

hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-power-outage.jpg
 
We had one last week for about 24 hrs before they corrected it.

About the only thing you could do was to go to bed.

I'm seriously thinking of buying a generator.
 
I think we in the more developed parts of the world would have much more difficulty adapting than our ancestors, who were more adept at homesteading and living off the land. I have liked watching Alaska:The Last Frontier on TV. The Kilcher family lives a homesteading life with few luxuries. They hunt their own food, have root cellars, and are quite self sufficent.
Longest I have gone with now power was about a week, back in 1991 when we had a major ice storm here. But my apartment still had water, and was warm despite no heat. Plus I had a gas stove, so could cook.
 
I don't know what the answer is but my heart goes out to our friends in PR. Whatever it is we gotta do, we gotta do. Bring the troops home for wherever and use the $$ to bail out PR.
 
We've been really fortunate over the years in that our electrically heated home has never lost power for more than about 12 hours, though a couple of times it happened in the middle of some bitter cold weather. Once it went out while I was away in FL on a business trip in the middle of January. My poor wife was able to give me updates via her cell phone. Power came back after the electric company fixed something in the line under our street. My wife said the house got pretty cold. When we had a major ice storm here several years ago, our block lucked out, but much of our downtown was dark for a week. It was strange getting out of my car in a pitch black parking garage and finding my way to the train by tiny flashlight.

I can only begin to imagine how difficult it must be for those in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands if you don't have a generator. I referred to this book in another thread, but the book "One Second After" goes into great detail about the impact on society when a small town (and the entire country) loses power after an EMP attack destroys the electric grid. It brought to light things like the shelf life of insulin and how it has to be refrigerated. All the little things we take for granted are gone in the blink of an eye.
 
Falcon said:
We had one last week for about 24 hrs before they corrected it. About the only thing you could do was to go to bed. I'm seriously thinking of buying a generator.
Click to expand...

I bought a generator when we moved to the country, and have only had to use it one time....when a big tree fell over a power line, and we lost power for about 18 hours. I run it for a couple of minutes every month, to keep it in good shape in case we ever need it....but, I've only needed it that one time in 15 years. However, it's one of those things that "if I have it, I may never need it". One of the neighbors up the road had a tree fall into his power pole and snap it, back in 2015, and they came down here and had a warm meal, and a shower while their power was being restored...took a full 24 hours for them to get back online. He now owns a generator.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I wonder if the Naval base is that speck of light at the right side of the big island in the lower photo.

hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-power-outage.jpg
Click to expand...
That Naval base was shut down but could still be maintained.

Years ago Navy Seals trained out of that base. VW4 the hurricane hunter squadron was there. Utility squadron VU8 was there. Spring board naval exercises were conducted in that area. Don't know why the base was shut down because it was a strategic location.

Meanwhile try to imagine the chaos if the top northern states lost electrical power for months during the coldest part of winter. It's possible but I won't say how.
 
Something all should watch is this bit about putting glass panels on your roof to generate power. Sure sounds good and some expect to make money doing it. But, certain power companies are starting to wake up and beginning to change their rate schedules to provide for charges to pay for the centralization and distribution of all electricity so even those thinking they are generating power should get by freely will find they must also pay for what the company provides.

Power companies and distributors need to have money to update and improve even when folks generate power on their roof tops. It is only fair to the self generating customers to also pay their share of running the power company and the distribution of power. In the evening the power companies are expected to be ready to provide power and distribute to their customers. During over cast days and during storms the customer expect to receive power and keep themselves safe and operating as usual. That means the power companies must be ready to operate 24 hours each day, even when the wind mills are turning or the solar cells are operating. We should all have to pay for that stand by effort or learn to do without every evening or during storms or when distribution is not working.

It seems to be a good idea but reality is starting to show some weaknesses that need corrected soon. Otherwise we should all get stand by generators ready to run anytime the distribution service fails to deliver.
 
Had a prolonged power outage back in the early 2000s, I picked up a 3500kw generator at Lowes, which provided power for the fridge, some lights and the TV. I keep fresh fuel on hand, and run the generator every so often to keep the carburetor from gumming up.
 
Laurie said:
Simply back to the days of my youth - oil lamps and candles.
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Yea, I remember those days. The kerosene lamps solved the lighting problem but not having a refrigerator to keep food fresh was difficult. Wood heat works okay if you have a wood stove and you can cook on it too. Doing the laundry is a bit of a problem. Forget the daily shower since there is no electricity for pumping. It's back to hauling water and heating it on the stove. Yeah, the good old days.
 
My parents had no electricity when they were growing up, but they were geared to not having it.

I am reminded that after hurricane Andrew in 1990s, the building code in south Florida was drastically tightened, I wonder if Puerto Rico will learn from that. They, like the Keys are in a primary storm path.
 
I think people who homestead, or live in areas where they choose to not have power, or limited use of power have it easier than folks in PR and other areas affected by the storms, as they are not prepared for long term without power. I feel so bad for PR especially, as many may not recover and as others have said, I am sure that we will see many migrate to the mainland permanently. PR was not in great shape before all this, financially, and with infrastructure. I feel it will not be able to come back completely without a lot more help from our government.
 
Don M. said:
I would not be surprised if a major share of that population exercises their citizenship rights, and tries to migrate to the mainland U.S.
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Central Florida is already seeing it, mostly family members of current residents. News clip showed 4 small children already in classroom with bi-lingual teacher.

About life without electricity .... it's like everything else. 200 years ago, no electricity-no problem and life was just fine because you don't miss what you never had but life today revolves around it. I think simple creature comforts such as nourishment and shelter will be restored in P. R. fairly quickly but return to previous living conditions will be slow and costly.
 
If I were a resident of PR, I would be placing a move to the mainland as my highest priority. That Island has been a financial mess for decades, and there is little in the way of industry or resources to support the population. Some of the more populated areas there may get power back in coming days/weeks, but the poorer sections of the island may not see reliable power for months. Then, with most of the housing and businesses having sustained major damage, it may be next Summer before they get back to anywhere near normal. PR will not be able to finance much in the way of recovery, so the vast majority of the funding will have to come from our Congress, once again "manipulating" the national budget.

One thing that impressed me was the response of the people of Houston to Hurricane Harvey, It seemed that the Texans all came out and began helping each other as soon as the storm passed. I know the news coverage in PR has been minimal, at best, but I sure haven't seen any reports of large groups of PR's wading into the mess, and participating in the cleanup efforts.
 
Generators are wonderful but can be silent killers if not properly installed and managed. They produce carbon monoxide which is odorless and tasteless and of about the same density as air. Even if run outside, pockets of it can drift or be blown in through open doors or windows. In central Florida during last storm, people brought them into closed garages (to prevent thief) and lost their lives or the lives of children. Users, take care.

A few solar panels will produce an enormous amount of power, a little even on overcast days. The problem comes in storing it for use when it is dark. Not enough research and development has been aimed at safe, economical battery banks and inverters for individual use and power companies, of course, fight it. Today's solar power equipment will, at best, only cover simple basic needs, no power hogs such as AC

Maybe Puerto Rico will be the impetus for large scale development of solar/battery/inverter packages for use in homes. Good place for some government grants but probably won't happen.
 
helenbacque said:
Maybe Puerto Rico will be the impetus for large scale development of solar/battery/inverter packages for use in homes. Good place for some government grants but probably won't happen.
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Solar power for an individual house is still impractical....both functionally, and financially. I have a Son-in-Law who is a VP for a regional solar power company. They are lined up with work months in advance....almost all of it commercial. I once had him give me an estimate for a complete "off the grid" system, and it came to almost $20,000, with his discount. A major share of that cost is the huge bank of batteries it would take to supply power for potentially days, when we get into a siege of cloudy weather. Such systems might be practical in Arizona...but not the Midwest. Besides, we have very low electricity rates....8,2c/KWH...and it would take 10 years, or more just to break even.

Yup, a generator can be a deadly device if not used with good common sense. Running it in a closed garage would be much like leaving the car engine running...a death wish. The few times I've used mine, I place it several feet from the garage door, then close the door, so only the cord comes through the bottom of the door. Besides, a generator is only practical for short periods of use...the cost of fuel, and the frequent refilling required quickly drives the cost of electricity sky high. Mine will run about 2 hours on a gallon of gas....that easily surpasses $25 a day to run it.
 

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