# What happens if there's a long-term electricity outage that covers a large area? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829 "2022-02-20T18:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/61 "2022-02-27T15:26:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Afterwards, a friend was complaining about the horrible timing of the storm. She had just stocked up on meat, and ended up throwing out the contents of her freezer. > > I was puzzled. It was in the low teens the entire time. My freezers are in an unheated back hall. And they’re chest freezers. If the temperature’s averaging below freezing nothing’s going to thaw out there. I’d have more trouble with a long outage in warm or hot weather than in cold – while my wood stove is a heating stove, not a cookstove, it does have surfaces that I can cook on (and often do, in the winter, for stews etc. that need long cooking times but not precise temperature control.) But running it when the weather’s warm would make the house unbearable quickly; and the freezers would probably only hold a couple of days at most, less if it were really hot. I don’t have a generator. I wouldn’t go hungry – there’s plenty of food that doesn’t need the freezers, much of which can be eaten without cooking, and I could make a fire pit outdoors if I had to – but I probably would lose some stuff; and as most of my neighbors also have freezers, a party to eat it all might not work as there might be more food than people. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/62 "2022-02-27T22:05:15Z")
Just to say a few words from a utility point of view. I live in a country with an island system (no synchronous connection, although we do have some DC interconnectors). If the whole system goes dark, this is called a Blue Alert. It is not necessarily going to be either quick or straightforward to get the system energised again. There is real risk of damage to key infrastructure both during the initial cascade failure and (if you get it wrong) while re-energising. Large transformers and switchgear are long lead-time items and could take many weeks to replace. We have a plan but fortunately we have never needed it. The transmission system will be sectionalised into three regions, each of which has a generating station capable of black start. For example, in one region there is a pumped storage plant with 3 large generators and 1 much smaller generator. The small one is purely for black start in an emergency of this kind. Once you have one generator running, you can start to energise other units in the same station, then other stations, then start switching in loads. Someone mentioned natural gas. There is a considerable amount of gas “stored” in the transmission system. This is called linepack. There are tolerances for the pressure in each part of the system, and any pressure in excess of the minimum acceptable pressure represents gas that can continue to be drawn down even if the compressors are unavailable. Depending on the state of the system at the moment power is lost, this could maintain supply to consumers for several days. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/63 "2022-02-28T11:51:01Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Just one minor question with that long post - I live in a relatively flat area. How long can you keep flushing the toilet (let’s say, even with melted water) before there’s nowhere for it to go with a municipal sewer? yes there will be a lot less flushes, but I assume the sewer system runs on (grid-powered) pumps too? Mostly the sewer system relies on gravity: the pipes are all sloped to flow downhill. But there are places where it can’t go downhill anymore, and yes, there are powered lift stations to raise the sewage up so it can flow down the next hill. The Practical Engineering channel on YouTube does a fantastic job of covering civil engineering topics, and he covered this exact topic less than a month ago: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eHAsuPVBwYM/maxresdefault.jpg "How Do We Pump Sewage?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHAsuPVBwYM) Every now and then you hear news of a sewage spill somewhere, and a power or mechanical failure at a lift station is one potential cause. Keeping lift stations operating is pretty important, so backup power generation or pumping capacity is pretty important: > **[How To Keep A Lift Station In Service During A Power Outage](https://blog.craneengineering.net/how-to-keep-a-lift-station-in-service-during-a-power-outage)** > > Power or no power, the wastewater does not stop flowing. Therefore, municipalities across the state must have a backup plan for each of their lift stations. Learn how municipalities handle these challenges and which method is gaining popularity. > **[A Lift Station That Won’t Fail | Municipal Sewer and Water](https://www.mswmag.com/editorial/2017/06/a_lift_station_that_wont_fail)** > > MSW serves municipal decision-makers, sewer and water directors, technicians and private water and wastewater contractors who install, inspect, maintain and rehabilitate sewer, water and stormwater infrastructures. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/64 "2022-03-01T07:14:33Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > In fact, there was a warning on social media a few years ago - thieves in a neighbourhood where nobody was home during the day (or overnight) could fashion a hook from a coat hanger that would be inserted through the gap at the top of the door and snag the handle of the manual release. they pull to release the latch, and then the garage door could be lifted up manually. If you’re like me, the door from the garage into the house is not locked. (But in my case, they’d set off the alarm) In the case of an extended power outage, of course, the alarm wouldn’t work, but for normal times, yeah. Our garage does have a locking mechanism, where we can actually turn a handle which sends out bars that lock into holes in the track - which would foil or at least slow down any casual thieves. That’s a little trickier to use if you’re leaving home for the day, of course - requires you to pull the car into the driveway, turn it off, go into the garage, lock the garage door, then presumably go into the house and exit via a different door to get back to the car. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/65 "2022-03-01T23:44:56Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > > [@pullin](#): > > > > _We looked at our 2-month store of canned, frozen and freeze-dried food… and shook our heads in amazement._ > > > > [snip] > > > > _We looked at our months+ storage of potable and non-potable water (375 gallons)… and shook our heads in amazement._ > > You apparently do not realize that many millions of people live in apartments, where there is literally NO PHYSICAL ROOM to store such quantities of supplies. I live in a small, one bedroom apartment. I have several weeks worth of food on hand. Working on backup water, only have about 1 week’s worth but I’ve room for about month’s worth if I am very frugal with it. About a month after I moved into the place we had a boil water order. My neighbors were freaking out. For me it was just an annoyance. I don’t have @pullin’s resources, but it is certainly possible for apartment dwellers to have some reserves. And there are some interesting ways of incorporating your stash into your living area so it’s not immediately apparent what you have and where, and you’re not tripping over it. Admittedly I’m probably a bit more of a prepper than average. > [@pullin](#): > > I was as stumped as you that people exist who actually don’t know how to release a garage door, or even turn off their home’s water system in an emergency. I not only know where the control valves are to shut off the water to my toilet, sinks, water heater, and bathtub (although that one is difficult to get to), but also the value for the entire apartment AND the one for the entire building. I notice things like that. I guarantee most of my fellow tenants haven’t a clue. The biggest problem I would have where I currently live is backup heat. The insulation on this place is terrible to non-existent and there isn’t an alternative to apartment heating system if the electric is out. That’s the most difficult problem for an apartment in my opinion. The place might get you out of the wind, but with no heat they situation gets hazardous quickly in winter. Not the least because the neighbors might get hazardous ideas about how to keep warm. > [@md-2000](#): > > Electric garage door openers have an emergency release cable, for if the opener fails. I had to use it when my chain-drive broke, until the replacement was installed. Surely everyone knows that? (“Don’t call me Shirley!”) No, a lot of people don’t know that. Also, some people aren’t physically strong enough to open some of the larger/heavier garage doors. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/66 "2022-03-02T11:25:28Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The biggest problem I would have where I currently live is backup heat. The insulation on this place is terrible to non-existent and there isn’t an alternative to apartment heating system if the electric is out. That’s the most difficult problem for an apartment in my opinion. The place might get you out of the wind, but with no heat they situation gets hazardous quickly in winter. I bought two of the indoor-safe propane space heaters for this. [Walmart](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mr-Heater-MH9BX-9000-BTU-Propane-Portable-Buddy-Heater-MH9BX/55234301?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=5316&adid=2222222227755234301_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-293946777986&wl5=9027283&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=55234301&wl13=5316&veh=sem_LIA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2JPavqen9gIVwStMCh3h0Q35EAQYBCABEgLA0fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) carries them for $84.00 each. Add a some 1 pound (lantern-sized) propane tanks and you’ve got decent heat for quite a while. IIRC, each little propane tank will run for about 6 hours. One of these would keep an apartment (or at least a few rooms) comfy for quite awhile. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/67 "2022-03-03T11:18:54Z")
It would be the heat that would be the killer here if it happened in the summer. Too many houses and apartments were and are built on the cheap. Heat gets in easily. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/68 "2022-03-03T14:44:20Z")
I’ll keep that in mind but honestly I’d have to figure out which furniture item I’d have to remove from my home to make room for it. It’s really a small space. Thanks for the suggestion. If I had to hunker down due to heat failure I’d probably try to keep just the bed room heated - it’s furthest from the entrance to the outside which will help keep the heat in, it gets solar heating in the daytime with its southern exposure, and if the rest of the place gets cold it doesn’t matter so long as I and the birds can keep ourselves warm. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/69 "2022-03-03T14:49:33Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > It would be the heat that would be the killer here if it happened in the summer. Too many houses and apartments were and are built on the cheap. Heat gets in easily. Yes, that’s a problem, too. Fortunately, I have great cross-ventilation and battery-operated fans for that problem. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/70 "2022-03-04T02:38:57Z")
Here people will decamp to hotels. It’s just miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/71 "2022-03-04T15:42:57Z")
That only works if the hotels have power, too. During the Northeast Blackout of 2003 my parents had the problem of medically-fragile mom and no power. And no hotels with power. Dad wound up packing mom into the car and driving west until he found a hotel with the lights still on. It took the better part of a day to do that. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829/72 "2022-03-04T17:36:00Z")
Monsoon storms very rarely hit everywhere here. A hotel 10 minutes away might have power. But the power cutting out everywhere here in the summer? People will die. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-theres-a-long-term-electricity-outage-that-covers-a-large-area/959829.md?page=3)