It was a normal Thursday afternoon in San Diego on September 8, 2011 when a significant occurrence happened that I will never forget. Wrestling with the idea that I needed to get my homework done and mulling about getting the everyday things done such as showering and laundry, suddenly I heard a strange mixture of clicks, pops, and alarms. I was confused at first but eventually I found out that the power had gone out. The alarm sounds were from “devices” in some of the apartments in my complex that make shrieking buzzing sounds when there is a disruption in power. I wasn’t very concerned since power outages happen from time-to-time and I was more concerned about the annoying alarms and the thought of my computer going into a hard shutdown. After a while, I started to get a little curious about this power outage. Looking at my phone, I realized I was getting no signal. So now I learned I wasn’t able to communicate or even find out what was going on as my Internet access wasn’t working on my phone.
It’s strange how little calamities like this can bring you closer to your neighbors, but there was nothing else to do other than ask around. Apparently, some people were able to get some calls on their phones. As time went on we got word that the power was out as far south as Ensenada, Mexico, then as far east as Arizona. I started to ask myself “where was there actually ANY power?” Was the whole country out of power?” Being so close to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was there some sort of terrorist attack? Realizing that this was not an ordinary power outage I became concerned for my safety and my ability to survive. Did I have enough food or water? What would happen when it got dark outside, would I be able to see? How long could I hold out with my supplies. How much gas did I have in my car? Could I get more gas if I needed it? I didn’t have much money in my wallet. Would I be able to pull money out of the bank if I could even get there?
More stories came in from people who had long delays in traffic. “It took me over an hour to drive 4 miles home from work,” one neighbor claimed. With all of the traffic lights out, traffic accidents and pile ups were all over the county and surface streets. Sirens from law enforcement and emergency vehicles heard from all around confirmed what others were saying. Law enforcement had become stretched thin. People trapped in elevators, stores had run out of water and ice, banks could not access anyone’s money. It was scary to think that our world was so fragile that a regional power outage could create such chaos.
Thankfully I was somewhat prepared for a situation like this. Although there were a few mistakes I made and this situation presented a nice little test for me. I was a bit of a hero in my apartment complex as my neighbors and I huddled around my wind-up radio that allowed us to get some information on the situation. The radio news reported that much of the west coast was under a major power outage. I also breathed a little easier knowing that I had a six-day survival pack, quite a bit of potable water at home and a lot of candles, flashlights and fresh batteries. Where I failed was having very little gas in my car and having almost no cash on hand. If for whatever reason I needed to travel somewhere, I would have absolutely no way of getting fuel for my car as there was no way to extract cash from my bank account. I also didn’t have an adequate supply of non-perishable food in the house. Rotating canned goods is something I used to do, but ended up throwing out some of the expired canned goods I didn’t use.
Thankfully the cause of the massive power outage was found within a couple of hours. Although we had our lights turned back on after six hours, some regions were without power for almost 24 hours.
All-in-all this experience was a nice lesson for me. While my neighbors used the opportunity to get together with their neighbors and share liquor with each other it was a bit of a wake up call for myself. The suddenness of being thrown into a situation that could have gotten much worse was a reminder that many survival situations come without warning. Also, it taught me to include disaster preparedness in my normal life. It’s the little things that matter such as keeping cash on hand, a regular rotation of food and the importance of making sure that potable water was accessible.