Thursday, September 08, 2011

Sitting in the Dark

This afternoon at 15:40 I was talking to Lisa on the phone when suddenly my computer shutdown. I then realized that the power had gone out. Somewhere out in central Arizona the main high voltage line that feeds southern California was severed but so far no one knows why. Once that line went down the only other line feeding Southern California from the north quickly overloaded and it went down. The massive power surge automatically disconnected the two large nuclear reactors in San Onofre and the few remaining generators couldnt possibly meet the demand and all went of them went down. As I type this on my very cool Android phone everyone from the southern tip of the Baja of Mexico to the southern parts of Orange county and east to parts of Arizona are sitting in the dark. Of course I knew none of this so when I was talking to Lisa. I told Lisa that I had to take care of my press and test stations because if the power came on I could do some damage to them. Once I took care of all my equipment i decided to head over to the temple for my regular Thu shift. Listening to the radio as i negotiated threw all the non-functioning traffic lights i began to learn the magnitude of this problem, 1.4 million people have no power right now. People are stuck on rides at amusement parks, people are stranded downtown because the trolly isnt working, the airport is shut down, malls are in the dark and it being a hot day the temperature is beginning to rise all over. I continued on to the temple because i knew they had a backup generator. Once i got there however i learned that the generator keeps the lights on but doesnt run all of the equipment including the A/C. They told us to go home and that is when i saw what was happening to the freeways. You'd think the freeway would be the one good place to drive because there are no lights but every exit has a light and with no power the traffic was backing up onto the freeway. Even still it only took me 45 min or so to get home. I quickly filled several pitchers with water in case the pumps went down, i dug out my headlight and camp stove so i can cook dinner and read a book tonight. I dug out my windup radio so im sitting here listening to the news to see what is happening. I even fired up my ham radio to see what is going on but it wasnt too informative. My wifi has a back up battery so i still have an internet connection. My computer doesnt work (Lisa took the laptop) but my Android does. I charged up my phone in the truck so i can now post to my blog with my phone. You'll have to pardon any typo's because it isnt fun typing with my index finger. I'm supposed to fly to Utah tomorrow so lets pray my flight still goes. They're saying some places won't have power until later tomorrow.

2 comments:

Lynn said...

Yikes!!!!

And this is a perfect example of why we need to be fully prepared for all kinds of emergencies at all times.

Anything out of the "ordinary" can and DOES happen. ; S

Alycia Grayce (Crowley Party) said...

that is insane, I didn't even think about the roller coasters and airports! haha wow! I think it is so cool you had everything you needed to be prepared :)