Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic power outage

Hey all,

I am just taking this opportunity to vent about the stupid power outage in the Northeastern US and the Great Lakes States and Ontario. I know it isn't the worst blackout ever, but it was so widespread, so I was wondering if people that were affected are okay.

We've had power back since early this morning, but it's been blacking out sporadically durring the day -- I was at my friend's apartment on campus today and she didn't have any power, but she did have water. My house doesn't have water yet -- and it is really bad because my dad and sister are really sick and throwing up. We are on a high elevation, so it is taking a long time to get water back to us -- we might be the last people in the area to get power back -- even though we are the closest Southern suburb of Cleveland.

I am really irritated because yesterday when the power went out, I lost the story I was working on, my dad's resume I was helping him with, and the program I was working on and the changes to my MS thesis.

For once Cleveland is actually in the news -- on the same level as New York City (yeah right, the news last night seemed to forget that Cleveland was also blacked out and only cared about Detroit, Toronto, NY and NJ), but of course it had to be Cleveland that started the blackout. Yay for Cleveland . It still sort of makes me mad that CNN is only talking about New York. It affected a lot more places than New York.

EDIT: Oh great, the local news just said that the blackout is linked to the GM plant in Parma, Ohio . . . guess where I live . . . Parma, Ohio. How wonderful. The GM plant is on the other side of town from me, but wow Parma only makes the news for bad things
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2408583/detail.html

- Laura

Actually, Laura - and I *really* want to type Alicia! - this is the worst blackout ever. Or at least, it affected more people and more geographic territory than any other.

I know what you mean about being upset. While everyone here is healthy, thankfully, I was unable to open my store yesterday, and the mall was closed due to Ontario's State of Emergency. And there are no guarantees for today, tomorrow, or Monday.

I'm in a panic here wondering how I'm going to pay my staff next Friday as well as two bills that I have due Monday and Tuesday.

I hope that your dad and sister feel better really soon, and that your water is restored.

Irene
whose normal optimism seems to be missing in action....

Sorry to hear about the problems the power outage are causing you, Irene. I think that's one side of disasters like this that many people don't think about immediately.

This past winter most of the Carolinas lost power due to a horrible ice storm. Personally, I was without power for five days and nearly froze to death in my 36 degree apartment. On top of losing a week's salary (Barnes and Noble was without power that whole week too and the head honchos in New York decided it wasn't worth paying us a week's worth of lost wages even though we didn't choose to have a power outage) I also incurred all kinds of costs - candles, flashlights, extra blankets, and replacing all the food we lost. That was probably the worst week of my life - I've never been so cold, hungry or uncomfortable before or since - but my friends and I pooled our resources and managed to get by. It definitely made me more sensitive to what other people go through though. It made me worry about the people, like single moms, who really couldn't afford the added expenses of the power outage and the homeless people who routinely have to live in those kinds of elements.

Annie