Re: Power outages across northern America

DH came home last night and said gas prices had risen 10 cents per gallon between th time he went to work in the AM and came home in the PM. Must be Labor Day Weekend is coming soon : (

Butterfly

Candy > It's good to have power back. We're just southeast of Akron and we lost

The heat is one of the most difficult factors here. The high humidity is making it even worse. Local fire departments and emergency groups are doing their best to help seniors in high rise housing. The good thing is neighbors are being good neighbors. juliasb... hoping that the power stays on at least for the night.

Sandy Foster wrote:

I haven't seen any problems here as far as gasoline goes... that is pretty well monitored around here where we are used to power outages from time. It is the other price gouging that is the real concern. Right now the bigger problem is drinking water. Dehydration's is a serious concern right now... juliasb listening to the thunder as I type.

Siptah wrote:

You were lucky, Bev. Ours went out at 4:10 , and came back on at 8:20 this morning. (16 hours!) Then, about 1:30 this afternoon, our street was out, but not all of Lakewood. I was hot and cranky, so I went out to the mall to cool off. Also, to get gas for my van. Gas was 1.63 gal, up from yesterday, but it usually goes up on Thursdays anyway. We never had a problem with our water. It's been fine, just smells a little "stale".

They are $1.72 here, in Wisconsin.

Betty

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I'm so glad for you! :)

Yes, my DT (we're twins ) is fine -- she and her family went away on vacation, so they're on a Mediterranean island near the sea. I won't hear from her for a couple of weeks yet, but things are looking up, I hear.

The newspaper article I read about the great number of people in France dying said that a large portion of the victims were older people left at home while the family went vacationing. August is the vacation month in France. Many places just flat close down while workers go to the beach. The article said it was a big scandal with younger family members off enjoying themselves while their parents and grandparents died. I don't mean to sound virtuously pointing a finger, because right here in Texas we have older people dying during extended hot spells. Many of them are too poor for air conditioning and are afraid to open windows. I grew up in South Texas before air conditioning was common. Our house was stone, with outer walls about a foot and a half thick, which provided some cooling. Even so, we had every window wide open and fans in every room. That was also before polyester, which can be hotter than a blast oven. We wore cotton and sometimes linen -- wrinkly but cool. My car A/C has gone on the blink while I am broke, and it is real torture, let me tell you! Nell in Austin and in Air Conditioned comfort.

My DH and I went to a job interview for him on Thursday in a tiny town just south of San Antonio, renting a car because my car A/C is not cooling. He talked to the publisher while I went to the school district to pick up an application and drive around for a little look-see. Then we went to another town about 15 miles away also looking for an editor. About 4:00 we stopped in a restaurant for some iced tea and dessert and some conversation comparing the two towns. We never did get around to the conversation because they had a little TV on with constant talk and scenes about the blackout -- which wasn't yet black. We stayed longer than we had intended, just to listen, but when the anchor started to repeat the same things, we left. Kinda reminded me of preparing for and cleaning up after a hurricane -- at least a hurricane that doesn't do a lot of damage. I've never been through a really destructive one.

Our local paper said it was a grid problem in Ohio, and that they could have seen it coming.

-- Royce in PA A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel.

Thanks Royce, it's interesting how many different "causes" were bandied about during the episode without confirmation. Now so many days later they can almost isolate the power lines that caused the problem. Why do news agencies have to be the first to point the finger, and then be wrong about it. Interesting to see how the power crosses back and forth across the border though.

-- Sandi in New Westminster B.C.

Ottawa...this