Posted: 5/18/2006 12:38:21 PM EDT
There is a lot speculation about how to handle a SHTF situation, Of course, everyone sees a different crisis and how to approach it. Here's a simple one. Let's say haji bribes the senior engineer who oversees the operation of all the power generation plants that supply your city with electric power. He has severely damaged the turbines in all of the plants. It will take eight weeks to get up and running. 99% of the population are not prepared. It's summer and it's hot. What would happen each week. What problems would arise? How would problems escalate. Could you go to work? Could you go to the bank? Has the grocery store run out of jerky and Ramen? Will the gas pumps work? Will Hollyweird make of movie of this?
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Power would just be re-routed from some other generation point on the grid. Unless the grid it self is physically damaged it wouldnt create much drama. If other circumstances occurred where for whatever reason, a regional area was without electricity, those with the funding to do so would simply go elsewhere during the crisis. Generators would run as long as fuel oil could be supplied, and i assume that places like hospitals, police departments, etc would have at least some generator functions running, assuming they could get fuel in. Residential areas could be interesting. The folks that stuck around would be dealing with a lot, but I cant say if things would break down. I think a lot of it has to do with where you live. Inner city....complete chaos, rural mountain town in the rockies...probably an inconvenient time but I doubt and serious civil unrest would ensue. To me, it would create very little drama...I would still have shelter and possibly even running water. There are plenty of farms around for produce and in the worst possible scenerio I can hunt for meat. I would see it as an extended camping trip....hell, it could even be fun. Then again, if I lived in a city, I would get the hell out and as far away as I possibly could. |
As someone so eloquently put in another hypothetical thread when everyone started saying "that could not happen". No way the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs either.  |
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1 city + 8 weeks = no big deal. Hurricanes do that every year. This is actually much easier to deal with than a hurricane because the houses are not damaged. The problem will be that unless you live in hurricane country the locals will not have experience dealing with it. Plus there will be no lead time to prepare. There will be much confusion and fumbling at first but the .gov will have help on the way after a few days. Most people will be able to get by cooking on BBQ grills and eating food in stock for that amount of time. After that help will start to arrive. The inner city is a different story. Right now some urban youths are day dreaming of the mayhem they could cause should the power go out. Plus the urban poor will have less food in stock. Riots are a real possibility. Especially if the .gov is really slow in responding or if rumors start that the suburban folks are being taken care of first. |
What I was trying to get to was that for eight weeks no electric power is available, maybe because the Jamaican bob sled team diverted the power from your cities place on the grid so that they could produce mountains of artificial snow and dominate the world. I think I would have enough gas stored to make it to the beach, do some fishing and chill. |
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8 weeks... not a big deal unless you're inner city. I have no earthly idea, but I'll take a stab... End of week 1... people complaining to news & authorities End of week 2... people complaining in the streets End of week 3... small riots police are able to put down End of week 4... larger riots and police can't control End of week 5... National Guard called in End of week 6... Guard has most under control, curfew instituted End of week 7... Guard starts handing out food, water, supplies End of week 8... Guard runs out of supplies quick, but power comes back on so everything slowly goes back to normal. Me... I sit at home eating canned food & MRE's for 8 weeks with family & some close friends. The rest may get a few handouts but I'll use the opportunity to show them they can't depend on anyone but themselves. |
