Black Out
We saw lightning for the first time in a long while last night as Ross and I loaded the washing machines with a move's worth of dirty laundry. Lightning is a rare sight out here. And judging from the delay between the cracks of light and boom of sound...most of it was a decent ways off yet. The rain we're used to. Thunderstorms however are a rare treat. Sadly the light show seemed to fizzle out. But not without leaving its mark.
Round about 6:30 the lights started flickering intermediately throughout our apartment complex. At around 6:55 Ross and I were about to head downstairs in the elevator to change the laundry over into the dryer. Two minutes later the power dimmed to nearly nothing before going completely out. By the looks of the darkened windows across the street, most of the neighborhood was without power too. After a few phone calls and text messages news spread that the blackout was island wide and suspected to last 12-24 hours.
After two hours in the dark we grudgingly headed downstairs to trudge our soaking wet laundry up the 8 flights. In the dark. Whether the emergency power assisting the stairwell lights just didn't have enough oomph to keep the lights on for more than a few minutes, or the lights just burned out because it was their time, I don't know. But up eight flights of pitch black steps we went. And now we know between landings we have a run of 7 risers...
The news held true to its 12 hour prediction. When we awoke to the glaring sun this morning power was restored...though our water pressure still leaves something to be desired. First things first...run to the store to pick up candles, water and a flashlight. Lest an earthquake or storm finds us without power again. We lucked out last night. Had we headed downstairs a scant early we may have been spending the night in a stuck elevator...
900,000 people left without power for twelve hours, not including tourists. The airport landed all planes safely, but passengers were kept on the planes for hours at a time after touching down. I'm sure flights off the island were delayed or cancelled as well. Imagine what a sight that must have been from the plane. Approaching the island Downtown, the Waikiki beachfront hotels and streets light up the coastline, fingers of residential lighting sneak up the valleys and suddenly they all go out. One neighborhood at a time. Until all you see below you is a vast blackness, dotted with the welcoming blue runway lights and a few hospitals and military installations blessed with backup generators. 900,000+ people without power.
And the only reason most of the mainland will even hear about this oddball emergency is because president elect Obama and his family are vacationing here. I'm sorry but when almost a million people are without power we do not need to know that he and his family were renting a 9 million dollar beach front home. Yes we want to know he's okay. And yes its nice to know that our governor's first priority was to ensure he had a generator (though he had three in said home and politely declined the governor's offer). And of course the press can't even get the details of his stay right...some placing him n Kailua, others downtown (for the record...there are no residential areas, 9 million dollars or otherwise in downtown Honolulu). But seriously. The man is on vacation. Let the press back down a little.
What about the 900,000 others who are not so fortunate to have their own governor's support. Do you think Hawaii will learn from this little electrical storm caused outage and put a fail safes along the power grids? Probably not.
It was largely a night without incident. Inconvenient yes, but little harm done. It just intrigues me that an ENTIRE ISLAND can go black and most of the world holds its breathe concerning the comfort of one.
Round about 6:30 the lights started flickering intermediately throughout our apartment complex. At around 6:55 Ross and I were about to head downstairs in the elevator to change the laundry over into the dryer. Two minutes later the power dimmed to nearly nothing before going completely out. By the looks of the darkened windows across the street, most of the neighborhood was without power too. After a few phone calls and text messages news spread that the blackout was island wide and suspected to last 12-24 hours.
After two hours in the dark we grudgingly headed downstairs to trudge our soaking wet laundry up the 8 flights. In the dark. Whether the emergency power assisting the stairwell lights just didn't have enough oomph to keep the lights on for more than a few minutes, or the lights just burned out because it was their time, I don't know. But up eight flights of pitch black steps we went. And now we know between landings we have a run of 7 risers...
The news held true to its 12 hour prediction. When we awoke to the glaring sun this morning power was restored...though our water pressure still leaves something to be desired. First things first...run to the store to pick up candles, water and a flashlight. Lest an earthquake or storm finds us without power again. We lucked out last night. Had we headed downstairs a scant early we may have been spending the night in a stuck elevator...
900,000 people left without power for twelve hours, not including tourists. The airport landed all planes safely, but passengers were kept on the planes for hours at a time after touching down. I'm sure flights off the island were delayed or cancelled as well. Imagine what a sight that must have been from the plane. Approaching the island Downtown, the Waikiki beachfront hotels and streets light up the coastline, fingers of residential lighting sneak up the valleys and suddenly they all go out. One neighborhood at a time. Until all you see below you is a vast blackness, dotted with the welcoming blue runway lights and a few hospitals and military installations blessed with backup generators. 900,000+ people without power.
And the only reason most of the mainland will even hear about this oddball emergency is because president elect Obama and his family are vacationing here. I'm sorry but when almost a million people are without power we do not need to know that he and his family were renting a 9 million dollar beach front home. Yes we want to know he's okay. And yes its nice to know that our governor's first priority was to ensure he had a generator (though he had three in said home and politely declined the governor's offer). And of course the press can't even get the details of his stay right...some placing him n Kailua, others downtown (for the record...there are no residential areas, 9 million dollars or otherwise in downtown Honolulu). But seriously. The man is on vacation. Let the press back down a little.
What about the 900,000 others who are not so fortunate to have their own governor's support. Do you think Hawaii will learn from this little electrical storm caused outage and put a fail safes along the power grids? Probably not.
It was largely a night without incident. Inconvenient yes, but little harm done. It just intrigues me that an ENTIRE ISLAND can go black and most of the world holds its breathe concerning the comfort of one.
posted by Unknown at
2:40 PM
2 Comments:
Ugh, I bet if President-Elect you-know-who had had wet laundry in the washer he wouldn't have had to carry it up seven flights of stairs himself. What a crap way to spend a blackout--at least you didn't get stuck in an elevator.
And I'm not frustrated that he received the support and attention he did from our state. But as president elect you know he was prepared and taken care of. What bothers me is the media attention. For one...leave the man alone while he's on vacation! It should be enough to say he was here and he's okay...leave the pricey details and politics out of it. Even worse...how the media seemed to marginalize the near million who WERE inconvenienced (and not a mention of those even worse off due to fires or traffic accidents that resulted in the dark...)
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