Blackout: Burbank, CA Sept.02,2007

We got hit with 1 daytime blackout yesterday and 3 blackouts today. The ones today, two of them occurred during the daytime. The third one happened around 7:45pm, after dark, and lasted about 45 minutes. It appeared that only my block that was affected.

I live in an apartment complex. It was getting hot in my apartment without the A/C so I went outside to the courtyard to watch my neighbors. Maybe half of them had flashlights. I saw both incans and led. One person was lighting his way with his cell phone. I fired up my propane Coleman lantern and set it up in the courtyard. A group of neighbors congregated there for the next 40 minutes until the power was restored.

While it was dark, I walked around the complex with my Lumapower M1, MRV, and Costco headlamp. I checked the darkest places to make sure nobody was fumbling around in the dark. I also put my ear to the elevator door to listen for anyone who might be trapped in that oven.

Geese 3 times in a day, part of me feels like it's going to strike again any minute now. I'd like to leave right now and go get food, but I almost feel a duty to stay here in case the power goes out again. I'll wait another 10 minutes, then leave.

wow, this is intense. Hope you do ok, but it seems you've weathered it pretty good so far.
Stay safe,
Flash

to CostcoAAcells --


Good work checking on people who may have been trapped in the elevators. :thumbsup:


That sorta' thing can make an "inconvenient blackout" into a real tragedy.


Especially with the weak/elderly trapped inside.


Once again, Good Work !


:goodjob:

_

Burgess said:

to CostcoAAcells --


Good work checking on people who may have been trapped in the elevators. :thumbsup:


That sorta' thing can make an "inconvenient blackout" into a real tragedy.


Especially with the weak/elderly trapped inside.


Once again, Good Work

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+1 :thumbsup:
That kind of behavior was once common place here in America.........neighbors looking after one another. It was just considered good citizenship. Good Work

- regards

+2
On that, like it has been said most people today would not do something like that. Kudo's!

You know, if people would all do their part by conserving energy, these blackouts wouldn't occur. While I do my best to keep the thermostat at no less than 79 degrees, there are countless people cranking their A/C at 75 or less. This is particularly true with businesses. I always find myself shivering at the end of a movie in the theaters. A/C is by far the biggest strain on power grid. The crazy heatwave that Southern California is in right now doesn't help either, but I still feel we can all do our part even if it's just swapping out some standard bulbs with CFL's. *Rant off.

Thanks for the kind responses, everyone. Just trying to be a responsible CPF Citizen.

It's midnight here. So far, no additonal blackouts. Let's see what tomorrow brings when it gets hot again.

I agree about the need for conserving energy, Supernam. But I gotta have my one 300-watt halogen torch lamp. I bask in its glorious full spectrum warm luminance. And I also try and keep the thermostat at 79. I blame all the new television sets, not one of them is under 50 inches--they gotta be more power hungry than the TVs of yesterday..

This kind of power event is very unusual for Burbank. Supposedly, Burbank generates it's own power and during the past power crisis we were virtually unaffected while the rest of Los Angeles had rolling blackouts. Again, it was just my block that was affected these past couple days.

I totally agree with turning my a/c a bit warmer and using cfl bulbs etc, and actually, most of the newer larger tv's are energy star rated, at least both of mine are, so they use less than the old tubes.

We need more Nuclear Energy ASAP. I won't warm up my AC because politicians are too damn incompetent to deal with the energy issue.

Outdoors Fanatic said:

We need more Nuclear Energy ASAP. I won't warm up my AC because politicians are too damn incompetent to deal with the energy issue.

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I'd invest in something renewable...but thats just me....
or modify a UPS to run a garage full of lead acids and a transfer switch

scottaw said:

most of the newer larger tv's are energy star rated, at least both of mine are, so they use less than the old tubes.

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Sorry but the energy star logo is issued for lower standby power. Current standards don't rate the total power consumption when on. Those big displays do use lots of power. That's why it's so hard to get the total power consumption figures from the manufacturers before you purchase one.

Kudos for thinking of your neighbors, CostcoAAcells.

I will have to try and find the figures but I saw the numbers in a PC World mag not that long ago, I think it was, on monitors and the new large plasma and other televisions and the numbers blew me away, they really use a lot of power, more than older models because in part people are going with larger sizes, and people are buying more of them because they are so handy to put on the wall out of the way.

Blackouts is a good reason to keep some giveaway flashlights around. I normally keep a doz. on hand. Nothing fancy, just dollar store 2 aa lights. During the last blackout, I found quite a few neighbors without any flashlights. The local stores were sold out of lights and batteries within hours. Most were happy with the lights and chatted awhile. A few thought I worked for the city giving out lights:shakehead. It was nice to talk to some neighbors that I normally just say hi to, maybe blackouts have a positive side....

why would they think you worked for the city? and why do you have the little shaking head smily? Just wondering…

I'm kinda unprepared for power outages, I only have my G2w/FM35 and a clicky, I need surefire to release the L5 NOW! lol

HAGO,
Flash

>>why would they think you worked for the city? and why do you have the little shaking head smily? Just wondering…<<

Some people think anything done in the neighborhood is by the city. They also thought I worked for the city when I planted flowers around the trees along the street. They don't understand the concept of doing things yourself and they rely on government whether local or federal to do it for them. The same lack of self reliance is why many don't have flashlights in the first place.

flash_bang said:

why would they think you worked for the city? and why do you have the little shaking head smily? Just wondering…

I'm kinda unprepared for power outages, I only have my G2w/FM35 and a clicky, I need surefire to release the L5 NOW! lol

HAGO,
Flash

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You really don't need many flashlights for a west coast summertime blackout. You're in the dark for less than 12 hours and you're asleep for most of that time anyway. Different story if your blackout is due to storms because the crappy weather usually makes it dark for more hours of the day if not the entire day. But like I said, not typical in Socal.