Over the weekend, more than 700,000 people in the province were without power at some time. I believe the incident exposed the fact that the population of most large metropolises are unprepared for extended emergencies.
Though people had access to drinking water, there was no hot water. Though temperatures are still mild, the reality is some people were also without the ability to heat their homes. Food spoilage also became a concern as some people had freezers and refrigerators that were without power for over 48 hours.
There were multiple stories of people crowding into coffee shops, malls, and community centres to charge their various electronic devices. Restaurants who were lucky enough to have power were packed in some cases as people who couldn’t prepare meals at home had to get sustenance any way they could. Now I’m sure in many cases it was just more convenient and tastier to go to a restaurant than eating whatever they had at home that didn’t require cooking. How many of those people though, really could have gone that route though?
I’m guessing that many people would be in a lot of trouble if the electricity was out for everyone for a one week, as an example. The food spoilage thing was something that surprised me. I went to a large supermarket tonight and they had signs stating that many of their perishables were unavailable due to spoilage. Sure enough, the meat section barely had any beef items in it.
People need water, food, and shelter. Back in the “summer of me”, one of my grand projects was to prepare my home for an extended emergency. I only partially finished that project. I have on hand about 6 to 8 litres of water. I have a self-powered flashlight. I have some but not enough non-perishable food stuffs. I think I need a little more water, a lot more food, and a real emergency kit. I might even need a small camp stove for heat and to cook with.
I will spend next weekend seeing if I can start procuring these missing items.