←back to thread

579 points todsacerdoti | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.405s | source
Show context
lljk_kennedy ◴[] No.44287646[source]
> One of my nightmares is waking up one morning and discovering that the power is out, the internet is down, my cell phone doesn’t work

I dunno.... as I get older, this sounds more and more idyllic

replies(6): >>44287653 #>>44287658 #>>44288588 #>>44289047 #>>44296007 #>>44298298 #
ndr ◴[] No.44287653[source]
I see the sarcasm but you're likely not simulating this hard enough. This is what happened in most of Spain and Portugal during the recent power outage and it wasn't pretty.
replies(4): >>44287686 #>>44288525 #>>44288692 #>>44289297 #
camillomiller ◴[] No.44287686[source]
It also wasn't so incredibly nasty, though. There were disruptions and some arrests, but the large majority of people were in the streets socializing, dancing, doing impromptu things they wouldn't be doing on a work day.
replies(5): >>44287705 #>>44287712 #>>44287782 #>>44288066 #>>44288368 #
killerstorm ◴[] No.44287782[source]
Cooking, refrigeration and water pumping depends on electric power. It can definitely get nasty if it lasts for more than a day
replies(2): >>44287937 #>>44287959 #
1. XorNot ◴[] No.44287959[source]
This is exactly it. The other part is not just water pumping but operating the sewer systems - if the lift stations are down the whole thing fills up in about a week and the basic plumbing in your house - and thus pretty much entire city, stops working.

Cities are not setup to support their current populations without those services and once you run out of buffer things go downhill quick - wastewater is an enormous and immediate disease hazard.

replies(1): >>44288656 #