Unplugged
As millions live without power or sanitation, or even gasoline, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, it seems the North-East of America is getting its first big lesson in living without the access to the power grid and fresh water supplies that are taken for granted the rest of the time. While the big banks and financial institutions were largely up and running within 24 hours, millions of ordinary homes are last in the queue, giving way rightly to hospitals and schools, and wrongly to offices and factories. Shame also that it took a catastrophe to get America talking about Global Warming (see our story from last year about “Global Storming”)
It will be uncomfortable at times and relatively short-lived –up to several weeks in many cases. Although, look on the bright side, it may encourage folks to realise they can survive without the grid and save money doing it. It was only the well prepared who will have had the simple solar panel, charge controller and battery to manage their own power station
You could call them the “off-grid ready.”…