Power cut

We’ve had another stormy night and while we have escaped the power cuts, others have not been so lucky. Poor Genevieve had several during the night. If it was as simple as having no lights, as it was when I was a child, it wouldn’t be so bad. In those days, we simply lit the candles, stoked the fire and life resumed to near normality. If we wanted food, we’d throw the pan on the fire. But we have become dependent on power in so many areas of our lives now. Most houses rely on a pump to get their water. So, without the power there is no pump, and without the pump, there is no water. If it is particularly stormy, I’ll fill a bucket of water for toilet use and a pot for drinking and dishes, just in case, but often one is caught off guard.

Many people are unable to cook during these times. We are fortunate in that we have gas. If the cuts are prolonged there is the risk of freezers thawing and losing stored food.

Lack of heating is another concern. So many of us have done away with the traditional wood fires and replaced them with electric options. It is at times like these, during the heavy storms, that one wants to be cosy and warm and be able to have a hot shower or a bath, particularly if one has been out in the weather for any length of time, such as farmers tending their stock or the men and women out there fixing the faults. There are currently 14 of these indicated on the Top Energy app, which means quite a large number of people are without power and there would also be a large number of people out there trying to fix the issues.

And then of course there are the poor dairy cows, who can’t even be milked because of the lack of power.

Other inconveniences are the inability to charge the cell phone or use the computers, two things many of us have become reliant upon. I am making sure I save my writing regularly as I write this as I know I could lose power at any moment. Those gusts out there are pretty severe.

The reason I said poor Genevieve earlier, was because she is impacted with a unique problem. Her alarm goes off and won’t stop. Anyone who has been in a house with one of these blaring will know what I am talking about.

Fortunately, it was at 6am this morning that the alarm decided to do its thing and not at 1 or 2am as it could have been. However, regardless of the time, the noise was still deafening and who wants to be chased out into the storm just because a silly little machine won’t shut up. Genevieve had forgotten what we did the last time to disarm it. Eventually she rang my other son, who told her what to do.

Most of us accept these power cuts for what they are. No one can control a storm and we don’t mind making do, as we know everyone is doing their best to fix the issues.

However, it does concern me just how reliant we all are on our power. Faults during the storms can be fixed. But larger faults caused by too many power requirements and insufficient infrastructure to cope with these demands is a worry. It is too late waiting till we are overloaded. Work needs to be underway to ensure future electricity needs can be met.

We can cope with the lack of water or heating for a short period, but some of these bigger issues could take far longer. A major, nationwide power cut of any duration would be devastating for the country.

And imagine everyone running into the streets because they can’t shut their damn alarms up.