(Continued)
Food. Readers of this blog have read “299 Days” and understand the concept of “just-in-time inventory.” Of course vendors and grocery stores will order extra food and supplies to stock their shelves, right? You sure about that? I’m not. Will the prices be the same as they are right now as I write this blog? I guaran-darn-tee you they will be price gouged; just like in a collapse. And if more food is needed, it must travel up or down I-5, which will be gridlocked for days. Up to a million people are coming up and down that freeway pretty much at once.
The power grid and local utilities can handle the almost-double demand of power that will be experienced for several days, right? Right? What if the power goes out? What if cell towers can’t handle the load? Just like in a collapse.
Now let’s get serious for a moment. Let’s shake the crystal ball and put a scenario into play. What if there were a fire emergency in West Salem, on Sunday afternoon of August 20th. It can happen. Salem gets rural once you cross over a bridge into West Salem. It’s dry this time of year. First responders will easily go over the pedestrian bridge they have designated for themselves. Then the people start mingling that night, they cross the lines and try to get over the bridge by foot, and then there is a major car pileup on I-5, on the east side of the bridge in the heart of Salem. Those same first responders now must navigate back over the bridge. And what if the power goes out during one of these emergencies? It could happen. Easily.
What if that power outage lasts all night on a hot summer’s night? This has been known to happen. An immense population of people in an unfamiliar city will now want to find a way to stay cool in their now-hot hotel rooms in an unfamiliar city. Ice at grocery stores has been sold out for hours. Stores are closing their doors to avoid crime and looting.
What happens when babies start crying because they are hot? Children are upset because they are hungry and McDonalds is closed. Restaurants closed when the power wasn’t coming back on quickly.
Cell phones start to die as people try to text loved ones elsewhere telling them what is happening. There’s no where to charge their phones.
People flood the footbridge and the two vehicle bridges in Salem attempting to walk to their hotels, not realizing their plastic key won’t allow them in their room at their hotel because the power is out. A little bit of panic starts to fill the air as the sun starts to set and people are not in the safe place they thought they would be for the night.
Families on the elevators when the power went out are sitting and wondering how long before someone helps them. The emergency button is working, but no one is coming. Emergency help is elsewhere. Well, it is on the other side of that pedestrian bridge and is helping a couple hundred thousand other people.
Toilets start to back up. Hospitals are using backup power.
At around 3 AM, the power comes back on. It is a welcome sight as streetlights flicker on after the descending dark. People start making their way back to cars and hotel rooms any way they can.
Slowly, air conditioning starts to kick on everywhere. Because of the large demand caused by AC units, there is intermittent power outages over Salem through the rest of the night. No one seems to mind because street lights work for the most part.
As the early morning wears on, people start to laugh a bit about the panic the night before. Children are cranky and whimpering. Parents console, feed and hush them.
By the time the eclipse comes around, the adventures of the previous night fade into memory. Everyone is outside watching solar eclipse.
Not realizing they just saw a preview of a collapse.
Food. Readers of this blog have read “299 Days” and understand the concept of “just-in-time inventory.” Of course vendors and grocery stores will order extra food and supplies to stock their shelves, right? You sure about that? I’m not. Will the prices be the same as they are right now as I write this blog? I guaran-darn-tee you they will be price gouged; just like in a collapse. And if more food is needed, it must travel up or down I-5, which will be gridlocked for days. Up to a million people are coming up and down that freeway pretty much at once.
The power grid and local utilities can handle the almost-double demand of power that will be experienced for several days, right? Right? What if the power goes out? What if cell towers can’t handle the load? Just like in a collapse.
Now let’s get serious for a moment. Let’s shake the crystal ball and put a scenario into play. What if there were a fire emergency in West Salem, on Sunday afternoon of August 20th. It can happen. Salem gets rural once you cross over a bridge into West Salem. It’s dry this time of year. First responders will easily go over the pedestrian bridge they have designated for themselves. Then the people start mingling that night, they cross the lines and try to get over the bridge by foot, and then there is a major car pileup on I-5, on the east side of the bridge in the heart of Salem. Those same first responders now must navigate back over the bridge. And what if the power goes out during one of these emergencies? It could happen. Easily.
What if that power outage lasts all night on a hot summer’s night? This has been known to happen. An immense population of people in an unfamiliar city will now want to find a way to stay cool in their now-hot hotel rooms in an unfamiliar city. Ice at grocery stores has been sold out for hours. Stores are closing their doors to avoid crime and looting.
What happens when babies start crying because they are hot? Children are upset because they are hungry and McDonalds is closed. Restaurants closed when the power wasn’t coming back on quickly.
Cell phones start to die as people try to text loved ones elsewhere telling them what is happening. There’s no where to charge their phones.
People flood the footbridge and the two vehicle bridges in Salem attempting to walk to their hotels, not realizing their plastic key won’t allow them in their room at their hotel because the power is out. A little bit of panic starts to fill the air as the sun starts to set and people are not in the safe place they thought they would be for the night.
Families on the elevators when the power went out are sitting and wondering how long before someone helps them. The emergency button is working, but no one is coming. Emergency help is elsewhere. Well, it is on the other side of that pedestrian bridge and is helping a couple hundred thousand other people.
Toilets start to back up. Hospitals are using backup power.
At around 3 AM, the power comes back on. It is a welcome sight as streetlights flicker on after the descending dark. People start making their way back to cars and hotel rooms any way they can.
Slowly, air conditioning starts to kick on everywhere. Because of the large demand caused by AC units, there is intermittent power outages over Salem through the rest of the night. No one seems to mind because street lights work for the most part.
As the early morning wears on, people start to laugh a bit about the panic the night before. Children are cranky and whimpering. Parents console, feed and hush them.
By the time the eclipse comes around, the adventures of the previous night fade into memory. Everyone is outside watching solar eclipse.
Not realizing they just saw a preview of a collapse.
