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Power Outage: Rockaway, NY

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:26 pm
by jfko6
Today many things happened all at once.

All were emergencies.

First instance someone was in need of help. I got the person the help that
was needed. That is not why I'm posting this lesson however.

Second instance was a large unknown smokey/burning condition of unknown providence right near my location.

Third the power went out. The following is a text alert from the NYC Dept. of Emergency Mgmt. I get both e-mail and text messages.

"Notification 1 issued 11 June 08, 1335
There is a large power outage impacting the Rockaway Peninsula. Agencies and emergency personnel are responding. Further info will be provided as it is available.

The sender provided the following contact information.
Sender's Name: NotifyNYC
Sender's Email: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov"

Fourth a large dumpster fire across the street. Prior to this apparently the Fire Department was roaming the area for hazards probably due to people calling in about the smokey conditions. We're just pulling out of a heat wave. The neighbors including myself were able to communicate by voice across the terraces.

This gave me a chance to test out some survival equipment. I wasn't concerned that this was likely a large scale emergency so I got the equipment out and deployed it both water and power.

First Concern

My cell phone battery was very low. For this phone I didn't get the larger secondary battery. So it needed charging. I used The Wagan Power Dome 400Watt. http://www.wagan.com/htmls/detail-2354.html

Second Concern
Water
Since I live on the 9th floor of a large twelve story building I tested the tap to make sure there was enough water pressure. I have one 12L 5 gallon water jug. Since I recently rotated the water out it was less than half full. Since I had pressure albeit reduced pressure I started refilling the jug ASAP and stored some more water away replacing the small amount of MRE fortified orange drink. 8)

As I'm writing this the power has been restored. So I had no more immediate concerns.

Conclusion
The Power Dome has many uses only limited to your own creativity. An industrial power cord can also extend the use of the unit. I'm still testing it on various things. The cell phone was charged on the unit with no problem. I even went ahead and connected it to my entertainment center.
It worked but only a short while. Soon I was sensing that someone would knock on my door and ask me about the power and why I had television

:shock:

Water should be filled immediately and rotated every six months or so.
This is a topic of utmost importance and is worth looking into.

Wagan will soon be releasing the 2410 • Power Dome 1000. This is a 1250Watt unit. Once released I think I'll upgrade.

Power Outage Causes A Train Service Delays

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 4:34 pm
by jfko6
More Detailed News Report of the event and its effects.
http://www.1010wins.com/Power-Outage-Ca ... ys/2350852

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 4:57 pm
by German_EPA
power outage... 4 times this week here in my town - one time 15 minutes long... my poor computer... :? :roll: :D

Computer

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:24 pm
by jfko6
I keep my computer protected. I have it hooked up to an APC LS battery back-up. Gives me about 12-15min to shut down the computer.

http://www.apc.com/

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:59 pm
by German_EPA
USVs are very expensive...

APC

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 7:16 pm
by jfko6
Unless your talking about protecting business computers you can get a good APC unit for the home. The good ones come with insurance.

A good one though they have cheaper and higher priced units depending on your power needs is the APC ES. Here's a link.

I just recommended this unit to one of my clients. It goes for One hundred US dollars. You can get about 3-4 years on the battery.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=21

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:49 pm
by Bypah
German_EPA wrote:USVs are very expensive...

You can get a nice APC back up/surge protector for $60.00...well thay are more expensive,but htey are for different needs and budgets.... :D

'No Power for an Hour'

Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:12 pm
by jfko6
Here's a copy of the incident as reported by my local newspaper.
In its entirety

The Rockaway Wave of Long Island
Since 1893

No Power For An Hour
By Nicholas Briano
The entire Rockaway peninsula and Nassau County's Five Towns were left without power for nearly one hour on Wednesday afternoon when a Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) electrical failure caused the electricity to shut down.

A LIPA spokesperson said on Wednesday afternoon that the outage was due to a transmission failure in a major substation in Valley Stream. Residents lost their power at 1:18 p.m.

All power was restored by 2:10 p.m., according to LIPA.

Gross added that the cause of the transmission failure is still being investigated, but LIPA doesn't anticipate any similar problems in the near future.

Police reported that the Redfern Housing projects did not have power restored until nearly 3:00 p.m. LIPA, however, was not able to confirm that information, saying their records show all power was restored at 2:10 p.m.

NotifyNYC, Mayor Bloomberg's emergency notification pilot program, sent out emails at 1:35 p.m. about the blackout, 17 minutes after the peninsula lost power.

The email read:

"There is a large power outage impacting the Rockaway Peninsula. Agencies and emergency personnel are responding. Further information will be provided as it is available."

People who signed up for the pilot program, most likely got that message after their power was restored, considering computers and internet services with modems run primarily on electricity.

Office of Emergencey Mangement

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:34 pm
by jfko6
Another photo from the day of the blackout.

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:22 am
by ak70g2
German_EPA wrote:power outage... 4 times this week here in my town - one time 15 minutes long... my poor computer... :? :roll: :D
I give you one of mine. I have 4... I'm the fuckin' network administrator :D