My neighborhood was hit. But, the power's back up!
I was actually downtown when the power outage happened, I didn't know about it. I was on a subway platform, trying to get home. There is a digital sign that alerts us when the next train is coming. And I noticed, one by one, the trains all stopped & were eventually marked as delayed. I walked over to a different subway line. Luckily that one was running. If I had walked in the other direction, that subway line was down too.
I happened to be peering over another passenger's shoulder and saw her flick her cellphone to the news that there was a power outage on the west side. I asked her if she knew what street the outage started at. She didn't know.
Our train finally made it to 42nd St but was delayed there for quite a while. I did NOT want to be stuck underground on the train tracks if the power outage hit us down there. That's when I decided to get out and walk the rest of the way. I live in the Times Square/Theatre District/Midtown area.
It was kind of a zoo on the street when I got to 42nd St. It was like ants coming out after a rain storm. But, there was still power on. I started walking up the avenue, and that's when I saw the traffic lights were out, up the avenue as far as I could see.
And there were several cops in each intersection directing traffic & doing crowd control. (So no looting that I saw.) It was weird. I look back and 42nd Street is bustling with all the neon lights flashing. Turn north and the apocalypse had started.
(No zombies though!
)
I finally make it to my building. There were people from the building milling about outside. I turn on my flashlight app on my phone and make the L.O.N.G. slow climb upstairs. I live in a high-rise. So I pace myself. I was surprised the stairwell actually had emergency lights that were on. Although, they weren't working on all the floors.
So. I was glad of my flashlight app. Although, I wanted to preserve my phone, as I didn't know how long the outage would last.
When I got home, the first thing I did was pull out all the flashlights I have and see how much power I had in my other cellphone and my tablet. I figured, I could charge them off my laptop, if neccessary, till the laptop battery died. The wifi router was dead. So, I need my phone more than my laptop. I can still check the Internet off my phone.
It's ironic. I actually threw out 4 really old crank flashlights a few weeks ago. They were powered by watch batteries in them, but charged a bit by cranking. Only, they were so old, the batteries no longer worked at all.
I had been looking around on
Amazon for newer technology, ones that crank, also charge by solar power, and will charge up a cellphone or tablet too. Only, I hadn't had a chance to pick one out yet.
I did still have some other flashlights, battery powered, portable LED lights and a boatload of batteries. The fridge was stocked yesterday, by chance. And I have canned goods. So I was fine.
This power outage wasn't like the one that happened in 2003. That one hit the whole northeast. The cell towers went down too. This one, I was able to text family & let them know I was fine. Tomorrow, if the power was still out, I could walk to a neighborhood that had power and charge up my phone & some rechargeable batteries.
I do want to get a crank/solar flashlight/radio/cellphone charger. Anyone have one? Is it worth getting one with all the features? What one do you have?
I had been looking at this one a couple weeks ago. It had over 2000 reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/Version-iRonsnow-Emergency-Weather-Flashlight/dp/B00WIF2T7C/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8