Grid Down: Government Buildings Being Evacuated, Schools Closed (Video Reports)

By Josey Wales

Update: Power being restored. See below

Spokespeople for the city and DTE Energy confirmed at around 11:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday that most of Detroit’s municipal grid is offline, preventing power from being delivered to police stations, schools, traffic lights and other city-run facilities and services.

Municipal buildings were being evacuated, WXYZ Radio anchor Alicia Smith tweeted early Tuesday, although eyewitnesses on the ground told her shortly after 11 a.m. that people were reportedly becoming stuck in elevators.

Could the grid have been hacked? How long will Detroit be without power. These are just a few of the questions people are asking.

With the civil unrest surrounding Ferguson, could we see a similar situation break out in Detroit? I will be keeping a close eye on this situation and updating this report throughout the day.

Upon further research, a little over a year ago Detroit had a very similar grid down experience. It seems Detroits infrastructure is deteriorating, some of the power cables are one hundred years old in some places.

Detroit has been a victim of a declining economy ever since NAFTA was passed. 

Few are aware that NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) has rendered us uncompetitive in the world, destroyed our industrial base, caused us to outsource most of our production, and killed most of our manufacturing jobs.

Detroit has been ravaged by NAFTA. It now looks like a war zone.

Here are some tips to help you prepare for a grid down scenario.

High and Dry

The average person needs a gallon or two of water a day, at least 2 quarts for drinking and 2 for food preparation and sanitation. Assuming you’d like to be prepared for at least one week off the grid, and yours is a four-person family, that’s 28 to 56 gallons.

In theory, between our deep well and our generator, Marc and I don’t need a separate water supply. Still, I always feel better about having some extra drinking water on hand, and when a power failure looms, we fill the tub. (Being able to flush makes off-the-grid living a lot more tolerable!)

Even if you have city water, something could happen that would leave you high and dry. So build up a water reserve and/or consider other water sources. For example, we can get water directly from our water tank. Maybe you can, too.

Important: Experts say that when you store tap water for drinking in a container, you should purify it. For detailed instructions, go to: www.fema.gov/library/emfdwtr.htm.

A Simple Way to Cook
Since our stove is electric, if the lights go out, we can’t cook. But since we can boil water with a handy little one-burner, propane stove that I’ve had for decades, we can quite comfortably weather any short-term blackout without even bothering to fire up the generator. Don’t have a camping stove? I highly recommend one, for yourself and as a gift.

How Long Could You Live Off Your Larder?

The pantry’s always pretty full around here, and we could certainly survive quite nicely for a few weeks if the supermarket was closed, its shelves bare, and/or the road to town impassable. But we’re always happy to stock up when the items we regularly use are on sale.

Do it too, and take advantage of an unbelievably powerful investment opportunity, while you prepare for emergencies. For example, if you buy extra cans of tuna on sale at 50 cents apiece, and the price goes up to $1.00, you’ve netted a 100% yield on these “supermarket stocks.” Buy bottled water at 3 gallons for a buck, instead of $1.00 each, and get an immediate, guaranteed, incredibly high return of 200%.

Focus on canned goods and dried fruit that can be stored without refrigeration and eaten without cooking. Don’t go for warehouse-sized cans, unless your family can eat the contents in one sitting. Without refrigeration, food can go bad quickly. And if you don’t have a hand-crank can opener, pick one up.

These days, Marc and I make sure we’ve got a generous supply of the medicines that we take, and we’ve asked our doctor for back-up prescriptions, in case the info stored in the pharmacy’s computer is lost or unavailable when we need it.

Don’t forget to keep a supply of the items you buy at the health food store, any paper goods that you regularly use, and include some comfort foods, too. You’ll all be happier campers if you’ve got some special treats squirreled away.

Don’t Forget Fido! Consider what your pets will need, and put that amount of food aside, with additional water for each dog and cat. In case you’re wondering, the rule of thumb is 30 ml of water per pound of pet, which translates to 2 1/2 cups for a 20 pound pooch.

Where to Store It All

Before you start spending for your emergency stash, think through where you’re going to store it all. That may help you more than anything else to find the right balance between your anxieties, your space, and your purchases. Ideally, you want a cool, dry, dark spot for storage, say in your basement, away from old paint cans and other hazardous chemicals.

Live in an apartment? Think about empty corners and spots under tables and beds. You could always cover stacked boxes with tablecloths and use them as end tables. If it’ll make you feel more secure, why not?

UPDATE: From Detroit Free Press.

The lights are gradually coming back on across Detroit’s fire stations, schools and other public buildings after a power outage hit as many as 1,000 sites.

About one-third of the outages were restored by 2:15 p.m., and most should have power restored by tonight, according to DTE Energy. A “major cable failure” shut down the grid at about 10:30 a.m., affecting all of Detroit’s Public Lighting Department’s roughly 100 customers, according to a statement from the City of Detroit.

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