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SandWitch · 26-30, F
My parents still have a land line and a green push-button wall phone from the 1970's in their kitchen on their farm which has the old copper wires and DC power supply from their telephone provider! Costs the equivalent of $30 USD per month, but it still works without electricity and without batteries when the grid goes down!
ProfessorPlum77 · 70-79, MVIP
@SandWitch That's a good point.
SandWitch · 26-30, F
@ProfessorPlum77
Are you familiar with where Niagara Falls is located?
Are you familiar with where Niagara Falls is located?
ProfessorPlum77 · 70-79, MVIP
@SandWitch Yes.
SandWitch · 26-30, F
@ProfessorPlum77
Just over 18 months ago on December 23, 2022 a catestrophic snow storm came across the American mid-west while heading for the eastern seaboard and skirted the southern Great Lakes region of southern Canada where of course Niagara Falls is located.
Within one hour of that snow storm's arrival into the Buffalo/Niagara region, the power grid went down in Buffalo and Niagara Falls immediately after 5 feet of snow fell within a 3 hour period. That storm was forecasted for 4 days prior to the event and people were warned of extensive power outages forecasted as the temperatures sank about 8 degrees below the freezing mark and stayed there.
The moment the power grid went down at 5pm on December 23rd just as sunset turned the sky from dim to black, all the telephone and internet systems went down as well because they too are powered from the AC power supply of the hydro electric grid.
The only telephone system that did not go down was the old fashioned land lines provided by Bell Telephone to residential customers who still had a DC powered wall phone in their kitchen!
Those with cellphones and Third Party supplied internet and telephone service were out of luck. When the AC power grid went down, so did the cellphone chargers as well as the internet-based land line telephone system provided by the local internet company. For the next 4 months, there was no internet or internet-based telephone service available in the city of Buffalo or the entire Niagara region.
It doesn't matter where you live, if your mode of communication is dependent on AC electrical power for it to function, you will be without communication capability if that power grid ever fails.
If you have a backup generator, that does you no good if your internet provider does not have a backup generator to provide AC power to send their signal to each home.
The only way to communicate with anyone including a 911 Operator under those circumstances is through the use of a satellite phone which looks like a cellphone but which uses a direct link to an overhead satellite to connect a phone call anywhere and costs about $5 per minute to use, but at least you can call someone!
Just over 18 months ago on December 23, 2022 a catestrophic snow storm came across the American mid-west while heading for the eastern seaboard and skirted the southern Great Lakes region of southern Canada where of course Niagara Falls is located.
Within one hour of that snow storm's arrival into the Buffalo/Niagara region, the power grid went down in Buffalo and Niagara Falls immediately after 5 feet of snow fell within a 3 hour period. That storm was forecasted for 4 days prior to the event and people were warned of extensive power outages forecasted as the temperatures sank about 8 degrees below the freezing mark and stayed there.
The moment the power grid went down at 5pm on December 23rd just as sunset turned the sky from dim to black, all the telephone and internet systems went down as well because they too are powered from the AC power supply of the hydro electric grid.
The only telephone system that did not go down was the old fashioned land lines provided by Bell Telephone to residential customers who still had a DC powered wall phone in their kitchen!
Those with cellphones and Third Party supplied internet and telephone service were out of luck. When the AC power grid went down, so did the cellphone chargers as well as the internet-based land line telephone system provided by the local internet company. For the next 4 months, there was no internet or internet-based telephone service available in the city of Buffalo or the entire Niagara region.
It doesn't matter where you live, if your mode of communication is dependent on AC electrical power for it to function, you will be without communication capability if that power grid ever fails.
If you have a backup generator, that does you no good if your internet provider does not have a backup generator to provide AC power to send their signal to each home.
The only way to communicate with anyone including a 911 Operator under those circumstances is through the use of a satellite phone which looks like a cellphone but which uses a direct link to an overhead satellite to connect a phone call anywhere and costs about $5 per minute to use, but at least you can call someone!
ProfessorPlum77 · 70-79, MVIP
@SandWitch Fascinating and scary, simultaneously.