This is A Test
We’re in the middle of the second wave of the epic snowstorms. In the first storm that started around Thursday last week, we lost power for almost 3 days leaving us with no heat other than the fireplace in the living room. We’re still luckier than some in the community as we could sit in front of the fire and could use the gas stove to do some cooking. We know of many others who had no means of heating, no means of communicating because many people depend on the WiFi signal, which was down with the power, and no way of getting out to get to store or the designated place for warmth due to the accumulated snow.
While I’m so grateful to have had neighbors’ in the community with power provided shelter for us when it got very cold in the house at night, this was a hard reality that many of us faced. It is a test of resiliency, not only for us in this community but everywhere else. I was delighted to see how there were so many angels in the community who were more than willing to help those who were in need, which is a big part of resiliency factor. Many households in L.A. have been out of power from this storm, and we’ve seen so many other cities across the country lost power for days on end, some are in much more frigid cold climate.
As a green home specialist, I have been promoting the idea of electrification for health and comfort of the inhabitants, but mostly for environmental reasons. Yet, I’m actually terrified of the idea that if we had electrified our home in the mountains and lost power for days like we did, we basically would have had nothing (except for candles, flashlights, firewood, and warmth of cuddling cats) to operate our life with unless there’s a generator or power storage. Even then, I know some people were running out of fuel to run the generators.
What would it mean to be resilient in the time when we face all these extreme weather and climate conditions? It is not a problem an individual homeowner can tackle, but should be addressed at local community level, and state or Federal government levels. I obviously don’t have a magic wand though I sure wish I did. This is definitely something I want to look into so that I can at least help people to mitigate some of the burden of keeping our homes comfortable. Meanwhile, I must admit it has been quite spectacular to watch this winter wonderland getting completely snowed in. My cats were actually excited to go outside in the snow to play, which made me grab my camera and make a little slide show!
There’s always a bright side. I am allowing myself to enjoy the fun factors of these storms as much as I can while hankering down for more shoveling and possible power outage. Life is good.