On Monday 20th July 2009, some people felt that we'd gone back to the dark ages. Suddenly the electricity failed and the lights went out! Nearly 100,000 people were affected across a large chunk of south-east London and north-west Kent. EDF engineers worked throughout the night to repair cables and deploy mobile generators. They finally got all service users back on power by today (Thursday 23rd July) The reason for the loss of supply was due to a fire on a cable bridge at the Riverside Industrial Estate in Dartford. The latest likely cause was either vandals or thieves.
Businesses and homes were affected. Many were sent home from work, shops unable to trade. Traffic lights stopped working, while toll booths at the Dartford crossing were out of action until operators could find back-up power. Charges were temporarily suspended - due to the backup of traffic.
What about our home? Well, my mum had taught me well, and I've been teaching my family the same. There's always a torch kept in a central spot in the house, a wind-up one just for emergencies. Out came the candles and matches, kept nearby. Out came the camping gas stove, so we could at least brew up. Out came the battery powered radio to keep us in touch. The children moaned a bit about having no TV or computers, but went off to read their books, while my wife and I sorted out drinks and lighting for the evening. The mobile phones were all fully charged, so they kept going until the lights came back on again.
We survived - because life is more than just modern technology! More later...
Businesses and homes were affected. Many were sent home from work, shops unable to trade. Traffic lights stopped working, while toll booths at the Dartford crossing were out of action until operators could find back-up power. Charges were temporarily suspended - due to the backup of traffic.
What about our home? Well, my mum had taught me well, and I've been teaching my family the same. There's always a torch kept in a central spot in the house, a wind-up one just for emergencies. Out came the candles and matches, kept nearby. Out came the camping gas stove, so we could at least brew up. Out came the battery powered radio to keep us in touch. The children moaned a bit about having no TV or computers, but went off to read their books, while my wife and I sorted out drinks and lighting for the evening. The mobile phones were all fully charged, so they kept going until the lights came back on again.
We survived - because life is more than just modern technology! More later...
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