At the beginning of February, much of Texas was hit by snowstorms, where severe winter weather is infrequent. This winter weather created a massive power outage; there were more than 4.5 million residents in the Texas area without power. Due to a lack of winterization to its independent on the power grid and the demand for power, Texas fell into one of the largest blackouts since 2011.
On Jan. 13, most of Lake Stevens, Washington lost power as well. Most people’s power came back on over the night, but some residents in Lake Stevens power were out for days.
There are a lot of things you can’t do in power outages such as opening your fridge, turning on your lights, and some can’t turn on their heat! Some tricks and tips to do in power outages are to keep warm by using blankets and making sure you have enough stored to do that. Another tip is to make sure you have flashlights in your house so that you can be prepared for the next power outage. Other things you can do by being more prepared is making sure you have enough food that you don’t have to keep cold or prepare with electricity. By being more prepared, we could eliminate the effects of widespread power outages from happening in the future. Many of us wouldn’t know what to do without power while others live that way.
Students had different priorities when the power came back on.
¨I was finally allowed to open the fridge, to get a snack,¨ junior Jillian Ivers said.
Some students resorted to different pastimes while senior Jerzee Mecham slept through the power outage and wasn’t so affected.
¨I played card games with my mom, all day,” senior Savannah Balston said, while her power was out.
When the power came back on in Lake Stevens, everyone did something different. After hearing from these students it was evident that power and electricity is used for everything. Just like the power outage in Texas, citizens realized that power is essential for everyday household activities. This shows how crucial preparations for power outages are in today’s society.