Yeah, *that* one was basically a matter of restarting the grid. Do you remember about a decade or so back, an ice storm in Ontario? *That* one had many places without power for *weeks*.
ObNANOG: How many weeks of continuous duty is *your* backup generator rated for? ;)
We had an interesting issue with one of our fuel suppliers during the hurricane two years ago. They lost power, so their phone system which takes reservations wasn't working. So its a good idea to ask if your fuel company has its own generator... or at least one of the ones you have a supply contract with. While many generators might be able to do a continuous duty cycle, plenty of UPS systems will get worked pretty solidly cleaning up that power for weeks. And the infrastructure -- getting fuel, getting the roads plowed, getting fuel to your snow plows, all have issues -- keeping your 24/7 staff fed & well rested for a prolonged emergency...getting them to work if public transportation is used. Like the NYC power outage where gas stations had gas, but no electricity for their pumps. I know of at least 1 Exxon in Tyson's Corner (next to Gallows/Boone) that has an UNLEADED fuel generator... so they can use their own fuel to power it. A Diesel generator at a gas station that doesn't sell it is bad.. :) Deepak