On 12/26/10 4:37 PM, Jared Mauch wrote:
You are likely already at the mercy of some local hut for your dialtone. Very few things home run to the co these days. It's unlikely any hut has more than 24 hours of battery.
I have talked to local techs that make the same trip each shift to fuel the generator during regular or minor power outages. Anything major, expect the service to die.
Best bets: your state emergency operations center, hospitals, airports, grocery stores and possibly hotels.
During the northeast power outage the biggest local problem was inability to pump gas out of underground tanks. The margin at the stations is low enough it's not worth it to have generators. Best off having the pipeline next to you and to use natural gas/propane if your needs can be easily met by it.
During the last multi-hour power outage in my neighborhood I drove around to tour the area; sure enough there was a truck backed up to many (but not all) of them with a cable plugged in to the meter kiosk. I feel dirty using a facebook link, but: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1265926&l=999da42e39&id=1327652570 However, residential internet access as a whole (DSL, cable) tends to have lower reliability than POTS or T1, so they still a leg to stand on if it matters to you. Power-wise though they're all on equal footing. ~Seth