Great Storm, 1703 - worse than today, or an event we need to plan for again

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. This is a sobering discussion.

May I offer two other examples of disasters which occurred, quite quickly, in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster, 1966 - 144 died

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynmouth_Flood, 1952 - 34 died

I'm not convinced that, in either of those tragedies, the use of traditional landlines would have helped in forward warning.


_{Edit to correct date}

[GBM]

BT have announced plans to end traditional copper wire telephone service in the near future. This means total reliance on an electricity supply in order to make or receive a phone call.
No electricity=no telephone or internet service.

concerns have been expressed about this policy, after storm Arwen in particular.

Several Telecom companies have been rolling out 'Digital Voice' for a few years now.
I believe Virgin and BT have now paused this as there is growing concern that more vulnerable people are left without call facilities in event of a power cut.
Especially those reliant on "life-line pendant monitors".

[CyclingSid]

Similarly if you have a work arrangement where you have a computer system and telephone sytem combined it does amount to a single point of failure.

[broadgage]

Hmm. This is a sobering discussion.

May I offer two other examples of disasters which occurred, quite quickly, in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster, 1966 - 144 died

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynmouth_Flood, 1952 - 34 died

I'm not convinced that, in either of those tragedies, the use of traditional landlines would have helped in forward warning.


_{Edit to correct date}

In those particular cases I agree, both disasters occurred very suddenly  and the the general availability of telephones would have helped little.
Contrary examples exist, for example the East coast floods of 1953, in which many people drowned in their homes, unaware of the approaching flood. Telephones would have saved many lives.

Prompt use of a telephone is arguably more relevant  in the case of individuals in danger, rather than large scale disasters. For examples, watch one of the many TV programmes about the work of the ambulance service and the air ambulance, in which many lives are saved.
And in such cases how was the ambulance called ? almost always by telephone ! If no phone had been available the victim would probably have died.
Consider also the risk of fire, many lives and properties are saved by the fire brigade, almost always called by phone.

I was taught at primary school how and when to ring 999 for the emergency services. Including how to proceed in the case of a party line, how to dial 999 by touch in darkness or smoke, and that no coins were needed to make an emergency call from a public telephone.
If no phone was available, running to a shop or pub or to the nearest police station or fire station was suggested.

[eXPassenger]

I agree that there is a concern, however the following points are valid:

1 At the moment most people have a cordless phone.  This will die without power and relatively few people have a corded phone available to plug in if necessary.

2 A lot of BT equipment is now powered through the curb side green boxes which have no UPS and so will cease to work in a power cut.

In addition mobile phone base stations have limited UPS capacity so mobile phones will stop working.

The net effect of this is that even if BT continued the analogue service many people would still loose connectivity.

The analogue equipment in BT exchanges is end of life and digital is the replacement using fibre for speed.  Technically BT can deliver digital over copper using ADSL or VDSL but these will require power to th green box.

Home workers have a wider problem if there is no power, but they would have had some problems if they were trying to commute into work.

The bottom line is that there are major problems if there is no power.

[ellendune]

Battery technology developing fast, sodium batteries offer a cheaper alternative to lithium though at a cost in increased weight.  For fixed BT cabinets, routers and even mobile phone masts this would not be a problem.  So a greater use of UPS or EPS is the solution here rather than keeping analogue. 

[broadgage]

I agree that there is a concern, however the following points are valid:

1 At the moment most people have a cordless phone.  This will die without power and relatively few people have a corded phone available to plug in if necessary.

2 A lot of BT equipment is now powered through the curb side green boxes which have no UPS and so will cease to work in a power cut.

In addition mobile phone base stations have limited UPS capacity so mobile phones will stop working.

The net effect of this is that even if BT continued the analogue service many people would still loose connectivity.

The analogue equipment in BT exchanges is end of life and digital is the replacement using fibre for speed.  Technically BT can deliver digital over copper using ADSL or VDSL but these will require power to the green box.

Home workers have a wider problem if there is no power, but they would have had some problems if they were trying to commute into work.

The bottom line is that there are major problems if there is no power.

Cordless telephones are indeed in very widespread use, and a surprising number of users don't know that they wont work in a power cut. A traditional phone SHOULD be kept as backup. I have connected my cordless phone base unit to a UPS but that is not the norm.

Street cabinets that require electricity, should in my view have TWO supplies, one from the local mains and an alternative from the telephone exchange that is equipped with a generator.

There are indeed major problems in a power failure, and the consequences seem to surprise many people. In particular some people do not really understand that a power cut means NO mains electricity for anyone, no matter how deserving.
I have heard complaints like these !
"They would have to leave the light on the stairs on, Auntie could fall"
"They should not be allowed to cut me off, I have three babies"
"But I NEED THE INTERNET."

During and after storm Arwen, there were many complaints along such lines.

[broadgage]

This report is sobering reading. "Living without electricity" https://raeng.org.uk/media/xrrigg0m/raeng-living-without-electricity.pdf

Of particular note is that the local radio station, using very dated technology was the main source of information.
Telephone service generally not available.

And that particular incident was in fact a narrow escape ! had the weather been a bit colder, lives could have been lost without heating.
Had the emergency occurred during working hours/school opening hours the impact would have been much greater.

Learning points
Emergency lighting, if it works at all, runs for 3 hours AT THE MOST.
Grid tied wind turbines and CHP plant gives NO protection against power cuts.
Central heating needs electricity.
Most shops will close, and those that remain open will only accept cash.

IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), everyone should have the means to heat at least one room to 20 degrees without utility service or re-supply for at least a week.
Bottled water and non perishable food for at least a week.
A battery radio, list of radio frequencies and several spare batteries.
A pocket torch and spare batteries for each person in your household. And a large LED or fluorescent lantern, with batteries for 100 hours operation.
A reserve stock of shirts and underwear in case you can not do any laundry.