Where is technology when you need it the most?
December 28th, 2006 by binnur
You might have heard about the latest windstorm in the greater Seattle area that impacted about a million people by depriving them of their electricity. Well, we were among those impacted, with 65 hours to wait before our power came back on. We lost power before, but nothing like this. The experience clearly highlighted humanity’s lack of technology during emergencies, with plenty of time to think of examples.
During emergencies, our needs are quite basic and mostly about survival: is the power coming on in few hours, days, or weeks, what are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, where can I get more food, fuel, how do I keep the contents of my freezer from rotting, etc. Though our power company did have a hotline, and we did have phones, the information provided was non-specific, to say the least. It was ultimately updated, changing from a female to a male voice on the recording, but still saying the same thing. Though it sounded sexier, it was just as useless as before.
Today we have technology to keep track of our ‘buddies’ using our cell phones, we can change our cell phone ringer tones to personalize it to our moods, we can Google-map our photograph locations to share with others, or listen to Christmas music from hundreds of stations around the world via the Internet. Yet, somehow we haven’t incorporated these technologies to aid us during our time of need. Is it just due to the capitalist system frightened of the lack of profit, is it the lack of creativity, or the problems associated with our complex infrastructure? Maybe it is all of the above reasons, and more. Regardless of the reasons, here are some thoughts on technologies that could help during emergencies to enable better communication of information, resources, distribution of supplies, etc.:
• Utilizing power grid information, potentially combined with GPS technology, to provide customized information to the callers on where the breaks are in the system relative to their house, and based on the current repair rate, the likely time of resolution;
• Providing information on fuel supplies, instead of letting people drive around trying to find open stations;
• Information on the open grocery stores, including services they provide, such as selling perishables and drinking water;
• General blackout safety information distributed during the emergencies, such as instructions for safe food storage and handling, issues with drinking water, and how not to kill yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning;
The bottom line is that information availability, via phone, TV, Internet, radio, was almost none existent during the blackout resulting from the Seattle windstorm of 2006. We had a radio with fresh batteries, yet updates on system status or do’s/don’ts were not there. Even though this was no Katrina, people did die from running their generators indoors, not to mention many emergency-room visits due to smoke inhalation from charcoal being burned in the kitchen. Next time our family will be more prepared, but can the community learn from this emergency and put technology to use before it’s too late?