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In this day and age, our society is heavily dependent on electricity. Although we may not realize it, we use electricity to do nearly every daily activity. In the hypothetical situation that the United States lost power for up to seven days, the consequences of this scenario could become extremely severe.
The first day without power would be an inconvenience to many, but not a severe situation. When there is a loss of power, wells with an electric pump are not able to pump out water. Individuals would not be able to complete the actions of flushing a toilet, using a sink, or taking a shower. However, people with city water would still have access to water. This would be a major inconvenience for me, but not life-threatening, because it would be possible to find other public places that use city water. Nevertheless, heat, hot water, and cooking would not be accessible for those who do not have backup generators. Those who do have backup generators would be able to go a certain period without these inconveniences, depending on how much energy they use. With no electricity and no cooking, food in the refrigerator will begin to spoil. An immediate response to this problem would be to go to the grocery store. However, when arriving at the grocery store, the lights will not be on so it would be difficult to navigate through the store, and the scanners to scan and purchase food with a credit card would not work. If I ran out of cash, I would not be able to purchase anything.
On a larger scale, the lack of electricity would turn off the traffic lights. This would become a problem, especially in the more populated areas. It is likely that the police and fire department would be occupied with other issues and would not be able to direct traffic. An example of an issue could be individuals stuck in elevators if they happened to be in one when the power outage occurred. Most importantly, the grid that our cell phones use would be down. Therefore, calling, texting, or using data would not be possible. Due to it only being the first day of the power outage, my phone would still be accessible as long as I had battery life. All in all, one day without power is manageable but can become detrimental very quickly.
On the third day without power, resources would begin to run out. Those who have city water will eventually run out of water. This would affect the entirety of the public due to those who may be using city water from public buildings or places. This would affect me and all other students at Hope College because nobody would have access to any kind of water on campus. Cooking would not be possible now because food that needs to be refrigerated would have gone bad. The food found in grocery stores would become scarce due to a large demand throughout the area. I would need to depend on other resources besides the dining halls at Hope College because it is likely that the dining halls would run out of food.
At this time, those depending on generators may lose power. Generators run on gasoline, and once gasoline runs out, the power goes out. Also, a large problem with communication could begin to occur. Too many callers calling into the police and fire departments may cause a lack of service on other devices, and once the power backup of the grid runs out, there would no longer be cell service. If this happened, I would not be able to contact anyone, which could become a safety hazard. Lastly, it would be impossible to leave campus because gas pumps would not work, and it is likely that I would run out of the gas that was previously in my car.
On the seventh day of the power outage, severe consequences begin to develop. It is likely that theft and crime may arise, creating an unsafe environment for me. It is possible that people may begin to steal necessary items to survive. It is known that nuclear power plants need electricity to cool off their systems. If systems do not get cooled off, explosions and fires may be the result. In the worst-case scenario, an explosion could cause a radiation leak that could affect life in nearby areas. Consequences from the first through third days would carry on into the seventh, creating a larger lack of food and water. Living near Lake Michigan, it would be possible to obtain water from the lake, but may not be safe drinking water.
As this hypothetical situation of being without electricity for just seven days shows, the consequences of this scenario can be extremely serious. And while it would be perfectly possible for me to live a whole day without electricity with little inconvenience, it would be simply impossible to continue my normal lifestyle any longer. This once again confirms how important electricity is now and life without it is no longer possible.
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