What’s a blackout?

Storms, floods, snow, or earthquakes can damage electricity lines and cause power outages. Why do blackouts happen, and how can you prepare?

Transcript

00:01What's a blackout?

00:03The term originally comes from the theatre.

00:05It refers to the moment when the stage lights go off at the end of a play.

00:10Politicians use it too when they claim to have forgotten a conversation or comment.

00:15It's basically memory loss.

00:18Most often, however, the term blackout is used in the context of a power outage,

00:23but not just a local short-term one affecting individual neighborhoods or households.

00:29No, a blackout is a widespread lasting power outage that hits multiple regions

00:34and can even affect several countries or entire continents.

00:40It can be caused by different things.

00:43Storms, floods, snow or earthquakes can topple power lines and disrupt the flow of electricity.

00:50Failure in power plants or substations can trigger chain reactions

00:56and targeted cyber attacks can cause extensive power outages.

01:02The burden of a sudden spike in demand combined with insufficient power generation

01:07can also lead to the grid collapsing.

01:10Like when there's no sun or wind and the grid is heavily reliant on such renewable sources.

01:17Blackouts are particularly serious if they affect, say, hospitals.

01:21And even without that, they can bring daily life in homes, businesses and public transport to a standstill.

01:28No phone, no internet, no water supply, gasoline stops flowing at the pump

01:34and grocery stores have to shut down.

01:36That's why it's worth stocking up on 10 days worth of emergency supplies

01:40like canned foods, nuts, drinks, a camping stove, batteries, flashlights, candles and a battery powered radio.

01:49Blackouts may be rare in Europe, but hurricanes make them more common in the U.S. and elsewhere.

01:55And of course, no grid is completely blackout proof.

01:59Blackout Proof

02:00Blackout Proof