03-15-2026, 07:17 PM
recognizing one's reliance on technology & electricity might lead one to consider how to make sure those tools are still functional when nature take a pokes at our little civilizational conveniences.
Last night when I saw an estimate of 117,000 customers out of power on Hawaii Island (not sure how accurate that was given the entire population is around 200,000?, and there are multiple people living at a single customer location, unless the report meant the approximate number of people?), we had a fully charged solar & battery system. Internet worked, OTA antenna worked. During the evening we watched KIKU for awhile with our antenna, then switched to the Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka (live!). We had regular updates from the internet about the storm.
It is possible to ride out a major storm with solar and batteries. If the internet had gone down (as it’s transmitted by wire), we would still have had OTA as long as the Hilo TV transmitters were working, and internet on our phones (with hot spot option) unless the cell towers went down. Should all of that occur, we would have lights, books, conversation, music, video on DVD, etc. These power systems work.
Last night when I saw an estimate of 117,000 customers out of power on Hawaii Island (not sure how accurate that was given the entire population is around 200,000?, and there are multiple people living at a single customer location, unless the report meant the approximate number of people?), we had a fully charged solar & battery system. Internet worked, OTA antenna worked. During the evening we watched KIKU for awhile with our antenna, then switched to the Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka (live!). We had regular updates from the internet about the storm.
It is possible to ride out a major storm with solar and batteries. If the internet had gone down (as it’s transmitted by wire), we would still have had OTA as long as the Hilo TV transmitters were working, and internet on our phones (with hot spot option) unless the cell towers went down. Should all of that occur, we would have lights, books, conversation, music, video on DVD, etc. These power systems work.