2 PM Monday… the lights go out — and the internet with it.
150,000 other homes in my area are dark too — how do I know?
Twitter!
6 PM Monday…. first trees fall — Local cell tower dead… access is physically blocked to the rest of the world. My neighbor tweets this to the world.
Cell service becomes very spotty. But Twitter is occasionally accessible. Web sites requiring more bandwidth will not load.
Twitter’s blog post highlights very useful hashtags to follow for those affected….
We remain in our little development cut off from the rest of the world for 3 days before the live power lines are cleared. Ah.. a gas station… but no gas.
Where do I find out about local gas availability? Twitter
There’s an election going on… I can’t access news sites… but the tidbits from my twitter stream kept me in touch.
Ah… a generator — a luxury for sure… but it enabled us to stay in our home. Alas- it requires propane. Suggestions via DM to key contacts told me who to call for refills. Twitter to the rescue.
Gas…check
Propane… Check
Food.. hmmm… a few well placed DMs, a spotty cell tower and 4 hours later I find a supermarket and farmers market that were open.
All in all, we were lucky… my family was safe and we enjoyed our time outside setting up an obstacle course around all the fallen trees and hiking the woods to count the enormous number of tree now horizontal with their roots exposed. We counted their rings, we cut them up into a crude “Lincoln Logs” set :-)
When it was all said and done…
Once again I was reminded of the very power this medium offers those in times of crisis. My interactions were hyper-local, local, regional, national and worldwide…. All brought great advice and even better support.
I enjoyed my time off the grid in my partially connected state.
From a professional perspective, thankfully my patients knew of my overall online presence and many were able to stay in touch regarding the status of our office and I was usually able to offer instructions if care was needed.
A big win for twitter and digital media…
Disclaimer: this information is for your education and should not be considered medical advice regarding diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Some links on this page may be affiliate links. Read the full disclaimer.
