What fails first when the grid goes down
▶ PLAY FINTON FREEMost of modern life runs on electricity, and most of it has only hours of backup power, if any.
A 2012 National Academies report on the U.S. power grid looked at how other critical services hold up when the power stays off. The pattern is clear: a few systems have days of backup fuel, many have hours, and a surprising number have none.
| System | Typical backup in a long outage |
|---|---|
| Gas station pumps | Most have no backup |
| ATMs | Typically no backup |
| Card readers at stores | Little or no backup at most retail outlets |
| Cell service | Batteries typically last 2 to 8 hours |
| Pharmacies and clinics | Many have no backup |
| City water and sewer | Limited backup; pumps need power |
| Hospitals | Full backup for critical care, often planned around 24 hours of on-site fuel |
| Major radio stations | Several days of fuel |
Source: National Academies, Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System (2012).
What that means for your household
- Gas: keep your tank at least half full. When pumps stop, there is no filling up.
- Money: keep some cash in small bills at home. If ATMs and card readers are down, cash may be the only way to pay.
- Communication: a battery or hand-crank radio keeps working when cell towers go quiet. Broadcast stations are often among the last to lose power.
- Medicine: refill prescriptions before you run low, since many pharmacies can't open without power.
- Water: store at least one gallon per person per day, and fill extra containers when an outage looks likely.
Finton Field Notes: use this in the game
- The ATM limit is real in the game. The bank caps withdrawals early in the crisis, and cash gets harder to use as the days go on. Visit early.
- Fill up at Quik Fuel before the lines start. The pumps die with the power. Later you'll be hand-pumping from the underground tank or siphoning abandoned cars with a hose.
- Fill jugs and the bathtub while the tap still runs. City water fails about a day after the power in Finton. Water stored in the pantry is one of the five homestead needs that raise your score.
- Keep the radio on. The radio keeps broadcasting news after everything else goes quiet, and it warns you before each turn for the worse.
Sources
- National Academies: Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System (2012), chapter on societal impacts
- Ready.gov: Power Outages
- Ready.gov: Water
This guide is general information for preparedness. Follow official guidance and your local emergency managers, and call 911 in an emergency.