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We had an incident early this AM and of the eight people we paged, only one had power. I’ve been without power, heat, internet, water, or septic more than 90 m

We had an incident early this AM and of the eight people we paged, only one had power. I’ve been without power, heat, internet, water, or septic more than 90 minutes at a time for two days. My house was 44 degrees this morning when I woke up. Sunday night we were without power or heat for seven and a half hours. Our DR plan didn’t really account for all of our staff being on the same power grid!

geoduck14 6y ago
>Our DR plan didn’t really account for all of our staff being on the same power grid Yup. I hear you loud and clear.
arrosenberg 6y ago
Remote workers just became a resiliency requirement for businesses.
- tjr225 6y ago
  You would think so but there were rolling blackouts during the bay area/socal fire season last year and nobody seemed to change course. I wonder if it’s because a lot of companies in the Bay Area already had remote workers?
  - gtaylor 6y ago
    Those were fairly short and did not take out the entirety of the Bay at once.
- bushbaba 6y ago
  It already was. 24x7x365 geo redundancy SRE and Ops teams is pretty common place. Texas was actually a preferred location as the time zone allowed both west coast and east coast work hours.
pault 6y ago
I’m in Austin, without power for almost 48 hours now. There’s ice in my roommate’s bedroom. It’s my birthday tomorrow, and I’m hearing that we won’t have power until Thursday at the earliest. I’ve gone beyond furious to just horribly depressed.
- qbasic_forever 6y ago
  Good luck, and here's some advice from a midwesterner that has dealt with cold, ice, and snow forever. If it's cold enough to start freezing things inside then make sure you have some water flowing in your pipes. Keep your kitchen sink running on a low (very tiny) dribble. Maybe even keep a shower/bathrub running at a very low rate too. You do NOT want to be dealing with frozen, broken flooding pipes on top of no power. Can find more tips here: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/winter-storm/frozen-pipes.html https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergen... Good luck (and happy birthday)!
  - Animats 6y ago
    That's not recommended for some areas of Texas. There's low water pressure and water has to be conserved.[1] (Edit: Houston only.) [1] https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather/if-dripping-faucets-saves-pipes-from-bursting-why-is-city-telling-people-not-to-run-their-water-during-freeze/285-b8ff4cc5-acaa-4aa6-8428-c471a0356c91 https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather/if-dripping-faucets-sav...
    - ghaff 6y ago
      Be that as it may. Frozen pipes can be catastrophic.
      - oivey 6y ago
        Honestly probably better to store some water, run your pipes in a tiny stream, and then if you lose water at least your pipes will be drained.
p1mrx 6y ago
What does "without septic" mean?
- xxpor 6y ago
  If you don't have sewer service, you'll usually have a septic tank instead. It's basically a mini waste treatment plant in your backyard, eventually the water will flow into the ground. Modern systems have pumps and such that depend on electricity to function.
  - koolba 6y ago
    I’ve never heard of a below ground septic system that required pumps. The only pumps for drainage are for sub level bathrooms such as in basements. There is a significant overlap of septic installations and wells and most modern wells run on electric. But if you’re toilet’s basin is full, it doesn’t need any power to flush and drain. It just won’t fill again.
    - snypher 6y ago
      They're common used in multi stage septic systems that have a perc field above the tank level. If this pump is without power for a significant time, it will cause quite a problem. However usually your tank will have enough free capacity for some hours. You don't see pumps in single tanks very often due to solids blocking the intake.
    - crshults 6y ago
      When one of the pumps on my aerobic system died a few years back it was less than 24 hours before the drains were backed up. If your soil won't pass a perc test I guess you can just go with aerobic which allows you to build pretty much anywhere. The final stage sprays effluent on your yard.
    - gonzo 6y ago
      > But if you’re toilet’s basin is full, it doesn’t need any power to flush and drain. It just won’t fill again. typically there is enough pressure in the tank to allow a flush or two. you don't operate the well pump every time there is demand.

geoduck14 6y ago

>Our DR plan didn’t really account for all of our staff being on the same power grid Yup. I hear you loud and clear.

arrosenberg 6y ago

Remote workers just became a resiliency requirement for businesses.

tjr225 6y ago
You would think so but there were rolling blackouts during the bay area/socal fire season last year and nobody seemed to change course. I wonder if it’s because a lot of companies in the Bay Area already had remote workers?
- gtaylor 6y ago
  Those were fairly short and did not take out the entirety of the Bay at once.
bushbaba 6y ago
It already was. 24x7x365 geo redundancy SRE and Ops teams is pretty common place. Texas was actually a preferred location as the time zone allowed both west coast and east coast work hours.

pault 6y ago

I’m in Austin, without power for almost 48 hours now. There’s ice in my roommate’s bedroom. It’s my birthday tomorrow, and I’m hearing that we won’t have power until Thursday at the earliest. I’ve gone beyond furious to just horribly depressed.

qbasic_forever 6y ago
Good luck, and here's some advice from a midwesterner that has dealt with cold, ice, and snow forever. If it's cold enough to start freezing things inside then make sure you have some water flowing in your pipes. Keep your kitchen sink running on a low (very tiny) dribble. Maybe even keep a shower/bathrub running at a very low rate too. You do NOT want to be dealing with frozen, broken flooding pipes on top of no power. Can find more tips here: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/winter-storm/frozen-pipes.html https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergen... Good luck (and happy birthday)!
- Animats 6y ago
  That's not recommended for some areas of Texas. There's low water pressure and water has to be conserved.[1] (Edit: Houston only.) [1] https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather/if-dripping-faucets-saves-pipes-from-bursting-why-is-city-telling-people-not-to-run-their-water-during-freeze/285-b8ff4cc5-acaa-4aa6-8428-c471a0356c91 https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather/if-dripping-faucets-sav...
  - ghaff 6y ago
    Be that as it may. Frozen pipes can be catastrophic.
    - oivey 6y ago
      Honestly probably better to store some water, run your pipes in a tiny stream, and then if you lose water at least your pipes will be drained.

p1mrx 6y ago

What does "without septic" mean?

xxpor 6y ago
If you don't have sewer service, you'll usually have a septic tank instead. It's basically a mini waste treatment plant in your backyard, eventually the water will flow into the ground. Modern systems have pumps and such that depend on electricity to function.
- koolba 6y ago
  I’ve never heard of a below ground septic system that required pumps. The only pumps for drainage are for sub level bathrooms such as in basements. There is a significant overlap of septic installations and wells and most modern wells run on electric. But if you’re toilet’s basin is full, it doesn’t need any power to flush and drain. It just won’t fill again.
  - snypher 6y ago
    They're common used in multi stage septic systems that have a perc field above the tank level. If this pump is without power for a significant time, it will cause quite a problem. However usually your tank will have enough free capacity for some hours. You don't see pumps in single tanks very often due to solids blocking the intake.
  - crshults 6y ago
    When one of the pumps on my aerobic system died a few years back it was less than 24 hours before the drains were backed up. If your soil won't pass a perc test I guess you can just go with aerobic which allows you to build pretty much anywhere. The final stage sprays effluent on your yard.
  - gonzo 6y ago
    > But if you’re toilet’s basin is full, it doesn’t need any power to flush and drain. It just won’t fill again. typically there is enough pressure in the tank to allow a flush or two. you don't operate the well pump every time there is demand.