I was in blackout and parents haven’t even texted me

[Stopeatingcrispsanddips]

I live in one of the countries where there was a power cut, it was frightening at the time and still feels a bit unsettling. My parents haven’t even WhatsApped us to see how we are (they still live in the U.K.)

Is this normal?

I don't think it's normal. My dad called me on the evening of 9/11 and what he said to me really helped me to stop the internal worry that I felt.

I phoned my SIL on the day of a major terrorist attack in London. She had worked for many years in London, through the IRA bombing etc. but nothing like this did, she said that she was so grateful for my call and that neither her mum or dad had bothered to call her to make sure she was alright. I don't think that is normal, I would want to know that my relative was okay and also normal is showing that you care.

It was more than just a localised power cut though. We’ve all been through those. The whole country had no power, and they had no idea why. Traffic lights, train signal boxes etc just stopped working while people were going about their daily business. People were desperately trying to get into the shops (which had no power) before they put the shutters down. No phone signal. Politicians speculating that it was a cyber attack. Suggestions that it might last for weeks. Not just a power cut.

I am in Portugal, so yep was in the powercut, had no electricity or water for 10 hours, and we didn't know when it was coming back, most shops were closed and all telecommunications went down for most people from 14h. It was a bit weird, and the supermarkets that had a generator were heaving and all water was gone, and salads etc as people needed stuff to eat at night. Kids were fine at school as the canteen had gas ovens and warm sunny day no issues. I was only a bit worried if it went on for more than a day with water but we have a load of milk and juices etc available so we wernt going to die and kids ate cereal and sandwiches for snacks. Im in Porto so it did feel strange and only access to news was listening to car radio. My parents saw on BBC but couldnt contact me anyway, power back at 20.00 and I texted them that was annoying and that was it, no need for the drama.

I live in Spain, and whilst it wasn't a major catastrophe it certainly was a big deal.

People talking as if it was a simple power cut, it was much more than that. The first hour was extremely disconcerting, the enormity of the outage, totally unprecedented. People talking about cyber attacks.
It was impossible to contact anyone in Madrid ( and many other areas ) by phone or by message. 12 hours without hearing from family you are potentially worried about. People trapped in many places. All travel completely disrupted, medical treatment disrupted, the fire and rescue service totally overwhelmed, the president of Madrid calling for the army on the streets...I could go on, but minimising this to a simple power cut and scoffing at the OP is not fair.

OP, I finally managed to get through to some of my family in UK and they hadn't realised what was actually going on. It's hard to imagine the scale of you weren't here. Maybe your parents just didn't realise.

Get a grip - it was a power cut. Proper nuisance I am sure but no need to keep thinking about it. Move on and get prepped for the next one.

Maybe if the ‘child’ is early twenties but a married woman in her late 40’s is now a helpless child who needs her mammy to phone her, to do what exactly? Jeez!

Why are so many adult kids still reliant on their aging parents to sort out their problems? Will they ever grow up??

Ok, now imagine that happened across your entire country/continent at the same time. Traffic lights stopped working so roads pretty much unusable, underground trains stopped in the middle of tunnels, all flights cancelled. Shops closed as payment systems wouldn't work, schools on lockdown and huge queues at banks to withdraw cash. No Internet and radio. And no one has any why it happened or how long it would last. Rumours of a Russian cyber attack etc. So it was not just an isolated power cut.

How did people not hear about it? It was the main story on the BBC news for most of the day, and they were covering it live!

It wasn’t just power going off in one area or even city, it was whole countries! Trains were stopped in the middle of nowhere and had to stop running, traffic signals were down so roads were chaos, many shops and restaurants couldn’t operate, and those people without cash couldn’t buy food or get back home - some shops couldn’t even shut up for the day as electronic shutters couldn’t be closed and they were worried about looting. There was no internet, and intermittent phone signals.

We have family living there and they had no idea of what was going on as there was no internet or tv so they called us to see if we had heard anything! We managed to tell them what we had seen on the news before their phone line went down.

I don't think it was so much the being without power that was scary, it was the extent of it and not knowing what had caused it.

Completely different to a small area being without power for a day because of power lines down in a storm, or scheduled industrial action.

Does your water supply also shut off during a hurricane? I think that must have made everything much more difficult.

I assume you usually have some sort of advance warning before a big storm hits, which is quite different to what happened in Spain and Portugal. There’s not much chance of having a barbecue with your neighbours if you’re stuck in a lift!

It was a power cut

There were rolling feeds on multiple national news websites!

I don't know why everyone is pretending it's normal. Unless you have particularly detached parents?

Not that they need to be worried for the OPs life, but a major (newsworthy) event in the area that my child lives would definitely warrant a text from me.

My adult daughter and I message multiple times a day, so this would definitely come up. But even for friends that I speak to far less frequently, if I saw something that was happening local to them, I'd definitely chat to them about it.

Presumably your parents genuinely had no idea, can't imagine why else they didn't ask how you were getting on?

It was unprecedented multi national powercut. Nothing like it has ever happened before. A national state of emergency was declared.

It was very much a huge deal.

OP: My fridge went off for a few hours, not one knew want was happening. Its all fine now just a day later and everyone knows its all fine.

Why am I not getting fawning attention about it from my relatives?

Ok...

The individual experience is much the same whether it is national, international or local is it not? I've lived through nationwide powercuts, more than once. It's disconcerting, and a PITA, but not a catastrophe.

No, of course it isn't.

From experience, yes it is.

A rather, ‘long extension’ !!

I live in Spain. The blackout was from 12. 40 pm on Monday to 15.40 am on Tuesday morning, early hours.

Not being dramatic- but, first-hand, it was quite scary.

Unfortunately , we didn’t have a battery operated radio - so had no idea what was happening. The goings-on in the world, at the moment - it could have been caused by anyone or anything.

What an odd POV, how is sending "hey, heard about the power outage, hope you're all OK" in anyway infantalising anyone?

Id send that to a friend in the same situation, never mind my child

You don't actually think the OP was expecting her parents to pop over with a magic toolkit for fix the sub stations do you?

Absolutely this.

Just imagine London, and the whole UK 12 hours without power.
All trains and tubes stopped. People trapped in lifts, tunnels etc . Thousands stranded on trains . Fire and police service overwhelmed by call outs. No traffic lights working . Roads chaos, takes hours and hours to get in and out of city. Cash machines down, and card payments impossible. Can't buy petrol. All workplaces grind to a halt. All appointments cancelled ( medical, business) The phones don't work. No data, no calls . The Government declares a state of emergency . Asks people not to travel. Nobody knows what's happening.

And still people are saying " it was just a power cut" as if the only thing that happened was the ice creams melting in the freezer.

Text your parents and tell him you’re okay isn’t at the ordinary thing to do

Well really, how pathetic of the governments to declare a state of emergency, why didn't they consult the mumsnetters who did their homework by candlelight in the 1970s who would have told them not to be so silly.

Stuff and nonsense I tell you

You are the one without power. Your parents will be waiting for you to call out when you can.

Maybe they tried, but could not get through.

Glad you are now able to use power.

Did you text them to tell them you were ok? Perhaps they didn't realise you were affected!