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?

Did you text them?

Do they usually text you because I wouldn't think I must text just because there is a 12 hour power cut which happen from time to time here anywhere but just not over such a wide area.

You are utterly ridiculous. I cannot believe what I am reading here. My god. I truly hope Great Britain doesn't have a similar experience.

We only heard about it when it over. Was described on radio news as a blackout of the Inerian Peninsula.

Not sure how to say this without being potentially rude about your parents, sorry!

If they had heard reports of the Iberian Peninsula, would they know that included your country of residence?

I think I have reached the end of the line with MN. The amount of ignorance and deliberate obtuseness on this thread is unbelievable.

@Stopeatingcrispsanddips based on the news I read and heard, and updates from colleagues, I would definitely have contacted friends/family to check in on them, so I can understand your frustration. I hope things are back to normal for you now.

How am I ridiculous? It is true that where I am, generators are timed to come on within a minute of the power going out. That's a TRUTH! I'm not lying.

And how does the fact that it was the entire country affect how a backup generator works?

lol at Spain being primitive though!!!

Just the one?

You sound ridiculous. Madrid is the capital of Spain, used to live there. Very far from an 'primitive and undeveloped place'

But it's very apparent someone who makes such comment that has so many ignorant points in it has clearly never left the back water they live in.

Do you know what, me too. It's sad and worrying.

Where do you live that has regular ‘bog standard’ blackouts and loads of generators? Surely a non primitive country wouldn’t have a great deal of experience of blackouts in the first place?

You are funny though. In an irritating yet weirdly entertaining way.

It was a power cut, not a nuclear strike.

If one of my relatives was in country where there'd been, eg, an earthquake or a terror attack or massive riots or something like that, of course I'd want to check that they were OK. But I would assume that a power cut (even one as major as this) would be annoying and mildly unsettling, rather than massively endangering. I might text purely out of curiosity but I wouldn't be worried, or think they needed emotional support.

My landline needs power to work following Virgin Media's switch to their digital fibre network.

It was a completely different thing in this case, though, not local, not just power cuts but everything completely unexpectedly coming to an abrupt halt nationally across at least two countries, Spain and Portugal, with Andorra and parts of France also affected. Perhaps if you read other people’s posts explaining exactly what happened, particularly the posts by those who were physically present in the countries concerned and who had to live through it, it might make more sense to you.

Yet the 'backwater' I live in (and it's not even a city, it's a country town!) has generators that get businesses back up in a minute. So explain that then, why can't a capital city have that?

Please explain that.

Also, business landlines are usually linked to a digital switchboard. I wonder how that is powered? Let me think …😆

There were obviously backup generators in place in some places like hospitals etc but there is no contingency for a total European blackout of power across 3 countries ding dong! The whole point is that it's not a simple power cut for a bit.

BT will have turned off the old copper phone network in the UK by the end 2025 and phones will instead use the internet to make calls. Maybe that's already happened in Spain, in which case you will need power to make a call.

A country that is tropical/sub tropical and experiences a lot of storms and cyclones. Our last cyclone saw a huge city lose power for 4 days. Trains still going. Pubs still open. Hospitals still running (though on emergency only surgery), supermarkets still open.

Isn't it strange that we had no problems (of course individual homes without generators were out of power, but generally businesses were fine)?

Could someone explain this please? And no, I'm not trolling. I am genuinely shocked at what I am reading on this thread.

#Edit sorry 4 days. Some other parts in the northern part of the state were out for 6 days, so almost a week. Trains and trams still running.

It didn't happen to your parents either. They might not have thought it was a big deal.

Are you thinking that all the Spaniards got together to perpetrate a big old joke on the rest of the world?

What possible evidence could you have for it being unbelievable?

Is where you live in Spain?

You have warning of storms and people will stay home, not be out and about on crowded roads and on trains and in the middle of going about their everyday lives 🤦🏼‍♀️

😂 Mate. No way are you for real not understanding the differences between set ups in places which regularly deal with weather takimg down infrastructure and set up in places where that isn't a case.
It's like Siberian person laughing at Saudi for not being set up for deep sub zero temps.
Stupid

You have answered your own flipping question, haven’t you? It’s something that happens frequently where you live, due to cyclones, therefore contingency measures are in place. It’s like asking why the buildings in my town aren’t earthquake proof. Um, we don’t have earthquakes.

Agree. I'm genuinely baffled sometimes by people's responses on here. Do people not usually converse with their families?

I'm not talking about sending out rescue teams, just an "OMG just seen the news about the power, what a pain, are you without anything" or what have you?