Power blackout in Geelong - four hours

from w.
I was online yesterday about 4 p.m. and the computer shut down. Peceli yelled out - hey, what did you do, as he was watching cricket or tennis on the TV nd the fan stopped also. It was so hot. I went outside and noticed the traffic lights were out so it wasn't just us.

For four hours we had no power in our house, and luckily I found my little battery-radio and got updates and reasons for the trouble. The bushfires had caused the trouble up near Benalla and one-third of our state of Victoria was out! Much of Melbourne also! In the city shops it was a bit chaotic - shops were in in darkness, cash registers would not work, lifts got stuck I suppose, and most people just ran for the exits and sunlight and some thought it was a bomb or terrorist attack. You see, our govt has been harking on - be alert, be alarmed - so much that people jump to conclusions.

Well, eighty sets of traffic lights were out in Geelong and it was 'give way to the right' rule I expect. Icecream shops gave away huge melting icecreams and people wandered back to cars and traffic jams or to the nearby beach.

There is a carousel down at the Waterfront and it was still merrily going round and round - apparently on their own auxiliary power.

By 8.15 the fan started purring and we again had power.

It made me think about what happens to our relatives in Suva who often have blackouts and also dry taps every other day.