Info that may be useful to Dana:

A friend of mine from the Jackson area just e-mailed. He still has no power, but he was able to charge up his computer at a local Applebee's. Restaurants and businesses have power.

The problem is gas. He's seeing long lines at the pump and some stations completely out of fuel.

After Hurricane Andrew it was complete anarchy through south Florida where my Dad lived for at least five days. They went out on nightly patrol (jeeps, big lights on top, guns) to fend of the looters from their homes. It was creepy and fucked up.

Similar thing happened in SF after the earthquake. Not the looting (very minor here), but with the police pulled away to deal with the emergencies you felt - almost immediately - on the streets a kind of threatening, grab and bully lawlessness emerge. All the lights were out and you suddenly realized that while a good portion of society exists by social contract, there is a substantial portion which is law abiding only because the police are right there.

He's seeing long lines at the pump and some stations completely out of fuel.

It won't take long for that to get up here.

Not to get any more morbid, but isnt the water they're traveling through essentially a lake of poison?

Not any more than, say, the Ganges is. Or the Hudson. It's not going to kill you on contact, but I'd sure as hell avoid swallowing it.

isnt the water they're traveling through essentially a lake of poison?

To put it simply, yes.

Gasoline from cars, algae and bacteria from the lake, dead animals--it's a deadly soup

while a good portion of society exists by social contract, there is a substantial portion which is only law abiding only because the police are right there.

This is my biggest nightmare.

ita, if he's dead, I'm thinking the only thing he's using is space.

I wasn't sure if he was dead in both her scenarios.

dead animals

I didnt think of pets until I watched a CNN report where an exhausted and broken reporter described seeing a dog getting electrocuted by a downed power line and being unable to do anything about it.

Gasoline from cars, algae and bacteria from the lake, dead animals--it's a deadly soup

Does that come with oyster crackers?

This is my biggest nightmare.

If it's any consolation after the earthquake there were far far more stories of people risking their lives for strangers than there were of abuse and looting and crime. Almost all of the first-at-the-scene rescuers who dug people out of the freeway collapse were the poor people who lived in West Oakland.

Still, I'd say the creep factor was in the minority but big enough to be felt. 15%? Not huge, but more than every tenth person.

Well, the blackout went OK.