You've heard about the devastating effects of the hurricane on the northeast of the United States.  Brutal 80-90 mph winds swept across the east coast, hazardous saltwater flooded New York's subway system, extensive damage was done to infrastructure, and the final death count may not be tallied yet.


 In addition to these overwhelming misfortunes, mass blackouts were caused by down power lines and the explosion at Consolidated Edison substation located on Manhattan's East River.  You can see footage of the explosion in this YouTube video:


 Consolidated Edison Inc. has said that some customers may be without power for a week.  Sara Banda of Consolidated Edison says "This is the largest storm-related outage in our history." 

At its peak, power outages spanned across 21 states, blacking out 8.48 million homes and businesses.  This figure would probably larger if it took into account all the occupants of these homes and businesses.  According to Reuters, around 6.2 million homes and businesses are still without power.   

Since this natural disaster, power companies have been struggling to restore electricity and have since done so for 2.4 million homes thus far.

We've had customers from areas hit by the hurricane calling about solar backup systems, such as the Ecotricity Eco1800S Solar Powered Generator.  Times like this remind us to prepare as best we can for emergency situations.

Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones and we wish for a safe, swift recovery for the communities affected by Hurricane Sandy.