What happens during a power outage?
When the River Stops
What happens during a power outage?
Click. The lights go out. The refrigerator stops humming. Your computer screen goes black. Everything that was buzzing and glowing a second ago just... stopped. What actually happened when the power went out?
Electricity flows to your house through thick wires, like water flowing through pipes. A power plant miles away makes the electricity, and it races through the wires at nearly the speed of light. When everything's working, electrons zip along that path continuously — billions of them, all moving together in a coordinated flow.
