While the official numbers have yet to be reported, we know that in 2021 there were 350 million people worldwide affected by power outages. More recent years are topping 1 billion annually.
Power outages in 2022 and 2023 have occurred due to severe weather, power plant accidents, war, government-implemented rolling blackouts, and even targeted attacks. Some power failures lasted for several hours. Others lasted for weeks -- or longer.
Those who made it through the sudden blackouts without losing their sanity had the survival gear necessary, such as flashlights, candles, solar-powered chargers, self-powered indoor heaters, generators, and more.
With winter rapidly approaching, we encourage you to take these power failures seriously. They can happen at any moment and for any reason. Prepare now, friends—or be stuck in the dark for days.
1. Buenos Aires [January 11, 2022]
The capital of Argentina suffered a major power outage that left 700,000 without electricity due to a heat wave. The spike in demand rose as people tried to cool their businesses and homes.
2. Kazakhstan [January 25]
The capitals of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan suffered a major power outage due to stress on the grid, caused by the summer drought combined with the soaring demand due to increased cryptocurrency mining.
3. From Texas to Ohio [February 2]
More than 300,000 people from Texas to Ohio suffered a power outage due to a severe winter storm. The buildup of snow and ice on trees and power lines caused a number of power outages in Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas, and Kentucky.
4. Taiwan [March 3]
More than five million homes were affected by a severe power outage during rush hour after a malfunction at a power station. People were trapped in elevators and traffic lights went black. They do not believe it happened due to a cyberattack, but the Taiwan Power Company suffers cyberattacks quite often.
5. Puerto Rico [April 7]
A failed circuit breaker and fire at a power substation in Costa Sur led to a massive power outage on the island. It left more than 420,000 people without power into the next day.
[Related Read: Surviving a Year-Long Blackout: Lessons from Puerto Rico & the USVI]
6. North Dakota [April 25]
Parts of North Dakota were without electricity for days after a power outage in April. The power outage occurred after a major blizzard caused significant damage to the electrical infrastructure.
7. Canada [May 21]
A derecho—a storm with major winds—took out power through Ontario and Quebec, causing more than one million households to lose power. It took a week to restore power to thousands of people.
8. Michigan [August 29]
More than 260,000 households and businesses were without power for twenty-four hours due to severe storms in the southeastern area.
9. Texas [September 4]
Over Labor Day weekend, severe storms resulted in more than 132,000 customers losing power in north Texas.
10. Puerto Rico [September 18]
Puerto Rico suffered a total blackout when Hurricane Fiona hit the island. The hurricane proved to be too much for the country’s already weak electrical grid. Thousands remained without power for weeks.
11. Canada [September 24]
Tropical Storm Fiona took out electricity affecting more than 500,000 customers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Emergency officials recommended homeowners have at least seventy-two hours' worth of supplies.
12. Nigeria [September 26]
Nigeria’s power grid collapsed, causing widespread power outages across the country. This was the seventh grid collapse in 2022 alone.
13. Zimbabwe [September 27]
A nationwide blackout in Zimbabwe occurred due to a disturbance on a high-voltage transmission line. The entire country was brought to a halt, including mining companies.
14. Florida [September 28]
Hurricane Ian, a category four storm, resulted in 2.7 million businesses and residential customers being without power. However, it took weeks for some of the hardest-hit communities to have power restored. For instance, 580,000 customers were still without power a week after the hurricane.
15. Bangladesh [October 4]
Around 140 million people suffered from a major power outage in Bangladesh. The power grid malfunctioned, leaving 75% of the country in a blackout for ten hours.
16. Pakistan [October 13]
A national power-transmission grid failure led to power outages in multiple areas of Pakistan, including transportation disruptions.
17. Florida [November 11]
Shortly after Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Nicole hit Florida. This storm left 287,000 customers without power for about twelve hours.
18. Kyiv, Ukraine [November 24]
Russian missile strikes led to the biggest power outages in Kyiv since the Ukraine war began. It left two-thirds of Kyiv without power for more than a day.
19. Washington and Oregon [November 30]
More than 70,000 households in Washington and Oregon lost power due to a major winter storm that hit the region.
20. North Carolina [December 3]
As many as 45,000 people in Raleigh suddenly found themselves without power in early December after vandals targeted substations. They used gunfire to damage the substations—the FBI is now involved. And as of press time, it will take days for power to be fully restored.
21. Odesa, Ukraine [December 11]
In a terrifying example of modern wartime tactics, over 1.5 million people in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa experienced a massive power outage following nighttime "kamikaze drones" pummeling electricity infrastructure in the region. The situation was made worse by severe frost, rain, snow and strong winds, which caused wires to ice over.
22. Southern & Eastern US [December 23]
More than a million homes and businesses were without power on the US East Coast, Midwest and Texas as winter storms battered much of the country. Most outages were in North Carolina, with over 164,000 customers without power, followed by Virginia with over 92,000 and Connecticut with more than 89,000.
23. South Africa [January 2023]
The country's more than 3 000 aging substations are increasingly blowing up, adding to South Africans' electricity woes. Load shedding and vandalism have piled pressure on substations which are being shut down daily. South Africans have endured power cuts for years but 2022 was the worst on record with 205 days of rolling blackouts impacting most of the countries businesses and households. 2023 shows early signs of continuing the trend.
24. Pakistan [January 23, 2023]
Pakistan's government began restoring power to millions of people after a breakdown in the grid triggered the worst electricity outage this year and second in three months.
There are many reasons why you can lose power, but some of the causes in 2022 and 2023 are especially alarming. Intentional vandalism to substations, cyberattacks, and warzone attacks are enough to give us pause.
Purchase power and lighting survival gear sooner rather than later, friends.
In liberty,
Elizabeth Anderson
Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply
