Could You Survive 30 Days in the Only Building With Power?

What if the whole city went dark for a month, and one tower across the river still had its lights on? Would they let you in? In this animated survival story, you cross a black river at midnight to Harbour Tower, the only building with a diesel generator, carrying a neighbour's last insulin pens. Inside, three hundred people live on one 10,000 litre tank: a 150 kW generator that burns 42 litres an hour, insulin that lasts only 28 days out of the fridge, wartime blackout curtains from 1939, real stories from Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Sandy, and six car batteries wired to a row of solar panels. So, would you open the gate? The rule says no. 0:00 Rule one: nobody new gets in 0:26 The one building with power 0:56 Day 1: crossing the dark river 2:08 The bleach trick that buys a way in 2:33 Day 2: How long one tank of diesel lasts 3:52 Day 4: Why the light makes you a target 4:51 The solar panels nobody used 5:17 Day 9: Elevator, water, phones or insulin? 6:59 Day 16: A sick child at the gate 8:17 Day 20: Okafor goes looking for diesel 8:38 Day 24: The generator dies 9:09 Six car batteries and a warm fridge 9:43 Day 30: Inventory 9:59 The grid comes back Sources: Generac (SD150 spec sheet): a 150 kW diesel generator burns about 42 litres an hour at full load, 23.5 at half load US FDA (2024): insulin can be kept out of the fridge at 15 to 30 C for up to 28 days US EPA (2024): 8 drops of unscented bleach per gallon of water, wait 30 minutes Reuters via Hydrocarbon Processing (2017): people in Puerto Rico waited 8 hours for diesel after Hurricane Maria NBC News (2012): after Hurricane Sandy, a man walked about 3 miles to charge his phone at a building's power strips Krisciunas and Carona (2015): a candle flame is visible from about 2.6 km in perfect darkness Imperial War Museums: the British wartime blackout began in September 1939 Untapped New York (2023): NYC street pressure lifts water only about five or six floors EIA (2020): a modern fridge uses about 1.6 kWh a day; iPhone 15 battery 12.98 Wh (9to5Mac, 2023) NREL PVWatts via NRG Clean Power: a 400 W panel makes about 1.66 kWh a day at 5 sun hours CIGRE (2020): a dead grid is restored in islands and blocks, not all at once Every story happens to you. #Animation #Survival #Blackout