Die Anschläge in New York und Washington am 11

 
Tip: 
Information on procedures in case of flooding and 
all other types of danger is available via the German 
Emergency Preparedness Information System 
(deNIS): 
www.denis.bund.de
. 
 

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- 85 - 
Energy failure 
 
All the citizens of industrialised nations are reliant on various 
sources of energy today. These include electricity, gas, oil 
and district heating, which are delivered to the home via 
distribution networks. The possible consequences of a power 
failure show just how dependant we are on such supplies: All 
mains-powered devices fail. These may include: 
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!
Radios 
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Lighting 
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Telephones 
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Computers 
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Water 
heaters 
Cash 
dispensers 
Mains-dependent door mechanisms and other 
mechanisms 
and much more besides. 
Even heating systems are commonly reliant on electricity, 
including oil heating systems, as transportation of the oil 
through rising pipelines, injection and ignition all require 
electricity. Manual control of these functions, if possible at all, 
entails substantial and costly modification measures. 
Energy supply tips: 
Every household should keep alternative resources 
available, should the oil, gas, district heating or electricity 
supply fail. In our climes, a lack of heating can generally be 
compensated for over a certain period by warm clothing. 
Those who possess a means of heating which can also be 
operated with coal, briquettes or wood should keep a stock of 
such fuels for emergencies. 
Should the electric lighting fail, candles, torches or petroleum 
lamps can be used instead. Here again, stocks of candles, 
fuels, spare bulbs for torches, batteries and lighting means 
such as matches or lighters should be checked. 

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- 86 - 
Rechargeable batteries are less suitable as emergency 
supplies, as they do not retain the stored current sufficiently 
long in charged state and in the event of a power failure they 
would need to be fully charged. Please note that in 
unfavourable circumstances an energy failure may last 
several weeks.