Brown Jenkin said:
The US system is broken into at least two major grids seperated by the Mississippi but if both Denver and Atlanta are hit then I see no reason that there couldn't be a blackout accross the entire US.
Even if two major metros were hit geographically far apart, you wouldn't see TOTAL power blackout. However, five or six, spread evenly across the country, WOULD do it, for all but the most remote towns in Appalachian and Rocky Mountain valleys who have their own isolated generating stations. Even not counting those, there are actually, I've read in news articles, THOUSANDS of remote farmsteads which run totally off the grid, using combos of wind, solar and water power, but this is a relatively new phenomena within the past twenty years or so.
Now, I can see in the show, reports of a blast in two places, but there actually being MORE, and because of the news blackout, people in Jericho just don't know it yet. It would be a pretty dramatic moment for the series, I imagine, to find out --
it ain't just Denver and Atlanta. New York's gone... and Los Angeles... and Miami... and Chicago...
As for Farm Fuel... note that many farms store diesel fuel for the combines, tractors, back-hoes, etc. with small amounts of gasoline for both some tractors and for small gas engines that start the deisel engines. That won't do your car much good. Plus, farms frequently use "farm grade fuel" (can't remember the exact name they use at the pumps), but it's of lower octane rating than regular stuff, and not as clean, and runs the farm equipment it's designed for just fine - but would tear your car to hell for any length of time.
I agree with the gas stations, though -- if a town pulled together its resources, rationed the gas from the gas stations' tanks (you don't NEED working gas pumps to gas up your car - it just makes it easier), then I could see them doing pretty well for themselves, and one local Wal-mart would offer a HECK of a lot of survival equipment all in one place.
So, lots to think about, and lots to hopefully expect, and I'm looking forward to it, myself.