How selfish people can be?

dear dada, What matters now is you are safe and everyone is safe as well. I know and I understand how hard it is , no electricity and traders taking all the opportunity instead of helping the people to cope up. I always had my lamps charged thu it won't lasts for 3 days. I always checked candles and water is very much necessary so, I make sure I have enough stocks to lasts for 3 days. Well, here in our place,the water company is giving free water delivered in times like this. Hugs to you,maa and shubee

Well baba, you have faced flood for days but Assam is a lans of floods and here everywhere are drowned on water for months and just imagine how our citizens cope with it. Just compare yourself with us and hope you have the answer.

I am sorry to hear that your community has gone through this. Glad all is okay now. We have had floods in our area before. Usually in the Spring when the snow melts off the mountains. It can sure do some damage. Misquitoes had a field day it sounds like. Ugh! Could have been worse I guess.

Hi, Prof...first I want to offer my sympathies that you had to endure this hardship. You asked how we cope with loss of electricity so I will tell you. I keep candles on hand as well as the hand-crank flashlights, avoiding the need for batteries for light. I also have a wood burning stove so even if I lose electricity I can keep warm and cook my food on that if need be. I don't use electrical bug repellants...there are citronella candles that will keep the mosquitoes at bay and I would suggest you purchase several of those to keep on hand. I also keep plenty of canned goods and dry goods to eat so that I am not completely reliant on my refrigerator faire. My church leaders have advised us to keep supplies for a minimum of three days' duration in case of emergencies like these. It might be wise for you to do the same? We never know when we will need those emergency supplies! When we lose electricity at our house it is never a hardship for us, more like an adventure. We get to live like the pioneers did! How fun! At one point in time we were homeless and living in our van. I purchased a small portable barbeque grill to do my cooking on. It worked well but when the rain was coming down it was difficult to use it outdoors so we would go to the picnic areas and use their shelters. It is always an adventure. I am glad you were able to get through this tough time. I hope my suggestions are helpful for you.

I hate people who take advantage when people are in dire need such as these businessmanThe exact word to their practice is called profiteering, Merriam-Webster defines profiteering as : one who makes what is considered an unreasonable profit especially on the sale of essential goods during times of emergency, tsk tsk... terrible people hope they do not burn

Oh Professor! I am so sorry you have had to go through this flood and be mistreated by merchants. It's absolutely unfair and God will even things out eventually. I believe in Karma, for sure. I'm so sorry the food that was stored in the freezer and fridge went bad. My brother lives in New York, and they had a power outage for days due to the hurricane that hit the coast. They had to eat stuff out of the fridge before stuff spoiled and had to use the grill to cook cause there was no electricity.

try to keep candles around to see by Ice chest to keep parisables in but then to ya have to buy the ice I hate it when stores go up in prices when this happens SHame on them!

Due to some reasons I was not watching television or on the net so was not aware of what was going around. Its bad shopkeepers take advantage of such situations and start looting people. But there is nothing a layman can do in such a situation. Luckily I have not faced such a situation.

It is a matter of shame that in our country, as I am not in a position to comments on other country, the people are trying to earn unlawfully and unethically in such critical emergency situation. We are victim of these criminals. Pleas recall my reply to your discussion on Anna Hazare where I wrote why I was against the movement of Jana Adalat of Hazare. If you search after the disaster you facing, I am sure, you will find many of supporters of Ananji's movement among these criminals. When we lost our morality this will happen again and again. Hope you overcome the situation.

I think to be prepared if this happens again is to stock up on things. Buy flashlights that are battery operated and also buy spare batteries for the flashlights. Stock up on candles and matches. Keep bottled water around and extra kerosene. Buy spray on bug repellent to keep the mosquiotes at bay. Keep a battery operated radio around so you listen to the weather and news if this happens again. With the price of food going up well that is the merchants trying to take advantage of people. It happens everywhere! Sad but true!

hi professor, it is very unfortunate that your area should suffer from power interruption for several days. but it is more unfortunate to have merchants around you who take advantage of the situation. i guess, one should always stock up/store the basics that is needed during emergencies so that when the emergency arrives, you dont have to get stressed facing these vultures. ann

Hello Papa! It is an out right shame when businesses take advantage when people are undergoing bad situations as you mentioned. I understand they too have losses but surely they should understand that it is the people that once again will have them thriving successfully once again when things go back to normal. Here in the US it is no different because business men think that now all will need new items and or more items due to the flooding and instead of helping it is like this is the time for them to make out. Such a shame, as if it is everyman for himself. I hope you and Maa are doing okay after all of this.

For many people it's hard to understand how life is without electricity. For me the only problem (in the Netherlands) would be if I can't heath my house for days. The rest I care about less. In Hungary (have a house over there) I would have an other problem: water. I don't care about the fridge etc.. I can do without that for years (and I did). I have no tv, radiom, internet over there. A few times a year I am in Africa. I am used to have no electricity, always unexpected. I have candles (also in Holland and Hungary) with me, no fridge and the mosquito's can be a problem but I always use a spray etc. So the only problem there will be the lack of water too.

Ya, I can imagine your problems you have faced. I felt really pity for this and here in our city it is happening always like your problems. But we haven't face 72 hours till now, only up to 18 hours in a day haha, here is a big load shedding problem in our country.

I'm glad we have laws in the US about not gouging people during times like you've had. I do hope things are better now.

We have, fortunately, never had to endure a flood where we live - on high ground in California. We have had earthquakes, though, and one was very bad and disrupted our well, so we had to get water elsewhere. We have a reverse osmosis unit in the kitchen, and because we sometimes do lose power for several hours, and on one occasion two or three days, we save two-liter bottles that juices come in and keep at least six of them filled at all times. That does give us some drinking and cooking water. OUr stove is powered by gas, so even though it has electronic controls, we can light the burners with a match if necessary, to cook when power is off. We have battery operated lanterns for light and many flashlights, some wth handcranks. Each of us has a small flashlight by the bed for light at night if electricity goes out. For food, we keep a supple of canned and dry foods in storage in case we need them. This is part of my regular buying program. I stock up when things are on sale for things I use all the time -- various kinds of beans, vegetables, fruits. We don't eat much meat, so that which we do have we could eat if it thawed, and some of it is even pre-cooked, such as some chicken strips I can buy pre-grilled at Costco. These are very tasty even if you eat them cold in your hand, though I normally use them for salads or stir fry dishes. I'm sure we could eat for a week, if need be, on that which is stored. One also needs to have medical supplies handy, such as bandages and other first aid supplies, in case someone needs help with injuries before help can get to you . I am sorry you have had this major inconvenience. When we first moved here we had a big storm that knocked our power out for about three days, so we had no electricity or water and my husband was sick. We had just taken in a homeless acquaintance who later became a close friend, and he was of great help in hauling in buckets of water he got directly from the well storage tank so that we could flush toilets. Since the city people still had power, we were able to eat out and buy drinking water and anything else we needed. Only the rural areas like ours were without power.