dtgreene: I heard that parts pf California have had even longer intentional power shut-offs fairly recently. (Don't know if they're still going on.)
(Of course, that doesn't make your situation any better.)
Matewis: Difference here is it is over the entire country, can last for several days and it happens several times a year. Luckily I have a laptop and battery for my wifi router so I can ride it out.
The incidents in California, from what I understand, have sometimes lasted multiple days, resulting in food spoiling and having to be thrown out because the refrigerator stopped working due to the power outage. Aso, apparently the power company there is saying to expect it to happen again.
With that said, it is still only over part of one US state rather than over an entire country (or, alternatively, a region the size of South Africa, which I am pretty sure is bigger than just California).
Edit: Correct the country name.