Grew up in the third world, if we went 6 hours without electricity daily we were lucky.

I was also in the Caribbean which is where a lot of storms are born and I remember being without electricity for many months in 1998 after Hurricane George passed by.

We had to clean the mess ourselves, we did so quickly, even the kids helped clean up the streets. The government gave some stores basic supplies to give away when people would purchase other edibles, we'd call for a delivery and would get extra stuff like sardines and flour for a couple of days. There was no running water for a long time, this was more difficult than going without electricity. The government would send trucks with water to the neighborhoods and the residents would have to line up with buckets to then walk home being very careful not to spill any.

We can do just fine without electricity though it's very nice to have it, what we can't do without is water.