You are talking about 5 to 8 days of power outage...With one day notice. Science labs are usually NOT part of disaster recovery plans as they are R&D.

Lol what are you on? This was one days notice on a week's notice. Due largely in part because they neglected to maintain their infrastructure over the years so they can shave off operating costs - for better quarterly reports.

This is not normal.

You know what can provide 8 days of backup power? A generator (along with periodic trips to the gas station). Which you should already have if your power needs are this critical.

Power outages don't usually last this long.

Any dime a dozen facility with any sort of need of continuous electricity has a backup generator. The point is not that they should have bought a new generator for this planned blackout. The point is they should have had it for decades already.