Most of Houston was without electrical power during the week following Hurricane Ike (and for many Houstonians it was even longer). Our house has a backyard gas grill that's hooked into the natural gas line, and we never lost gas. Pretty much every evening during that week, the neighbors gathered to grill stuff, with everyone sharing. Then we sat around on the patio and 'visited' until bedtime, lighting candles when it got dark. We have fond memories of those times.