(Cid Standifer)
When Hurricane Zeta made landfall on the Gulf Coast in October, 2.6 million people in the southeast US were left in the dark. From the Mississippi coast to Atlanta to smaller cities like Anniston, Alabama, people waited—some for days, others for upward of two weeks—in living rooms and kitchens lit by candlelight for their power to return, reliant on the longevity of cellphone batteries and mobile chargers.