Hyperbole and purple prose abounded in Britain today over the unfortunate fire in the substation which provides Heathrow with the enormous amount of electricity it needs to function properly (the equivalent of a small town, apparently). 

A national embarrassment, a calamity, a disaster. How could this be allowed to happen? Why was there no back up supply? Where was the resilience plan?

Amidst all of this, a comment from Gwyn Topham, in The Guardian I felt cast some much-needed perspective:

“When it fully reopens, disruption will persist, and countless planes, crew and passengers of all nationalities will not be where they hoped to be. But perhaps the fact that a fire described as “apocalyptic” in the night was virtually extinguished by London’s firefighters by daylight; that power was restored before breakfast to most of the 67,000 homes also affected; and that all occurred without casualty in the ground or air, also shows a certain resilience worth noting.”

Quite.