Blackout Hits Parts of Eastern U.S., Canada

[trailergod]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=1&u=/nm/20030814/ts_nm/power_outages_dc


NEW YORK (Reuters) - A massive power outage swept across swaths of the eastern United States and Canada on Thursday, leaving sections of New York City, Detroit, Cleveland and Toronto without electricity, witnesses said.

Subways in New York came to a complete halt, and power was out at all three of the New York area's major airports. Commuter train service also came to a halt, and cellular telephone service was disrupted.

CNN reported a fire at a Con Edison power plant in Manhattan.

The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Forked River, New Jersey was not functioning, according to people familiar with the plant's operation.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they did not know the reason for the power outages, but said the department was looking into it.



check your TV news channels.. or CNN or BBC.... New Yorkers are again out on the streets... :eek:

i think its all technical, but the stigma from 9/11 is still there...

and damn.. we are indeed very dependent on machines .... :freak:


http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030814/lthumb.1060895865.blackout_wxs127.jpg http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030814/lthumb.1060895844.blackout_wxs125.jpg

[Stormwalker]

i bet they freaked out when they were in the subways.. probably thought some sort of attack was going on above the ground..

[trailergod]

welp... already 11 hours... its now the BIGGEST and longest power blackout in US history... 50 million people !!! still without power

[Stormwalker]

Canada blames US for blackout
ONTARIO Premier Ernie Eves insisted yesterday that the cause of massive power outages that hit the northern United States and Canada was on the US side of the border.

from <a href="http://news.com.au">news.com.au</a>


haha.. i am rubber you are glue.. bounces of me and sticks to you.. nyah nyah :P :freak: :P

[Marcus]

It hit my house around 4:20 last night and we JUST got power back around...10am I think.

Very different. People just seem to FORGET how to drive when the traffic lights are out :P

Very odd...our Famous Players got their power back after two hours! So I saw Freddy vs Jason with lots of air conditioning :cool:

[corfy]

Personally, I think they need to check MIB headquarters and make sure that little ball thing that caused the 1977 New York City Blackout didn't get loose again. :cool:

[corfy]

New York (AP) - As the investigation to the massive blackout that effected more than 50 million people continues, the focus of the investigation shifts from Ohio back to a power plant just outside New York City.

Although the cause remains unclear, a group of people dressed in identical black business suits and black ties and wearing dark sunglasses were seen taking a small glowing ball out of one of the powerplants near Manahattan.

One of the gentlemen, who others addressed simply as "Kay," was overheard muttering something about practical jokes going too far.

When asked about the ball, one representative on scene who refused to be identified pulled out what appeared to be a large pen, although he seemed agitated when it didn't work. He then started asking around for someone else's "flashy thingy," although it was unclear what connection the "flashy thingy" had with the blackout.
MORE


Sorry, I couldn't resist writing this. My old reporter days pop up in mysterious ways sometimes.

[Matt]

This is a serious matter. I know corfy you are trying to add some humour but it isn't exactly the right time at the moment. Just think before you write.

[Gaumont]

its just a power out, no big deal.

[Jean-Pierre Bazinet]

I'm in part of the affected area (Ottawa) and was without power for a good 22 hours.
I just got power back a couple hours, and just got internet ability a few minutes ago.

Because only 50% of the province (Ontario) has power, and there isn't enough to server everyone, we'll be going through 'rolling blackouts' meaning the power will be on for a few hours, and then off for a few.
This will be going on for the next few days.

This includes all street lights and traffic lights and means that most grocery stores, convenience stores and shopping centres are closed.

Also, with no electricity, most things that were refridgerated have gone bad. And for most people, also means no hot water.

People that are on breathing machines or other medical devices have no electricity to run those devices. And hospitals are running on backup generators.

So, yes... no electricity for a few hours is no big deal.
But no electricity for a few begins to get more serious.

oh... and no Movie-List updates for a few days (as power will be on and off) :)

[Matt]

No!!!!!!!!! Cursed blackout! I can't get exclusives! Must get exclusives! Please!

[chernabog_ca]

Well this is the first time I've been able to use my computer since yesterday.

I had just sat down and was logging onto my computer at about 4:10pm yesterday when the blackout hit. At first I figured it was just my building as the power is a little flaky sometimes. Decided to leave to go get my mom at the GO station. Had to walk down 20 flights of stairs and wasn't looking forward to having to walk back up them. Got in the car and pulled out onto the street and that's when it hit me that this was a little bit bigger than just my building. Got to one busy intersection and there was already an accident!! I couldn't believe how people weren't obeying the rules of the road and were just going right through the intersection. The lady in the car next to me told me to put the radio on and that the blackout is from here to Detroit. I switched it on and that's when I found out far wide this thing was spread. As soon as I heard NYC was affected, the first thing that came to mind was could this be a terrorist attack or the start of something big. They kept saying on the radio about once a minute to remember to treat all intersections as 4 way stops and that they don't know what's caused the blackout but it's not a terror attack.

Picked my mom up, her train was running but was about 20 minutes late due to the fact that all the signals had to be done manually. Seeing as nothing was open and we couldn't go out to eat anywhere, we headed home. We had to walk up 20 flights of stairs. Man that was not fun and I thought my heart was going to come pounding right out of my chest. Everything was pretty quite and we turned the radio on to hear what was going on. Then at about 7pm, our fire alarm went off. Seems someone on the 17th floor decided to barbeque their diner. Problem is I live in a condo building that doesn't have any balconies. Fire department showed up and I'm sure gave them a nice lecture.

We were able to open the windows when the sun finally went down to get some air. We face north and live on a corner unit so the sun was beating down on us until it started to set. It was kind of freaky to see how dark the city can get and is something you never really get to see too often. I was even able to see Mars in the sky.

We got our power back at about 12:15am and it's been on ever since. They are warning us that there will be rolling blackouts that will last about 2 hours at a time and these are going to be going on all weekend. I heard the Toronto subway system won't be back till Monday and that the CNE which was suppose to start today won't be starting till Monday.

One thing I can't figure out today is everyone is filling up with gas. It's almost like everyone is in a panic. Every gas-station I've been by has at least a 30-50 car line up and I've seen 3 in my area that are out of gas. It's kind of nuts. Even the beer store had a huge line up outside the door
.

[corfy]

Originally posted by I Got Trailers
This is a serious matter. I know corfy you are trying to add some humour but it isn't exactly the right time at the moment. Just think before you write.


Originally posted by I Got Trailers
No!!!!!!!!! Cursed blackout! I can't get exclusives! Must get exclusives! Please!

Now who's not being serious?

Considering that the blackout wasn't caused deliberately, I figure that there are two responses that can be made to the blackout. First, you can get mad, but since there is nothing the average person can do to bring the power back on and nothing to really get mad at, getting mad won't do much good. The second is to laugh at it, which doesn't bring the power on but does make you feel at least a little better. I always prefer the second. As it says in my sig, "Laugh at life or life will laugh at you."

And besides, my Men in Black "theory" is about as good as anyone else's right now, considering nobody has a clue what started this.

[Matt]

The second post was half-mad with rage (I like exclusives) and half-sarcasam. The best of whises to JP and al the board members affected by the blackout and hope that everything will return to normal sometime soon.

[trailergod]

Originally posted by Gaumont
its just a power out, no big deal.

that has to be the understatement of the year....

good thing the ML servers are not based in Toronto or New Yok.... imagine... ML down untill now.... :cry: :cry:

but seriously... no power for 2 days is not to be taken lightly..

the financial loss to businesses, services, and transportation is very huge, ..

whats a big deal then? ... if a power blackout for 2 days that affects 50 million people is not a big deal... then what is then?... when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez break up.. that would be a big deal.... :P

[Gaumont]

Originally posted by tisoy
that has to be the understatement of the year....

well im realistic, I dont get upset every time the news cover something thats happened, I dont paint up hell just cuz of one event, I dont yell panic cuz they had to be without power for <24 hours (most ppl). I dont think this was such a big deal.
Yea some on respirators had to be taken to the hospital, a few got stuck in elevators, a few in the subway. No big riots, no increas in crime, I heard of a firefirgther that died, other than that no casualties (which ive heard of).

This will hopefully mean they get their powersystem to work better next time (which might be a terrorist attack).
Ppl might go out and get canned foods and water, incase it would happen again.
Just telling the ppl and politicians to protect from something like this would not do anything, an event like this is taken for ppl to react, and since there was no really big bad consequence this was proberbly something they can get something good out off.

And btw, the stock market didnt go down (last I heard).
So except the ppl who ownes stored who'll have to wait a day to sell stuff, the economy dident get a big hit.

If you wanna complain or feel horrefied over something, do it about the heatwave in europe (and our part in getting it here). In France alone over 3000 ppl have died from the heat. That is a big deal.

So you call it an understatment if you want, and I'll say that you either havent thought this through before talking or that you are overreacting, A LOT.

[trailergod]

heat wave or weather problems is very different from a power blackout that involves 50 million people in the richest nation of the world...

hello..... its USA... when i heard about this news and heard that is was technical... i almost fell of my chair in shock...LOL...

how could a country like USA have a power blockout involving 50 million people.... and then on other side bloat about its military might .. well i just turned it into a politcal debate... but this incident is a BIG deal that ivolves lives and the "unbreakable face" of america...

Bill to US economy for power outages seen in the billions (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&ncid=1503&e=1&u=/afp/20030815/ts_afp/us_power_economy_030815205416)


Top Stories - AFP

Bill to US economy for power outages seen in the billions
Fri Aug 15, 4:54 PM ET Add Top Stories - AFP to My Yahoo!



WASHINGTON (AFP) - The bill to the economy for the largest power outage in US history could run up to 30 billion dollars a day, economists estimated.

At least 54 car plants remained idle, hundreds of airliners were grounded and utility plants remained off line Friday, one day after a massive power outage struck large swaths of the eastern United States and Canada.

"Maximum impact under this scenario, in our view, is approximately 25-to-30 billion dollars a day in terms of lost gross domestic product," Merrill Lynch chief US economist David Rosenburg said.

Economists said, however, that power supplies were expected to be restored soon and thus the long-term damage to the economy should not be too crippling. Power had returned to about 50 percent of New York by late Friday.

US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) said the blackout was a "wake-up call."

"I think this is an indication of the fact that we need to modernize the electricity grid," Bush told reporters in California.

[Gaumont]

so what that the big fat companies lost a days worth of production, its not like they are gonna go bankrupt. And SO WHAT That the GNP takes a hit, it will only get bigger than average the first few days after power is restored and ppl go buy the stuff they would during the black out. None is NOT gonna buy their house, car, refrigirator etc etc just for they lack power for a day or two. U can make it look like it cost whatever you want if you twists the numbers, its not like this the first time.

Weather is not so different. Powerfalure cuz its a crappyt built system. More heat as we continue to pump out greenhouse gases as fast as we can. Both are caused by us ppl doing a bad job of selfpresevation.
Difference, ppl react for a powerfalure, but dont give a **** about that we are destroying the enviorment (and thereby us self). And your right with them

but this incident is a BIG deal that ivolves lives and the "unbreakable face" of america...
you care more about a tarnish in US "unbreakable face" than tens of thousands dying here in europe.

[chernabog_ca]

The problem here is the outdated power grid. The way they were explaining it last night was that a good chunk of North America shares the same power grid except for Quebec I believe. All the major generating stations then send power to the grid and it's sort of pooled. Then everyone takes from it what they need. Problem is when some thing goes wrong it can affect a large section of the grid like it did last night. You had New York, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, and Ottawa all without power. It's pretty big when you think about it. I don't know about area wise but I think that would almost be the same as having entire countries in Europe without power.

They still aren't too sure what's caused it. The Americans say that something up here caused it and we're saying something downthere caused it. There's been reports of explosions, fires, lighting strikes, etc... The real problem is the piss poor condition of the power grid which hasn't been updated since the 60s when they had a similar blackout happen.

[trailergod]

big fat companies are made of jobs ... big companies are composed of real people working....

i am not worried about the "unbreakable face" of america... .. i am so amused about it... lol

the HEAT WAVE(record breaking i may add) here in europe was a big deal..it always was and it was in the news here for 5 weeks everyday !!!... is was a very big deal...

[Marcus]

It's been pretty hot here and yeah...we're gonna be getting rolling blackouts. My boss was hit but I haven't been yet...

Work was slow tonight, as to be expected. Got to go home early :)

[aS!Dz]

Dont get many blackouts in my area...but i do remember having an 2 hour long blackout in just my small area, bad thing was that it was supposed to be expected but we were not notified....for sum reason...or summat like dat....and to make situations worse...i was watching Pitch Black on dvd with the lights turned off just b4 da blackout...so i was kinda staring at my tv for a very long time..b4 realising that my tv and dvd players power lights are not on....dats wen i opened the curtains and saw every1 in da neighbour hood standin outside wid big confused faces......luckily we got power back in da next 2 hours :D it was shocking and weird for them 2 hours...wouldnt want to kno how bad it felt for rest of people that had it for sooo long

[Jean-Pierre Bazinet]

Well... powers been on in my area for about 24 hours now (off for 20 minutes last night).
Word is that 100% of Ontario has power now, but because the supply is limited, we may still get blackouts now and then.
Most of my food has gone bad, but the grocery stores are open again. So looks like I'll be shopping tomorrow.
So.. not a huge disaster.. more of an inconvenience.
But definetely something that need to be examined and upgraded so that it dosent happen again.

[blugh]

I was stranded downtown for 48 hours with nowhere to stay. That's pretty big for me. But, I directed traffic, was photographed for Newsweek and interviewed by Reuters and the Ottawa Sun, so that was kinda cool.

[radstar]

i have heard about this while i wuz at Padre Island. sounds bad! if it had happened here, i would be nuts. no power for a long time.... NUTS!!!

this isn't really related to the topic. but this made me think back to the time a few years back when i, alone, have caused a power out in my friend's entire neighborhood..... long story (ahems)

and that is a good theory, corfy. would ya still make that up if you were a victim in this power outage?? :-P just kidding ya, i thought what you said wuz cute.

[Marcus]

Premier Ernie Eves "Save Power - Avoid Work"

:cool: Will do, Mr. Premier. Let the party begin!

[corfy]

Originally posted by radstar
and that is a good theory, corfy. would ya still make that up if you were a victim in this power outage??

Absolutely. In fact, I probably would have come up with it sooner if I had been a victim (although, obviously, it would have taken me longer to post it).

Case in point... a couple of years ago, a Wal-Mart SuperCenter opened up in my town. I was in the store on the opening day when a really bad thunderstorm with golf-ball sized hail hit, and everyone was huddled into the center of the store (right underneath a skylight, but that is a different matter). I went up to every Wal-Mart employee I could find (especially a couple of the managers) and told them, "I know you are trying to blow away the competition, but isn't this just a bit much?"

And for the record, my grandmother (18 hours) and sister (37 hours) were both victims of the blackout... my grandmother wouldn't know MIB from ABS so she wouldn't understand the theory, but my sister thought the theory was hilarious. She wanted to sick Muldar and Skully on them. "The truth is out there, and we're gonna' find it!"

[blugh]

I was stuck in it, and I think it's hilarious.

[Jake]

We're a country of almost 300 million people, have u ever seen NYC at night? It's as bright as daylight,

lol I wasn't even in NY

[corfy]

OK, now I don't know whether to be mad at MIB for losing control of that little ball again or be thankful that it only caused a little damage this time and they got it under control quickly, but my office had a blackout today.

According to city officials (who are obviously part of the cover-up and/or been flashy-thingied :ninja:) a lightning strike hit a power substation, knocking out power on the north side of town.

Since I am in charge of the computers at work :geek: (I work at a small newspaper, by the way), I was fine with it until our publisher decides to pack up some of our computers and take them to our sister paper about 45 miles away and work on the paper there so we can get the paper out. :huh:

So, there we were fumbling in the dark trying to get enough computers to get the paper together dissasembled and packed up into trucks and cars so we can ship them. And then we get half-way there and the power comes back on (it was out for about two hours), so we turn around and set everything back up again. :cry:

I told the publisher that he should sue MIB for any lost revenue during the downtime. He had never seen the movie, so he had no idea what the heck I was talking about.:rolleyes:

So nowhere close to the blackout that effected millions of people for days on end, but I am now exhausted for moving computers all over creation. And, of course, once we got everything hooked up again, we had several minor problems related to the fact that most of the computers and hubs were improperly shut down. And guess who's job it is to fix it. :( :cry:

K and J have a lot to answer for. :evil: ;)