Power Outages on East Coast

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Anyone know what's going on with the power on the East Coast. We've lost all power here in my Manhattan office - except for the PCs which are on backup power.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Apparently it's not just the East Coast.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I was wondering about that -- my monitor display keeps jumping briefly to black.

― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

CNN says Detroit, Cleveland, and other cities also affected. WTF?

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

OH NO THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON OH NOOOO!!!!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

(suddenly feeling lame cuz what if those power outages really are terror related FUCK)

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

AP says it's in canada too, Ontario/Toronto.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy shit I'm actually getting a weird creepy sensation about this...one of my coworkers just came in telling me the lady she was on the phone with in Cleveland just had their power go down and apparently it's happened to most-or-all of the city.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Metro North trains aren't running. (do we have any ilx0r commuters?)

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

we're okay out here
in wisconsin but god damn
what the fuck is this

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

affected areas/buildings: UN, NYSE, NYC City Hall, Kennedy & LaGuardia Airports, Long Island, Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, Toronto. (via AP again)

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, it appears the streets are getting pretty chaotic down there - what with none of the stop lights working.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Toledo, of all places. CNN.com still doesn't have anything, but CNN broadcast does.

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

just realized that nobody with power can read this; I'm a dumbass.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

We will now open the thread for wild speculations.

― Dale the Titled (cprek), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

chipmunks?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

MBlaster worm made it into the powergrid intranet and is infecting the windows nt regulator boxes (can't remember what they're called).

― Dale the Titled (cprek), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

heat?
transformer fire?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Man, it is so hot in NYC right now; if they don't get things fixed there could be some trouble.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

NY state official says it seems to be "a natural occurrence" (in the "not terrorists" sense) -- the Niagara-Mohawk grid overloaded (and this would somehow affect others, I take it). CNN.

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Power went out for a couple seconds here in Chicagoland.
Special report on ABC: they don't know jack dookey.

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

where's Gray Davis?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow. Facts. From CNN! Who'd'a thunkit?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't wait to hear Bill O'Reilly pin this on Dr. Dre.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:51 (twenty-two years ago)

"Why do you think they call it a blackout?"

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

A lot of news sites are slow loading right now. Copy/pasting:

-----
Power went out in New York City and across North America just after 4 p.m. today, but the full extent and cause of the problem remains a mystery. The loss of electricity extended into Westchester County, Long Island and New Jersey, and blackouts were also reported in Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto and throughout Ontario. City Hall is running on backup generators, but officials say they do not know what happened. Subways and trains in New York stopped running, and traffic lights also went out. It is not clear whether any trains are struck in the tunnels. All three area airports are reported to be shut down. Officials say 911 should only be called for serious emergencies. Less urgent calls can be directed to the Office of Emergency Management at (212) 477-3574 or (212) 477-3598.
-----

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

From the NY times:

Blackouts were reported north to Toronto, south to Maryland and west to Cleveland, Detroit and Toledo.

Radio reports said that subways and the Long Island Rail Road were among the modes of transportation not operating in New York. With lights off inside city buildings, people are streaming out onto the streets of Manhattan.

― JuliaA (j_bdules), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

God, it would suck to be stuck on a subway train.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy shit I bet NYC is a bloody nasty mess right now. :(

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Is this totally unprecendented?

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Why do I suspect that this is what the rest of the 21st century is going to be like?

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

It's sort of what Jan 1/00 was supposed to be like. Except it's summer.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

there was a (famous) five-day blackout in high summer in nyc in 1975

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

There was the blackout of ... I forget when, but it hit much of the northeast (my parents were living in Boston, so it was sometime in the 60s or 70s). The grids have been redesigned since then. I'm not sure if it was on this scale or not (I'm not sure what scale this is on yet).

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 14 August 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

1977

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

my news department just asked if I knew anyone in NYC who wanted to be an on-the-scene eyewitness on the air. Think any nycilxors would?

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Toronto's definitely out, I just got a call from my Dad.

(the other one was in '64 I think)

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

blackout or brownout?

― Dale the Titled (cprek), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

http://blackout.gmu.edu/home.html

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

So, NYC counts as the entire east coast now? And all this time i thought that i, being in DC, was on the EC too...damn mid-west taking over. *muttering to self*

― Fecal Jesus (mawill), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Why can't they design power grids like the internet? Can the entire EAST COAST plus TORONTO and DETROIT really go down b/c of a fire at one power center?!?!

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

OTTAWA's out also

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

could this have something to do with the Softwood Lumber dispute?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, how weird is that? (xp_

― s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Mtl still up?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe it's because they can;t design major rivers like the internet yet?

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Get in, teeny. Yeah, the 1965 one is the one I was talking about. There was a mini-baby-boom in 1966, obviously.

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe it's God punishing Ottawa for the whole, y'know, that thing they did to upset God.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

...it was a joke...

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

the video of the chaos is incredible

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 14 August 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 326 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Glad everyone's okay! I'm back at my apartment in Ann Arbor which now has power. I saw the same thing on TV as Andy K, methinks. The best was the woman who, after rambling about waiting in line for gas, said something like, "But Jesus Christ IS coming back!"

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Blackout Babies!

― rosemary (rosemary), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:28 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not an urban legend! (I know, I know, so says everyone when they're first told something like that, etc.) My mother proofread a book on it when she still worked as a proofreader/fact-checker/etc. That's why it came up so often when I was a kid. (Granted, all the stuff on that page is about NYC; this was Boston.)

― Tep (ktepi), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Jesus Christ?

― Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Damm Fritz, I walked home from 10 till about midnight and saw jack shit in the way of party. Though some folks int he studenty area of the annex were on their doorsteps drinking. Even in the middle of an state of emergency Toronto was pretty calm.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Just got power at 9 pm, was expecting to go another night. Ah AC . . .

― Mary (Mary), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

yay Mary!

― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Last night was so wack. There was like a vodoo ritual in Tompkins Square Park which consisted of African drumming, a huge bonfire encircled by a large crowd, and two men taking turns *jumping over the fire*. Why why why? People began drinking heavily at 4 pm. I went to a bar with people from work but wasn't really in the mood to celebrate. I was a bit freaked out after seeing the smoking Con Ed building and the swarms of people lining the streets. Fireworks, shotguns, and streaking began in the EV after dark, replete with a group of 40some candy ravers on bikes. I wish I knew about Felicity's super sanctuary . . .

― Mary (Mary), Saturday, 16 August 2003 03:22 (twenty-two years ago)

b-b-but that sounds totally awesome!

i walked down to the ev to see what was going on...i didn't see any 40something candy ravers on bikes :(

― geeta (geeta), Saturday, 16 August 2003 03:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I forgot I saw Hanson playing "unplugged" (haw haw) this morning outside channel 11. It was like me and 5 other people watching.

― bnw (bnw), Saturday, 16 August 2003 03:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Were three of them Hanson?

― Tep (ktepi), Saturday, 16 August 2003 03:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I could have hooked up with you Geeta. I had no methods of connecting to the ILX massive. I guess our elusive South Indian brunch was postponed, eh? I am getting a cell phone asap -- text messaging here I come. I forgot: the acoutic jams by the ritual de lo habitual hispanic jane's addiction cover band.

― Mary (Mary), Saturday, 16 August 2003 04:07 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yay, my power's back on.

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 16 August 2003 05:01 (twenty-two years ago)

yay 4 phil-2!

― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 16 August 2003 05:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Well so I was coming home from work, just got off the R train at Union Square, and went downstairs to connect to the L. The L train pulled out just as I got to the platform and I was cursing my bad luck - then the power went out 2 mins later. Thank God I missed it - I wasn't even about to climb out into the subway sludge in my Paul Smith shoes, yo. Then walked down to Houston to have a few drinks at my friend's bar. We had dinner at Lil' Frankie's where they have wood-burning pizzas, walked to the Williamsburg Bridge at around sunset - but we decided, fuck it. when's the next time we're going to be able to see new york at night without lights, so we wandered around the Lower East Side. Had a few beers at Welcome to the Johnsons [$2 PBR's] and the crowd was spilling onto the street. Afterwards, walked over to Ludlow/Stanton and there were hundreds of kids out on the street drinking, dancing, and being actually pretty friendly. Max Fish ran out of beer, Puerto Rican thugs danced with stolen flares, dirty hippies drum circled, etc, etc, etc. Was great! One of my favorite nights in New York ever. Then walked across the Williamsburg Bridge around midnite, etc, etc, etc.

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 16 August 2003 05:09 (twenty-two years ago)

oh! and I had to work tonite for dinner since the Times Square area was one of the first to have power restored. We only had a limited menu, but people were pouring in just grateful that we had anything. Made tons of money.

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 16 August 2003 05:10 (twenty-two years ago)

'I live fourty minutes from Boston, and I don't think power has been disturbed at all here.'

So, to the disappointment of all the world's 200 remaining Bee Gees aficionados, the lights didn't all go out in Massachussetts....

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Saturday, 16 August 2003 09:03 (twenty-two years ago)

if this happened in london
i. everyone wd just have switched to mobiles and met up anyway
ii. we don't have A/C anyway so meh
iii. bonfires in the street = already there mosts nights
iv. THE TUBES AND BUSES ARE AT A STANDSTILL = dog bites man weekdays
v. the spirit of the blitz
vi. :b

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 16 August 2003 09:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i think mark is jealous

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Saturday, 16 August 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

"The first instinct of most New Yorkers was to seek caffeine, but coffee was almost impossible to find. The general mood was just beginning to turn grumpy."

are detroit and cleveland still out?

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 16 August 2003 13:34 (twenty-two years ago)

i love how after the initial fingerpointing between NY and Canada they've now shifted the blame to the midwest

― H (Heruy), Saturday, 16 August 2003 13:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i still blame geeta

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 16 August 2003 13:44 (twenty-two years ago)

no mark, cleveland is back on. I got my power early Friday morning. The water is unsafe to drink but living on Lake Erie that's old news.

Sure, blame the midwest. But don't come running to us when you need an authentic Trucker Cap.

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Saturday, 16 August 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

if this happened in london
i. everyone wd just have switched to mobiles and met up anyway

With those solar powered cell phone towers?

― bnw (bnw), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, my cellphone coverage was touch-and-go throughout the blackout. even though i was able to get through to my folks in central NJ and family in PA, in both cases i had to keep redialing. and i couldn't get through to my boss's cell in NY till late yesterday afternoon.

― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes - it was the regular phone system that was far more reliable here too.

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

we power our cellphone network by burning xtian virgins in vast wicker men

― lord summersle (mark s), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

The power here in the East Village finally came back on last night a little after 9pm. By that time, I had already resigned myself to another night of listening to the radio by candle-light in a warm, muggy apartment. Anyway, apologies for the inaccurate thread title. When I posted this, the news reports were still very vague about which areas were affected.

I missed out on most of the excitement, I guess. The most excitement I had was walking down 30 flights of stairs and then 50 blocks to get home. The traffic and sidewalk congestion in midtown was pretty unreal on Thursday afternoon. I wasn't brave enough to go outside once it got dark, so I missed out on the fun. Glad that there was so little crime this time though.

― o. nate (onate), Saturday, 16 August 2003 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Fuck electricity, drinking 40s in the street was way better than, like, going into work and shit like I did Friday.

― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 17 August 2003 06:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I really enjoy the way this has kickstarted all the old Philadelphia and Montauk experiment theories

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Sunday, 17 August 2003 07:12 (twenty-two years ago)

The movie theater I went to tonight blew a few fuses and the house lights weren't working, nor were the lobby lights (the projection booth was, thankfully). I'd like to think it was sympathy pains.

― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 17 August 2003 08:44 (twenty-two years ago)

My power came back on around the same time as Daddino's though my parents' place nearby was on, unknown to me (they're out of town), 8 hours earlier. Work was on backup generators almost immediately and there were a few radios going around, so I stuck around until dark, after buying food at the grocery nearby (letting people in one by one and escorting them by flashlight) and buying flipflops at the SOuth Street Seaport (where the party got started early) to replace the shoes I wasn't going to make it a mile in, and considering sleeping there because there was a/c and I wouldn't have to walk 5 miles. The flipflops did some damage of their own. Walked with two guys from work about two miles north along the FDR, by headlights and Mag Lite. Along the way, heard people in housing projects shouting across their courtyards to each other, and what sounded a hell of a lot like gunshots. Around 20th st, I managed to get a cab home after dropping into a bar to check out the scene. Everyone looks much better in the dark, especially me. I live next to a fire house, and the engines were leaving like every half hour. Every time one pulled out, a big cheer went up from the party going on on the steps of the brownstones on my street - acoustic guitars, people singing like the worst songs of all time. At home, I pulled my guitar out for the first time in probably 3 years and discovered I can still hack my way through a bit of "More than Words" and "Alive". The next day I was information-less, though I could see out the window that the streetlights were still out and the subways closed in my neighborhood. I had offered too much $ for the cab, and was down to a few bucks and late in the day I thought I might have to spend it to get more food, but then I went to my parents' place and found the power on, and ate their frozen bagels and then the power came back on at my place. Walking around the neighborhood, I kept coming across people who were very sunburnt.

Flights descended - probably ~60
Flights ascended - probably ~50
Number of Warriors references made - 1
Best story - my friend had a job interview by candlelight with a judge in New Jersey
Best quote - "they should do this every couple of months!"

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 August 2003 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

''Pay attention to the graph posted from dieoff.org a few posts up. This is a taste of the future, a preview of things to come.
-- fletrejet (fletreje...), August 14th, 2003. (later)''

this fella is my fave goth.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 17 August 2003 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

for the record – anyone watching coverage on cnn when they talked about toronto – was way off. i got power on friday eve and flipped onto cnn to see some of the most inacurate news reporting i had ever seen. they made it sound like toronto was plunged into complete hell. ramant looting and massive fires–i'm not saying there weren't some fires and looting (a liquor store)–but it was like cnn was going out of their way to make my city look bad. then after going on about how shitty tdot was they went on about how great new york was coping and how everyone was "pitching in"–wtf¿

― dyson (dyson), Sunday, 17 August 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe they don't like all those yuppies on Queen Street?

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Sunday, 17 August 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

We were pitching in. Pitching in to destroy everything possible in a short period of time.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)

were you successful?

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 00:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The rugs in my office got covered in beer and wine. That was about it.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 00:53 (twenty-two years ago)

should offer an interesting collection of scents tomorrow

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 02:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Infinity's WFAN/New York was off the air for two hours following the blackout and ultimately used an engineer's Volvo to charge the generator at its transmitter site...

This rocks.

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 18 August 2003 12:17 (twenty-two years ago)

"power outtages caused by aging infrastructure"...how about intentional on the part of power companies so they can use the "aging infrastructure" excuse to raise rates????

― jameslucasakarroland (jameslucasakarroland), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

This is an interesting blog entry for anyone who was wondering what it was like to be trapped in the subway during the blackout:

http://amylangfield.com/2003_08_10_archive.html#106095130760216097

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

jameslucaserickarros is right - plus the obv. montauk experiment coverup! "blackout" my ass

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 20:51 (twenty-two years ago)

The rugs in my office got covered in beer and wine. That was about it.

How to explain that? "I got so scared, I couldn't help dropping my hidden bottle of Bolly"? Mind you, there are worse ways to get over fear.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

Looks like my wild speculation may be pretty much OTM.

http://news.com.com/2010-7343-5117862.html?tag=nefd_gutspro

― Dale the Titled (cprek), Thursday, 11 December 2003 14:50 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

Revive due to this.

The report says reliance on voluntary industry standards meant that many problems were simply not addressed.

...

The final report at the end of a seven-month investigation by US and Canadian experts says the blackout was preventable.

The power failure first occurred in Ohio and the investigators say the local power company there, FirstEnergy Corp, didn't keep trees clear of their power lines.

Nor did FirstEnergy have alarms in place to warn that the power grid was in danger of overloading.

In short, they didn't recognise or understand the deteriorating condition of their system.

The investigators recommend that mandatory standards be introduced immediately, that a federal agency have the power to ensure the grid is maintained.

And wouldn't that be nice?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 6 April 2004 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

whenever power outages can be avoided, its a good and nice thing.

― todd swiss (eliti), Tuesday, 6 April 2004 04:32 (twenty-one years ago)

*shocked* you mean those big power corporations aren't self-policing like they're supposed to be?

― webcrack (music=crack), Tuesday, 6 April 2004 04:36 (twenty-one years ago)

The 2004 blackout will, of course, occur during election day.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 6 April 2004 04:48 (twenty-one years ago)

</kaspirazee>

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 6 April 2004 04:49 (twenty-one years ago)

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