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Post by CFF on Aug 14, 2003 17:50:10 GMT -5
at 4:10 EST Thursday, the lights went out in NE Canada & the USA.
....from CNN >>>
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A major power outage simultaneously struck dozens of cities in the United States and Canada late Thursday afternoon.
Cities affected include New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. The power outage occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Officials said the outage does not appear to be related to terrorism.
By 6 p.m. the power was being restored in parts of the affected area, starting with the northern and western edges, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference.
He said it was unknown how long the outage may last but did say it would be "hours not minutes."
New York Gov. George Pataki declared a state of emergency for the state and deployed additional state police.
State officials said the outage was likely a natural occurrence. They said the Niagara-Mohawk power grid, which provides power for New York and stretches into Canada, was overloaded.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a news conference there was "absolutely no indication" of terrorism. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amazing how just one power station can pull the whole grid down. Just spoke to my brother in Toronto - at least it wasn't sweltering hot there (although many homes & businesses had their AC's on - which will complicate bringing the system back).
CFF
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Post by Ruby2 on Aug 14, 2003 23:58:23 GMT -5
I just watched a report about this on the news - Seeing all those people walking over the bridge takes you straight back to Sept 11th.
Thank goodness nothing sinister is behind this.
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Post by Danny Boy on Aug 15, 2003 4:55:57 GMT -5
The people of Iraq, wish the American people, all speed in getting the power outage rectified. They suggest, you do not entrust this work the cretins who have been unable to restore power to many parts of Iraq after 5 months. They did say that, at least you are not suffering 55-Celsius temperature and you have a supply of food and water to make things a little more bearable.
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Post by Wycco on Aug 15, 2003 7:29:27 GMT -5
Everyones stating firmly: It is not terrorism... Yet the last round of chatter the terrorists had been discussing "a black wind across America"? Black Out = Black Wind? LOL- OK- the connection is weak- perhaps I need to start reading astrology and Nostradamus! Seriously though, I'm still thinking there is a slight chance this could have been the result of malicious minds- more likely hackers than the usual terrorists though. - despite the governments persistance to the contrary. Good news is- the power stopped short of taking out the FPOTM computers in New Jersey! ;D
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Post by smokingun on Aug 15, 2003 13:35:50 GMT -5
here in Goa, power failures are routine. but i suppose NY with it's highrise buildings would be a nightmare without power for the lifts and lighting of rooms that have no windows.
never put anything past the fanatical slime balls though.
smokingun
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Post by CFF on Aug 15, 2003 17:41:26 GMT -5
again, from CNN ...... Iraqis Top 10 Ways to Keep Cool / Get the Power back on:Here is a top 10 list -- starting at No. 10 and ending at the No. 1 suggestion, compiled from comments on the streets of Baghdad: 10. Sleep on the roof Without power -- and hence without air conditioning -- Iraqis have taken to climbing up stairs in the hot nights. Some install metal bed frames on rooftops, while others simply stretch out on thin mattresses. "We sleep on the roof," said Hadia Zeydan Khalaf, 38, wearing a black head-to-toe abaya in the hot sun. "It's cooler there." 9. Sit in the shade Many Iraqis go outside when the power's off. "We sit in the shade," said George Ruweid, 27, playing cards with friends on the sidewalk. Of the U.S. blackout, he said: "I hope it lasts for 20 years. Let them feel our suffering." 8. Head for the water "We go to the river, just like in the old days," said Saleh Moayet, 53. Several people said they had seen American beaches on television, and suggested they might be a good place to sit out the blackout. "They have so many beautiful beaches," said Hamid Khelil, 44. "They should go where it isn't so hot." 7. Shower frequently "I take showers all day," said Raed Ali, 33. "Before I go up to the roof to sleep, I take a shower and I'm cooler." 6. Buy blocks of ice When refrigerators shut down, there's no better way to keep food cool. Mohammed Abdul Zahara, 24, sells about 20 a day from a roadside table. "When it's hot people buy a lot of ice," he said. 5. Check for bitter-enders "They should go to the power stations and see what the problem is," suggested Ahmed Abdul Hussein, 21. "Maybe there are followers of Saddam Hussein who are sabotaging their power stations. That's what happens here." 4. Get a generator Abbas Abdul al-Amir, 53, has one of a long row of shops selling generators in Baghdad's Karadah shopping street. When the power goes out, sales go up. "I sell about 30 generators a day," he said. "When the shutdown lasts I can sell even more." 3. Call in the Iraqis Some suggested the Americans ask the Iraqis how to get the power going again. "Let them take experts from Iraq," said Alaa Hussein, 32, waiting in a long line for gas because there was no electricity for the pumps. "Our experts have a lot of experience in these matters." 2. Use foul language "When the power goes out, I curse everybody," said Emad Helawi, a 63-year-old accountant. "I curse God. I curse Saddam Hussein. And I curse the Americans." And No. 1: Take to the streets The most frequent suggestion among Iraqis for Americans suffering without power was protest. Some said demonstrations can be effective in persuading authorities to turn on the switch. "We held protests. After that we had fewer blackouts," Ahmed Abdul Hussein said without even a hint of sarcasm. "I'd suggest Americans go out and demonstrate." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sounds like the majority of people in the Middle East think this is poetic justice at it's best. I have another suggestion to add to the above list: Drink plenty of CFF
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Post by julio_montoya on Aug 15, 2003 18:02:58 GMT -5
Hehe, last night was crazy. Thank god im in Ottawa and a few kilometres away from the power in good O'l Quebec. So me and my friends went out for a few in Hull and saw a movie. But seing Ottawa whitout lights was trully amazing, it was really exciting. Police had a hard night on their hands. Because all the intersection lights werent working, you could hear ambulances every 5 minutes. Thanks god hospitals had generators. Think of all the people who needed to have open heart surgery last night. I got the power back today but our premier told us that the hydro might go away to give to others and not to use a lot of electricity or water. I feel bad for those people stuck in elevators in New York, i heard some pretty bad stories. Anyways, cant wait to hear the stories of other victims of this blackout.
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Post by Topcontender on Aug 15, 2003 18:46:32 GMT -5
INdiana is on the same power grid, but since we make our own power we wont be effected by it.
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Post by who won on Aug 15, 2003 19:42:47 GMT -5
I was caught in it.
Spent the evening drinking with friends outside a bar in the sreet. Was the free'est display of partying seen in New York for some time. The streets were one big block party.
Normally impossible to take a beer outside a bar and drink on the street, but yesterday, that was the order of the day, just sitting back and making the most of it. The Police drove past without worrying that we were drinking illegally. We got waves from them, Fire trucks drove past waving giving us blasts of siren and joking commentary on their speakers.
We all got to leave work early, we knew it was likely we'd get the day off Friday, and everyone was just starting the weekend early with a good party. The store next door was giving away ice cream for nothing, and the beer was cheap.
Once it got too dark for the bar men to even see what they're serving they shut down. I headed home and realised I had 25 flights of stairs to climb in not too healthy state. It was pitch black inside the stairwell. Could not see my fingers right in front of my face. I didnt have any light source other than a box of matches luckily or I would have never known when I got to my floor. I got in and looked down out my window, and there were countless groups of people outside in the park with candles or flashlights sitting, enjoying the black out. I think they should do that once a month or so, one of the best nights in a while/
That was the fun part of the blackout. Some others trying to get home outside of manhattan or worse stuck in elevetors or subways had a horrific time.
How it happened? still to be answered but it does show the fragility of the system. This system is not designed at all with terrorism in mind. One station goes down and 50 million people affected.
By the way, I dont compare it in any way to Iraq, but after the partying some realities did sink in, especially just getting to my apartment, but then once there, there was no water pressure at all. There was no water out of any taps, I had no food and could not order anything as nothing was open of course. My phone didnt work, my cell phone didnt work either or at best sporadically, It was hot and had no air con, The next day, I was stuck in my apartment weith no food nor water and very few places open that I could get any.
Thank god that New Jersey still had power as after negotiating the stairs in pitch blackness again to get back outside I wondered to the ferry terminal and went over to Hoboken where I was able to get breakfast. Had there been no power there, life could have become very difficult. Had this been a more serious terrorist attack that would have taken days to fix, and had new jersey also been affected, I dont think we could have gone on m,uch longer without a state of emergency being ordered.
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Post by julio_montoya on Aug 16, 2003 1:05:15 GMT -5
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke on televised reports just before 5:00pm, saying the massive outage is related to power problems in Canada's Niagra Mohawk power grid, and is, "Probably a natural occurence that disrupted the system up there, and for reasons we do not know, it cascaded down.." into our area.
------------------------ Isent that convenient? Lets blame Canada. Thats the only way Americans get out of trouble. Now, lets look at the facts. Ontario has 13 million people in population and New York City alone has 10 million. And Times Square is more light up than Disney World. Michael Bloomberg needs to wake up and face reality.
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Post by glendo on Aug 16, 2003 3:08:34 GMT -5
i bet thebirth rate will be going up! what else can you do???
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Post by Ruby2 on Aug 16, 2003 4:46:16 GMT -5
LOL Thats true enough!!! Here in the uk back in the '70's, we had a series of power cuts - industrial action. Sure enough, we had a baby boom!!!
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Post by daSilva on Aug 16, 2003 8:35:14 GMT -5
After 41 hours without power I just got electricity back!
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Post by who won on Aug 16, 2003 9:40:36 GMT -5
wow, 41 hours, no wonder you look so unshaven and ragged in your pic.
That is tough, its amazing how much we take for granted and suddenly without it, - putting ourselves in a situation many in less developed countries face daily we face serious difficulty.
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Post by justin on Aug 16, 2003 12:46:55 GMT -5
Rick is reading the Bible.
Iraq is subject to blackouts
Rick disagrees with the US being in Iraq
The States gets hit with a major blackout
Hmm coincidence or..........?
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