Power Outtage!

[jockdstylez]

A power outage struck several cities in the eastern United States and Canada this afternoon, wreaking havoc at intersections as traffic lights went out and trapping thousands of people in New York City's stalled subways.

The Department of Homeland Security said there was no indication that terrorism was involved but said authorities were investigating the massive power outage. A senior White House administration official also said there was no evidence that the outage was terror-related.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there were no indications of terrorism. He said the outage was a "natural occurrence" that may be connected to a power grid malfunction near Niagara Falls.

Bloomberg said he had heard from authorities that the outage started in Canada and cascaded down to New York and as far west as Ohio.Officials said they were working to determine the extent and cause of the outage. Bloomberg urged New Yorkers not to panic.

Lights Out

At about 3:45 p.m. ET, people in New York City, Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, Albany, N.Y., Detroit and Lansing, Mich., and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut reported power outages. In Canada, Toronto and Ontario also suffered outages. Most cell phone service was also affected.

An operator for Verizon phone service in New York City said calls were flooding in to directory information.

"Everybody's looking for every electric company you can possibly think of," the operator said.

No outages were reported in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston or Chicago. There were no power outages reported in the West Coast. Power company officials said there was no irregular activity in their power grid.


Traffic on Foot, Planes Grounded

Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded airplanes in all three New York-area airports — La Guardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark International airports — and in airports in Cleveland and Ottawa.


The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said there was no train or subway service in New York City. Traffic lights went out, and passers-by were directing traffic in midtown Manhattan. Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter trains lost power, stranding thousands of rush- hour commuters.

During rush hour at Columbus Circle, one of Manhattan's most-famous intersections, traffic moved slowly and cautiously. Police officers directed traffic as best they could, but by and large, with subway lines also not running, the traffic was on foot.

Hot, Humid Day

In Cleveland, at least one hospita said it was not severely affected by the power outages in the city.

"We are operating on backup generators right now … so everything … is OK for the moment," said Joyce Persaud, a spokeswoman for the Huron Hospital.

The outage hit New York City shortly before the major stock exchanges were due to close for the day. The New York Federal Reserve Bank said it could not confirm that every commercial bank in its district was operating.

Officials said they assumed most of those banks have backup power sources, and that the federal wire money transfer system is operating normally. The New York Mercantile Exchange said it closed access to its overnight electronic trading system until further notice.

The power went out on a hot, humid day when many residents had been blasting their air conditioning. In New York's Central Park, it was a sultry 88 degrees when the power went out. It was 87 degrees in Detroit and Cleveland at 4:30 p.m. ET, and 81 degrees in Toronto.

source: abcnews.com



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oy..they say no one knows how it originated, and is believed to be a terrorist act. oy.. i hope everything works out safely.. and i hope my family and friends are otay..


pic will be up..Areas believed to be affected by the power outage.

[QueenBee]

Yeah I just saw that on the news. They talked to a lady on the phone (cellphone) who was in New York at that time (an hour ago or so?). She said people don't think it is an act of terrorism.. Well I hope it will be fixed soon. They said the power is getting fixed from north to south..

[jockdstylez]

da..i should edit that..but when i was writing it the buffoon for a reporter said it could be an act of terrorism.. atleast it's more of an inconvinience rather than a real threat..whew..thanks god..

[QueenBee]

jockdstylez, yes I agree on that No need to edit though, it COULD be a terrorist act afterall *sighs and hopes it's not* When I first heard I was kind of worrying, especially about NY since it's so big so basically I thought "Big area with huge amount of people + no electricity = many deaths" but what do I know? Hehe.

I guess it would have been way worse if it was dark over there right now.. thank god it happened during the day.

[Lux]

i just saw the news and apparently its reached as far as cleveland...which is only 2 hrs from here. *gets nervous*
but..still here, thank goodness.

[QueenBee]

Oy, Lux, I'm praying for you.
Did they mention when the power might be back?

[elwolf_x]

yeah, cleveland is also 2 hrs from where i am, and the local news said areas closer were losing power too. a guy called into the station to say depending on what the problem is it could be 12 hrs-4/5 days before it's fixed. that's gotta suck for all the people with no electricity and air conditioning when it's like 90 degrees out. i hope everything will be ok!

[QueenBee]

i hope everything will be ok!

Me too! I know some forum members are from NYC.. Poor guys.. *hugs them all*

[thegurgi]

woo! i just got power back.

it's crazy though... i've never been in such a widespread power outage.
But, some of us ARE getting power back

[QueenBee]

thegurgi, yay! *claps hands* If you're happy and you know it clap your hands! *clap clap*

[elwolf_x]

thegurgi, you don't have to answer if you don't want, but seeing as how i probably live near you, are you in the altoona or erie area of pa? i'm also a pa small town-er lol. this is really offtopic huh... umm...

power outages are bad, i'm glad i didnt get a power outage...

[thegurgi]

I live in Crawford County, which is the county south of Erie County.
From what i know, most of Crawford lost power [scattered places had power]. All of Erie i believe, I know Oil City lost power too.

I'm perfectly fine detailing exactly where i live... hehe.

[Lux]

LOL. yay gurgi! thx queeny, still here.

but..my college town has lost all of its power!! LOL. the poor bastards who are still on campus...a hint, it's in Michigan. mwahahaha

[thegurgi]

Lux, i to am concerned about my Campus, i wonder if they have power back too... hrmm. I have no news about places in my area. It's kind of frustrating.

Oh! and thanks for your support QB! It was an interesting 5 hours. It was kind of freaky too, cause since EVERYWHERE had no power it was hard to get information. All the local radio stations were down too, so it was no use turning those on. It was just weird i guess, but we're all fine now [all my family is accounted for (except my oldest brother, but he's in Iraq)]

Everything fine here, my county has power back.

[elwolf_x]

thegurgi, cool lol, so not too far from me i guess. i'm glad you got your power back!

Lux, you wouldnt happen to be in the college town of ann arbor would you? actually i dont know if that's considered a college town or not, but i used to live about 30 minutes from there and get piano lessons at the u of m music school every week. anyways, i hope you get the powerback soon!

[Lux]

elfwolf - ya caught me!! *Meep* hehehe my entire college town is down...wonder what a bunch of alcohol crazed college kids do when there's no power...

the music school is so pretty, very cool you've been there

[elwolf_x]

the music school is so pretty

Lux, yeah it is! aww reminiscing now...it was a long time ago and i was pretty young, but i remember i loved the pond behind the school with the ducks and stuff right? haha i always wanted to picnic. anyways this is going so far offtopic...but very cool nonetheless.

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Nuclear power plants in four states shut down.

uh oh...that sounds a bit dangerous, let's all hope there's no opportunistic terrorists lurking around out there. the pictures of the massive crowds trying to get off manhattan island had me worrying also.

The blackouts set off finger pointing on both sides of the border.

let's hope this doesnt cause anymore problems between us/canada.

...from yahoo! news

[PowerPuff Grrl]

Originally posted by jockdstylez
In Canada, Toronto and Ontario also suffered outages.

Hehe, Toronto is the capital of Ontario, thus in Ontario...Ontario is a province.
The only two cities affected in Canada are Ottawa and Toronto. We were the first ones to get it here in Ottawa. The power just came up a couple of hours ago but the problem is far from over.

Other than that, what can I say?
The experience was surreal.

Thank you for your concern, much appreciated.

[jockdstylez]

Glad to hear your in one piece PPG! and everyone else too! Good thing this whole thing happened during the day, rather than night..

[Kappa]

People, all wish some luck for Tranz who lives in the center of NYC!