Broomsticks And Owls

by **Friar Tuck** » Friday 15 August 2003 4:33:17pm

As many of the members in the US(especially the Northeast/Midwest) and Canada(especially those in/near Toronto and Ottawa)know, there was a blackout in that region of the world yesterday. It spanned New Jersey, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut, as well as the providences of Ontario and Quebec(not sure-not an expert of Canadian geography). I believe most of the power is back on, which means people trapped underground or in elevator shafts will be able to get out safely.

by **hoopsmaster88** » Friday 15 August 2003 9:14:47pm

actually friar tuck a lot of the power still isn't back on. i heard on the news that they think a lot of people will be without power for the entire weekend. right now they just said that only 50% of the traffic lights in detroit are working properly. luckily the power only went out in my house for about 3 hours, then came back on for good. this is the biggest power outtage in the history of the united states, so this is huge. it's amazing that power was out from nyc as far west as mid-michigan.

by **zledm007** » Friday 15 August 2003 11:19:40pm

yeah, i saw it on the news and couldn't believe it. it was really something seeing all the people in NYC walking across the brooklyn bridge. i'm just glad it didn't make it all the way to wisconsin.

by **Hermione** » Friday 15 August 2003 11:29:27pm

As of 6:30 eastern time, a lot of the power still isn't back on. I was listening to the radio station- 93.9 (I think it's NPR), for New Yorkers, and they said it was coming on really slowly. They also said that services won't be completely restored until Sunday.

I'm having a little difficulty believing that this was caused by just a lightning strike. Maybe that's just me being paranoid, though

by **zledm007** » Friday 15 August 2003 11:31:28pm

a lightning strike is possible, i mean, if lighning hit just the right spot on the right power plant, it could trigger the chain reaction that we saw. although i do find it highly unlikely.

by **HuffleDuck** » Saturday 16 August 2003 5:30:55am

Yes it's very unlikely the thunder. They should already prepared for those events. I'm thinking it might be terrorism, but the government didn't want people to panick so they cover it up, Maybe!!!! But wonder why it hits Canada too...(Alien :beam me up:

)

by **Friar Tuck** » Saturday 16 August 2003 3:09:21pm

I wonder why it didn't hit me(MD), when it did hit Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

by **hoopsmaster88** » Saturday 16 August 2003 7:21:23pm

they said the cause of the blackout won't be determined for sure until some time next week.

by **Vivian Borgin** » Saturday 16 August 2003 9:12:04pm

Southwestern Conn. here...we had a "brownout" with dim, flickering lights and power switching on and off a few times. It was over in minutes, though. I felt terrible for those poor NYCers in this heat! :eek:

by **Devinci** » Sunday 17 August 2003 12:24:46am

I found it interesting the coverage of foreigners *especially from the middle east* who were acting as if the blackout was no big deal, because, according to them, blackouts happen so frequently, life becomes second nature in the dark.

Could you imagine having to deal with something like that almost everyday??
:???:

by **AccioNiffler** » Sunday 17 August 2003 4:25:22am

I live near Detroit and I just got my power back really late last night, it might have actually been some time early this morning. I was very angry about it all because all the towns surrounding mine got their power back a day before I did :mad:

! It sucks though because all the food in the fridge went bad, and everthing in both of my freezers melted. The melted ice cream was quite a mess

I had to go to my firends house to take a shower because the water wasnt working. (it's horrible luck that I have because I just got back from camping a day before the blackout) And now we have to boil the water before we drink it or use in to cook.

I also heard that theory about the lightning, but then I also heard that a bunch of meteorologists said that there was no lightning in a 50 mile radius of that area for 2 weeks. Now that people are slowly getting the power back, a big crazy blame game is going to begin. Ugh, how annoying. And the thing that I was wondering is, why is it that such a large chunk of the country is hooked up to this one grid which is so reliant on this one plant. :-?

by **hoopsmaster88** » Sunday 17 August 2003 6:56:11pm

AccioNiffler wrote:why is it that such a large chunk of the country is hooked up to this one grid which is so reliant on this one plant.

good question :-?

and sorry about your luck with the blackout

by **AccioNiffler** » Sunday 17 August 2003 9:18:18pm

hoopsmaster88 wrote:
AccioNiffler wrote:why is it that such a large chunk of the country is hooked up to this one grid which is so reliant on this one plant.

good question

and sorry about your luck with the blackout

I'm sorry about my luck with the blackout too! :lol:

I think what really bothers me is that you live not too far from me and you got your power back in a few hours. Oh well, at least I have it back now

*smiles at the thought of having hot showers and electronics back*

by **hoopsmaster88** » Monday 18 August 2003 4:30:43am

trust me though, it's better to lose power in the summer than in the winter. back in april when we had that huge ice storm i lost power for three days! :mad:

grrrrrrrrr that was terrible. we had a whole bunch of gas and propane heaters all over the house. i don't know if you got it as bad as it was here, but it was just amazing, everything, and i mean everything, even each little blade of grass had a layer of ice on it at least an inch thick.

by **techjohn** » Monday 18 August 2003 8:47:01am

I'm from the UK, but I don't understand how they could lose the power to millions of people from 21 power stations instantly without some kind of a fall back system to prevent such a big power cut.

Broomsticks And Owls

The Blackout of 2003

The Blackout of 2003

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