Massive Blackouts
Published August 14, 2003
CNN is reporting massive blackouts:
- Major power outages reported in New York City, other parts of Northeast, Cleveland, Detroit and other cities. Details soon.
- A fire at a major New York power plant caused cascading blackouts throughout the Northeast, the Midwest and eastern Canada late Thursday afternoon, knocking out electricity to millions of people in New York, Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland and elsewhere.
FEDERAL POWER REGULATORS did not identify the power plant, but CNN reported that a fire had been reported at a transformer at the Consolidated Edison plant in New York City. Most of the affected cities are linked on the same regional power grid.
Officials of the Homeland Security Department said there were no indications that the blackout was the work of terrorists.
The evening rush hour was just beginning in the East, and NBC correspondents described scenes of pandemonium as thousands of New Yorkers streamed into streets where traffic signals were not operating.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it was crippled. Buses, trains and subways were not running. WNBC-TV reported that fire crews were heading down into the subways to check on thousands of stranded passengers.
Jim Tsumi of Riverdale, N.Y., was sitting on the shoulder of Highway 495 leading to the Lincoln Tunnel.
"I got no hope getting home tonight," he said, pointing across the river at Manhattan, where the West Side Highway and a two-mile traffic jam were clearly visible. "It's like 9/11 again. I hope this is nothing big."
NBC News is reporting no evidence of terrorism.
- Massive Blackouts
- Published: August 14, 2003
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- Section: Culture
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments
MD, I ponder that question as well from here in greater Cleveland, but then I remember the axiom: it's not the heat, it's the stupidity.






I am surprised there haven't been more power outages. It has been a very hot summer, even out here in the Pacific Northwest and in Europe. Records have been set, including over 100 degrees in Portland and Seattle.
Having lived in Philly and Atlanta, I sometimes ask myself which is worse: A horrible heat wave with a power outage or frigid temperatures with a power outage. (I almost froze my arse off one winter in the City of Brotherly Love and Low Temps.) I still haven't decided.