Major power surge in NY? (Blackout is in NYC, Detroit, Ottawa and Toronto, per Fox News)

8-14-03 | Joe Hadenuf

[oyez]

Could you tell me what SCADA stands for?

Elvis has a chimpanze named Scada at one time.

[null and void]

By the way, on a lighter note, I find it interesting that the cascading stopped at Valley Forge. Perhaps the ghost of George Washington still watches over us! I sure hope so.

Good point!

As was the rest of your post. I can definately see spec creep happening just as you described, a cheap part being replaced by a cheaper part being replaced by an even cheaper part...

[Mo1]

How power grids work

[FairOpinion]

Read post 3080, why it stopped at Valley Forge. It's an excellent article.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/964250/posts?page=3080#3080

Safety steps stopped spread of outage

Technicians in Valley Forge saw the sudden power surge. Circuit breakers tripped. And within four minutes, the electricity grid that serves Pennsylvania and New Jersey had clamped off the spike that blacked out much of the Northeast today, shielding Philadelphia and points south from the disruption.

As a result, the Mid-Atlantic grid, operated by Valley Forge-based PJM Interconnection L.L.C., experienced only a few spillover blackouts in sections of northern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey.

It was the kind of moment PJM's technicians practice for, company president Phillip G. Harris said: "Coordination is rehearsed and drilled several times a year."

[ThirdMate]

I see your point, no single point of failure should ever be allowed to develop.

I have to sign off, no snow day for me tomorrow.

[FairOpinion]

"Maybe some critical equipment was out of service, or not enough reserve margin was available."

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Interesting. Thanks.

I think the power station already said there was no lightening, but some in the news are still propagating the myth.

[Frank_2001]

LOL! I missed that one, too bad:(

[Joe Hadenuf]

As an aside -- I looked at your page. Neat pictures. :) I am sure the Earth looks wonderful and peaceful from very far away.

Thanks.

Thought you would like this.

On December 16, 1992, 8 days after its encounter with Earth, the Galileo spacecraft looked back from a distance of about 6.2 million kilometers (3.9 million miles) to capture this remarkable view of the Moon in orbit about Earth.

[FairOpinion]

"Meanwhile, I want the focus to be on what caused the problem more than on why the safeguards failed. I am concerned that the scenario outlined in the Post story (see #2893) is what has occurred. If the terrorists could have caused the blackout, you know darned well they would. "

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Check out this post on another related thread, it has links to some interesting articles aong the lines of how terrorists can use cyberattacks to cripple powergrids and so on.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/964353/posts?page=46#46

And here is an excerpt from one of the articles listed there:

""One al Qaeda laptop found in Afghanistan, sources said, had made multiple visits to a French site run by the Societé Anonyme, or Anonymous Society. The site offers a two-volume online "Sabotage Handbook" with sections on tools of the trade, planning a hit, switch gear and instrumentation, anti-surveillance methods and advanced techniques. In Islamic chat rooms, other computers linked to al Qaeda had access to "cracking" tools used to search out networked computers, scan for security flaws and exploit them to gain entry -- or full command.

Most significantly, perhaps, U.S. investigators have found evidence in the logs that mark a browser's path through the Internet that al Qaeda operators spent time on sites that offer software and programming instructions for the digital switches that run power, water, transport and communications grids. In some interrogations, the most recent of which was reported to policymakers last week, al Qaeda prisoners have described intentions, in general terms, to use those tools."
"

[FairOpinion]

Yes, this is a great picture.

I guess people in New York, with the power out, were able to see the stars for once.

[Jhensy]

Well, I'm holed up still in my 10th-floor office here on 47th and 6th. The Fox News building, actually.

About two hours ago, I tried with two other Westchester residents to get a cab home ($90 between us), but to no avail. We made our way to Grand Central and it was appalling. The terminal itself was closed, and there were literally THOUSANDS of white collar workers sitting and lying and sleeping on the sidewalks and gutters. Families with kids, too. (Woe to the suburban family that took the train in for a Broadway play today).

Every single building is closed, and it's pitch black, and it's hot, and there's no power, and no one has ANY answers, and there is simply no place for these people to go. No bathrooms or food, although several food cart guys have got lines around the block.

I gave up and came back to my office, which mercifully is an all-night operation, and we have our own back-up power (no AC, however). So I'm typing this message out and then I'll find a quiet place try and lie down and get a little poor-quality shuteye. Not a fun day.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Yeah, they mentioned that several times. Reports thing are pretty calm in NY still. Good news....

[fatima]

Heard that on local TV .

[Joe Hadenuf]

Wow, thanks for the report.....

[Delta 21]

NEWS FLASH

The lights are still out!

Its still dark!!

...and im going to bed!!!

[fatima]

Thanks for the report Jhensy.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Hope your in a building that has windows that open. I would doubt it though.....

[Myrddin]

My kid distracted me while I was writing my reply. This thread is moving so fast that others popped answers in ahead. I was putting SP4 and Norton Antivirus on a computer that my son just purchased from a friend. I still have to attach to the network to pull the current virus update files and Microsoft updates to prevent the BLASTER virus from coming to visit the new hardware.

Thanks for the Elvis trivia. I'm not really a fan.

[Mihalis]

Can anyone tell me if power is coming back anywhere?

[dixie sass]

Thanks for the ping! Saw it on Fox - the writhing mass of humanity trying to flow through the streets and over the bridges along with cars, trucks and buses.