Massive Blackout Cripples Northeast (good summary)

FoxNews ^ | Aug. 14, 2003 | Sharon Kehnemui

[yooper]

I'm in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. No problems with power here, though Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (a mile or so from my house) is under total blackout as of 6:00 pm Eastern.

[mvpel]

I talked to my mom and sister in Ann Arbor, they were blacked out too - my sis, a nursing student, went up to the U of Michigan hospital to sign up for some hours and the hospital was starting into their three-day supply of generator fuel. A cardiac patient on a monitor wound up stuck for a short time between the 6th and 7th floors until the gennies spooled up.

[joesnuffy]

Drudge Reports
There were NO STORMS in the area reported to have been struck by lightening and starting the blackout
As Canada's Cretin has reported on FOX

[FairOpinion]

The utility company denied the lightening story as well.

But what else do you expect of Chretien. At least he didn't say it was Bush's fault.

[WestSylvanian]

Your suspicions echo mine. I checked 24 hour weather data for Niagara Falls on AccuWeather on the Web. Their history of weather conditions for Niagara Falls for 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. today showed a high pressure system over the area with a mostly sunny sky all afternoon (as it's been in Western PA). How do you get a lightning bolt with no thunderstorms and no rain indicated? Any Freepers from Niagara Falls who can confirm this? The source for the lightning bolt theory was Chretien who's blaming the U.S. for the failure. CNN confirmed the cause as a lightning bolt in Niagara Falls. What's going on here?
I'm a longtime lurker who's posting for the first time, so please excuse any errors!

[brianl703]

Certainly comforting that they have no idea why all of the cities mentioned (including Chicago and Washington) didn't lose power...

[Brimack34]

Is this the power company that is working on Iraq?
Just wondering if I would hear a link somewhere.

[smokeyb]

Welcome to the gang, WestSylvanian. I'm also in W. PA in the Burgh. Our power was not affected at all here. Strange how it just circled around us to Cleveland, where my sister lives. They are on the west side right on the lake and lost all their power.

These incidents have good learning lessons for us all-showing how dependent we are.

[snopercod]

The National Weather Service has reported that there were NO lightning strikes anywhere in the entire blackout area. The closest one was in Maryland. So much for Cretien...

(You did fine on your first post.)

[FairOpinion]

NRC: 9 Nukes (Nuclear Plants) Knocked Off Line by Blackout
Thu August 14, 2003 07:20 PM ET

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=3281671

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday said nine nuclear reactors in four U.S. states were shut following a massive blackout that hit the Northeast United States and Canada.
"At this point, we have nine reactors that are offline. And there is no timeline as to when these will return to service," NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said.

Burnell said the reactors are in New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Michigan.

[mvpel]

The Michigan one must be Fermi, south of Detroit on the western shore of the state. I did the tour a number of years back.

[mvpel]

Eastern, not western. Duh.

[BobbyK]

Cincinnati,

Geeeeezz

freaken no mention of Clevland, (which is blacked out)

Just Cincinnati(NO BLACKOUT).

Let's stay calm.(heeheehee)

[hewhowaits]

I live about 15 mins east of the falls. The weather has been clear all day. we have not lost power here at home (yet) although it is out in communities all over western ny. My parents live in tonawanda, about 10 miles southwest of here and their power wasjust restored about 30 mins ago. Locally they are reporting that nothing happenened at the power authority (generation site on the niagara river) to cause this. Chretien is still an a$$hole and still does not know what he is talking about
rmo

[Tom D.]

Sounds to me like the blackout is concentrated in the Blue States. The largest exception is California, and look what they've got.

[Cold Heat]

And there is no timeline as to when these will return to service," NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said.

Totally depends on the type of reactor and the safety protocols.

How far they shut down is the critical factor and if they scrammed them it will likely take three days to a week to restart,(after they finish the shutdown) even more time to get to get back on line. Some are even longer than that.

I wonder if they assumed a terrorist attack and invoked a total shutdown. That would explain the grid failure.

[Chi-townChief]

I talked to my father in Cleveland-east suburbs and his power has been back for about two hours after being out for four. From what he could see, it's pretty spotty throughout the area.

[snopercod]

Good info regarding reactor shutdown and startup [here]. Follow the link.

[Bob J]

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[Cold Heat]

Thanks, I only knew that they had some stability concerns and that is why it took so long. Now I know why.