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

8-14-03 | Joe Hadenuf

[Joe Hadenuf]

Hannity station went dead for about 20 seconds. Said he had never seen anything like it.

[Petronski]

The internet is a wonderful thing. And for five short months in 1990, I lived in Solon. I became a Tribe fan out of a Boston-Red-Sox-like sense of affectionate pity.

Then they became good.

Two questions for you:

Danys Baez: will/should he be around next year?

With the Devil Rays coming to town, do you think FirstEnergy could harness the steam coming from Lou Pinella's ears to help light the city?

[budman_2001]

Thu Aug 14, 9:32 PM ET

The CN Tower is silhouetted against the setting sun, as Toronto was faced with a massive power outage, August 14, 2003. The office of Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said that a lightning strike on a power plant near Niagara Falls, New York, was the cause of the massive power blackout that hit large areas of North America. (Andrew Wallace/Reuters)

[Ed_in_NJ]

My guess is that they're not 'down' 4000 ft -- they may be traveling on an incline so the length of their path is 4000 ft. but they're only ?500-800 from the surface.

[Brian S]

and then all heck broke loose in the newsroom

Well you know, for newsjunkies, this hasn't been a bad august...not at all! :)

[GOPrincess]

I've been trying to think of who Paula reminds me of with this hairdo and it just came to me...Melody Rogers from the old "Two on the Town" show with Steve Edwards in Los Angeles.

[CedarDave]

Got to find another link other than WNBC -- they had a Con-Ed imposter on their station that started out talking about the outage and then said something about tying Howard Stern's private parts around the reporters neck. End of interview!! Now they have a real Con-Ed rep on -- restoring power from north to south. Parts of Westchester County on line now. Have lots of capacity in Queens but need to get power to it to start the system there running. The problem did NOT start in NY City. All they know so far is that the cascading event happened very suddenly and appeared to start in Canada. Refuses to speculate on specifics of the cause at this time. Time to restore? Mayor says 3-4 hours.

[Mo1]

Oh good grief .. Now on CNN they are all saying they are optimistic about the future

It's a friggin power outage .. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

[stlnative]

MINER STORY

140 miners stuck underground in Sudbury after outage canada.com Thursday, August 14, 2003 SUDBURY, Ont. (CP) - About 140 miners were stuck underground in a Falconbridge facility Thursday night after the power outage that struck much of the province and large parts of the United States. Staff Sgt. Al Asunmaa of Sudbury police said the miners weren't really trapped in the nickel mine - it was simply a decision to keep them underground for the time being. The mine's elevator wasn't functional and the logistics involved in getting the miners out without power would be difficult, he said. "I wouldn't call it an emergency situation right now - they've got plenty of water, and the ventilation is still operational with the backup power," Asunmaa said. "They're not in any immediate danger right now." He said the miners were being held in lunchrooms until the facility's elevator could be reactivated.

[cyncooper]

Did they take away the lightning strike explanation? I had not heard it was ruled out, just that was what they thought and it was being thoroughly checked to verify.

[ChadGore]

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY June 13, 2001:"One of the concerns, obviously, is the aging power grid and the growing problem that we have in getting electricity from the power plant to the light switch. It's clear that we must upgrade and expand the power grid. If we put more connections in place, we'll go a long way towards avoiding future blackouts."

[Joe Hadenuf]

Don't surprise me, they have give three or four causes for this event and all seemed to have been denied by several sources....

[Diddle E. Squat]

I dunno, Gov. Krispy Kreme actually reminds me more of the whale.

How about that CNN? 5 minutes with Gov. Pataki, and the rest of the hour with various Dems blaming the administration.

[hole_n_one]

MSNBC: Thousands still waiting to board ferrys to Jersey

[austingirl]

I heard that the power companies deliberately shut down their generators so they wouldn't overload once the first event (unknown supposedly) happened. If this is true, they could have overreacted and now it's going to take a good long time to get things up and running.

[FourPeas]

"UN Building in the dark..."

This isn't news, it's SOP.

[fatima]

Joe Hadenuf,Thank you and all, for your posts,it has helped a lot to be updated and to try not to worry.My Niece,Tracy, is in NY .

[Chad Fairbanks]

Mining was an important industry for the Eastern Townships. One of the most profitable was the Capelton copper mine that now offers visitors the unique experience of touring the underground operation. Well-trained guides make the experience most enjoyable but it is not for the claustrophobic individual. Be aware that there are steep sets of steps that must be negotiated so those with problems climbing shouldn’t attempt the tour. Visitors are outfitted with boots and appropriate clothing before taking the exhilarating ride up-mountain to the mine’s entrance Although Capelton Mine is more than 4,000 feet deep, visitors explore only a small portion of the upper level. Lower levels are now flooded. The mine which has not been gussied up with bright lights and sound systems, gives an accurate and truthful interpretation of what mining was like c1860 through 1920.

[rwfromkansas]

True. This may have been terrorist-related, but if this is the best they got, lol!

If it happens again tomorrow, thetn something is fishy.

Right now, I believe Dubya is telling the truth.

[Alberta's Child]

I'm glad you had a plan and it worked!

So am I. LOL.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

And millions of people all over without power, the Democrats.