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.

[CedarDave]

WABC & WNBC have come back up on DirecTV along with WNYW; WCBS is still down.

Interesting -- I just lost my WNBC internet feed and it won't come back up.

[FairOpinion]

"I posted earlier, speculating what a power outage might be prelude for. "

--

And you aren't paranoid. NORAD sent up extra planes and other anti-terrorist measures were implemented:

Outage Triggers Emergency Plans

[PennsylvaniaMom]

But don't you think that the newsie types are inciting by their line of questions? Earlier on two really nice, middle ages ladies were interviewed...they met on the street, befriended each other, and were going to stay together until they could make their way home...nice, polite, even tempered New Yorkers....boy, did they dismiss those two...(probably smokers too!)

[Chad Fairbanks]

YEah, well, you know. What can you do? I told them about it a week ago when I was outside on a smoke break - the guy was one of the IT managers, and he said he'd look into it. Next day he said "It doesn't seem that serious."

Our company, on the other hand, locked down our firewall etc... and had no problems...

[Dolphy]

I think I had better go to bed. I am getting late-niight paranoia! LOL!

Oh come on, stay up, I love late-night paranoia. I haven't a clue about eletrical power but I am really shocked that a single event could cascade through several major cities. It just doesn't seem like the system would be designed to allow such vulnerability. Or, was it someone who outsmarted the system?

Fox is killing me, their sole purpose seems to be go out on the street and find unhappy people. I'm sorry for them all, but they are alive without any threat except to their comfort.

[slimer]

Fox News - 9 U.S. nukes knocked off line by blackout.

[Miss Marple]

Yes, you're probably right. I would like this to turn out to be Chretien's fault, however.

Now I am going to bed. Good night!

[Timesink]

You and you're blanket generalisms are the joke. Detroit, Lansing, and the "big cities" in Michigan are the Red Zones and gee whiz, most of those places are just where the power happens to be out. Imagine that!

Oh, yes, of COURSE. The power grid just magically went out ONLY in the precincts of Michigan that voted for Gore, while all the "good parts" of Michigan have magically have had power all day and night long!

Blanket generalizations, indeed. *snicker*

[Joe Hadenuf]

Good, report, hope everything gets normal for you guys....

[null and void]

I like how you caught the ticker at the bottom:

"California will have time to get rid of the ant".

[Alberta's Child]

If I were in Penn Station I'd be p!ssed off right now, too. Those people were originally on a long line at the ferry terminal at 34th Street, and they went to Penn Station after being told that NJ TRANSIT was back up and running.

[MEG33]

I agreed in #2917!

[prairiebreeze]

Showing Wisconsin family who drove 14 hours and got into NY for the blackout. They are camping out at Penn Station. Oh maaannn! And they had a couple of teenagers with them.

The reporting keeps trying to insist to those she interviews that there is a lot of frustration. Most everybody tells her, "well no, we're going to hang in there and be OK"

Prairie

[GOPrincess]

Your post causes me to consider -- just think of all the computers like ours that weren't sucking up power even a decade ago! :)

[Monty22]

You scared me for a second, thought you meant part of the nuclear triad.

[Windcatcher]

Apparently they stopped the cascade at the grid station in Valley Forge. I wonder what would have been the next grid station in line had the one at VF failed. Is there a redundant backup?

I still think major cities (NYC, Boston, Detroit, etc. should have blackstart generators like Philly has. Then they could at least get intra-city power up without having to rely on the whole grid to come back up.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Calling for very hot weather for next several days in NY area..

[FITZ]

Well, while the Canadians are looting in Ottawa, apparently New Yorkers are content to flaunt the smoking ban.

9-11 showed Americans are the most civilized of any people. You look at how Europeans are over a soccer game, but Americans look out for each other and react like responsible people.

[rintense]

Honestly, the woman looks like a deer in the headlights anytime a crisis occurs.

[GOPrincess]

That is good news. My best friend lives in the suburbs of Allentown so I assume she has her power. I haven't wanted to add to any possible overloads back East by trying to phone her :).