# Breaking news! Blackouts strike NE US/SE Canada! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231 "2003-08-14T20:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/21 "2003-08-14T21:23:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*My main question is: How’d it spread so quickly? > > Manhattan, Albany, Toledo, Detroit, virtually the entire province of Ontario, etc. \*\* It’s called a cascade effect. It appears (at this time) that the NYC power grid overloaded, automatic and manual switching tries to get power from the area grid (neighboring utilities). As this is happening power generators on the local grid are overloading and automatic replays pull the generators off the grid or take it off-line, dropping the output on the local grid., as the local grid is going down it pulls more and more power from the area grid which expands the problem until you have this kind of outage. I am not an expert in this field so I may be in error in some of the details. I do work for the Washington, DC power company and this is the way it was explained to me. (this is _not_ my field) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/22 "2003-08-14T21:24:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*The US Gov’t is saying it wasn’t terrorism. > > Although, do we know the cause of the fire yet? \*\* Someone said in another thread that there was no fire at ConEd, just smoke. If that’s the fire you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/23 "2003-08-14T21:28:56Z")
Forget the “p” in relays. I really did try to proofread… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/24 "2003-08-14T21:39:12Z")
The smoke from the ConEd building was apparently “due to the plant’s automatic shutdown system” - according to Mayor Bloomberg. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/25 "2003-08-14T21:41:24Z")
The news said that there were outages in Montreal, but I was on the metro when this thing supposedly happened, and nothing went on. I have power at home and James didn’t notice anything amiss. So fret not for the Doperealers. Nevertheless I’m ventilating my house and making sure I know where my candles are. (The best person to be stuck with during a blackout is a Wiccan.) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/26 "2003-08-14T21:43:19Z")
Hope that [this](http://blackout.gmu.edu/highlights/timeline.html) doesn’t happen again. > [@](#): > > July 13 &14 - On August 13, 1977, New York City suffered a massive blackout. All five boroughs as well as areas in the northern suburbs of Westchester County were plunged into darkness as lightning downed major transmission power lines supplying power to the metropolitan area. While many dealt with the blackout in a peaceful and neighborly fashion, a number of communities erupted in violence. Looters broke into stores, taking merchandise, and destroying local businesses. In place of the evening glow ordinarily produced by the city’s abundant electrical lighting, fires lighted the darkened skyline, leaving charred remnants of once lively neighborhoods. Within the short span of two days, police had arrested 3,766 looters and the city had suffered an economic blow that one estimate placed at more than $300 million. Unlike the 1965 blackout, when the lights went out in 1977 the most distressed neighborhoods of the City endured what Time magazine called “A Night of Terror.” IIRC, when one power station overloaded, it shut all the other ones down around them because it caused an overload in their equipment as well. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/27 "2003-08-14T22:03:33Z")
All, and I mean all, of Toronto is down. We’re on emergency generators here at work. Gas stations are down, good thing I’m 3/4 full. Gonna be an interesting night… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/28 "2003-08-14T22:09:57Z")
Heard on the news that nearly all of Eastern Ontario is out, bounded by a line from Sault Ste-Marie to Sudbury and up to James Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/29 "2003-08-14T22:10:41Z")
Just here to send best wishes, and hope that everyone in the affected areas is okay. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/30 "2003-08-14T22:11:40Z")
parts of west. pa and south nj are slowly getting power back. mayor bloomberg said that they will be rerouting power from the south and west. i figure the closer you are to the south and west the sooner you will have power. the niagara mohawk grid is huge. one of the reason that quite a bit of new england didn’t go down are nuclear power plant. many places that formally got power from niagara mohawk now have power from nuclear power plants. cell phones are having major problems. themis00, cnn did have the worm/virus as one of the speculation causes they are looking into. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/31 "2003-08-14T22:13:22Z")
matt\_mcl, doesn’t james bay have nuclear power? i seem to remember reading about a plant there. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/32 "2003-08-14T22:22:22Z")
I wonder what the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant is freaking doing?!? Shouldn’t pickering and the surrounding areas (scarborough and such) have power? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/33 "2003-08-14T22:34:43Z")
The board is much faster now. I guess that’s cause no one in those areas can read/post 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/34 "2003-08-14T23:02:47Z")
My folks in Buffalo, on NiMo, say that they have power, but apparently their situation seems to be unusual. All my other relatives back there are dark. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/35 "2003-08-14T23:09:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\*Just here to send best wishes, and hope that everyone in the affected areas is okay. \*\* Didn’t Auckland have some power problems a few years back **Ice Wolf**? Obviously not on the scale of NYC though I guess. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/36 "2003-08-14T23:18:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*The US Gov’t is saying it wasn’t terrorism. > > Although, do we know the cause of the fire yet? \*\* Fire? What fire? There was a fire? Fire? Fire? Fire? Fire? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/37 "2003-08-14T23:19:07Z")
> [@](#): > > matt\_mcl, doesn’t james bay have nuclear power? i seem to remember reading about a plant there. James Bay? No. Also, the hydro-electric power facilities on James Bay are all on the Quebec side, not Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/38 "2003-08-14T23:19:59Z")
gov pataki announced a bit more that half of new york state is without power. he also stated that the grid going down should not have happened, that the safeguards did not go the way they should. gov. of new jersey stated that 500 buses are being routed to ferry landings to help commuters get home from the areas that are blacked out. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/39 "2003-08-14T23:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rocking chair \* > \*\*matt\_mcl, doesn’t james bay have nuclear power? i seem to remember reading about a plant there. \*\* There is **no** functioning nuclear plant in Québec. The only nuke plant we have (Gentilly) is being phased out and used for research in the meantime. The James Bay complex is made of hydroelectric plants. On preview I see that **matt\_mcl** has already answered part of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_Rawlinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@Andy\_Rawlinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_Rawlinson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231/40 "2003-08-14T23:25:41Z")
There’s a huge power outage on the East coast. I live in Oceanside New York. Our power has been back on since about 6pm. I fell asleep at 3pm. The power was still working. When I woke up at 4:30pm it was out. Thankfully, I took a vacation day off from work today. I can imagine what a nightmare NYC’s subways are. Actually my Mom is trapped on her job in lower Manhattan. Last I saw on TV NYC Transit was evacuating passengers off subway trains caught between stations. I know how burning hot NYC’s underground subways get so I pity the poor souls trapped between stations on trains with no power- and therefore air conditioning-down there. Hopefully there won’t be any medical emergencies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-blackouts-strike-ne-us-se-canada/195231.md?page=3)