The more things change, the more they remain the same...
Quote:The Great Northeast Blackout of 1965
On November 9, 1965, the largest blackout in history occurred. The northeast power system broke up 4 seconds after the initial disturbance, and 30 million people were without electricity for as long as 13 hours.
Later that day, President Lyndon Johnson wrote to the chairman of the Federal Power Commission:
"Today's failure is a dramatic reminder of the importance of the uninterrupted flow of power to the health, safety, and well being of our citizens and the defense of our country.
"This failure should be immediately and carefully investigated in order to prevent a recurrence.
"You are therefore directed to launch a thorough study of the cause of this failure. I am putting at your disposal full resources of the federal government and directing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense and other agencies to support you in any way possible. You are to call upon the top experts in our nation in conducting the investigation.
"A report is expected at the earliest possible moment as to the causes of the failure and the steps you recommend to be taken to prevent a recurrence."
Signed,
Lyndon B. Johnson
Check out this link for the rest of the story...
http://www.cmpco.com/about/system/blackout.html
From the NYTimes site: Downtown NYC this evening:
Beautiful picture Tartarin! That skyline never ceases to amaze me, lit or not!
"The outage, because it began along the Canadian border, produced early finger-pointing between the countries. Canadian officials said the cause was a lightning strike on a power facility on the U.S. side of Niagara Falls. But U.S. officials pointed north. "Our best understanding right now is that whatever did happen to start these cascading outages began in Canada," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said. "
I'm glad, Swimpy isn't worried any more, lots of electricity is back and nothing else happened in the really serious way.
I must confessed, since such outages are complitely unknown here that I thought seriously quite some time about terrorism.
I've just learnt that some 50 million people are still without electricity, that it can take some more hours, that there may be difficulties again, when all is fixed ...
I really can't believe that such happens in this century.
Walter, when I first returned having spent most of my adult life in Europe, I was shocked at how far behind we are in much of our technology and most of all our systems. Particularly systems. Antediluvian. Power delivery has been much less reliable here than in Europe. And I spent most of my time in rural Spain....!!
I liked it when one of the local generators in Manhattan blanketed the area with black smoke about an hour or so after the power outage in Canada. The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was quoted as saying, Don't worry. The smoke is Perfectly Normal!!!!
Walter? How often do your generators emit black smoke?
Tee Hee.
Tartarin
Saw you response too late (was watching tv/listening to the radio).
What perplexes me most, is all those talks about torrorists on the one side and such relatively easily to solve technical things on the other ...
Greatest blackout ever in history: in the USA/Canada in 21th century!
The Blackout of 2003 is now a political issue.
Hillary blamed Bush, in a manner of speaking, and they had Gray Davis on Larry King, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
He may have gotten some good milage out of this blackout.
I've done a short research in my books: even in WWII, when the Allied destroyed quite a lot of power stations in Germany, electricity back relatively soon - and that never affected such huge regions.
I admit I don't know diddly about power grids and rolling blackouts and the like--but this is more than mildly embarrassing.
I still think it's a terrorist attack, think about it!
Of course, our government doesn't want to say anything, why get people excited!
I don't think it is a terrorist attack, but it certainly must have given a few malevolent people some ideas.
Who would have thought a rolling blackout would have spread so far & fast?
I'm as amazed as Walter is. No, more amazed.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn of a bit of chuckling in Baghdad about now.
Misti26 wrote:I still think it's a terrorist attack, think about it!
What clues are you hearing about in Florida that leads you to believe it might be a terrorist attack?
I really don't think it's a terrorist act either. A few months ago several thunder storms sweeped through Canada causing most of Canada to be without power, so these things happen. Mother nature has a mind of her own.
Now people may realise how the people of Iraq feel.
They have the same problem.........for the last 4 months!!!!
Advice to Consumers on Food That May Have Spoiled During a Power Outage
The Associated Press
Published: Aug 15, 2003
Advice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on food that may have spoiled in refrigerators and freezers during a blackout:
-
Without power, an unopened refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about four hours. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time.
Discard any perishable food, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers, that has been above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours.
-
If food in the freezer started to thaw or had thawed when the power came back, do not taste it to determine its safety. If an appliance thermometer was kept in the freezer and it reads 40 F or below - or if the food still contains ice crystals - it is safe and may be refrozen. Discard any items in either the freezer or the refrigerator that have come into contact with raw meat juices.
---
On the Net:
USDA advice on food safety in an emergency:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/pofeature.htm
AP-ES-08-15-03 0425EDT
Miss eBeth called me late last evening--she had been obliged to walk home from downtown Toronto. This morning, she was contacted by one of the company veeps, telling her not to come in today. Good thing, too, i don't imagine she'd have relished another monumental hike like that. She normally rides the subway.
I hadn't heard that about Cincinatti, but i had heard that at Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie, the Cedar Point amusement park had lost power, leaving thousands standing around wondering what was going on, and hundreds stranded on roller coasters and other rides. We also kept losing our DSL at work, although the service i have at home was not affected.
The power of Niagara Falls was being exploited before electrical generation--hence, Love's Canal. Love was intent on building a canal to bring Niagara River water to an inland location to use it to generate mechanical power. His project failed, and the canal was later used as a chemical waste dump, then covered over.
Nicola Tesla worked hard for the establishment of an alternating current electrical generation site, despite the opposition of Edison (who had exploited and abused Tesla, and was heavily invested in the use of direct current). Adam Beck on the Canadian side quickly seized upon Tesla's success in electrical generation on the American side, and the northeast and Ontario ended up with a huge, interlocking grid of electrical generation. The generating power is so great, that it serves literally tens of millions of people, and an industrial clientele larger than that served by any other grid in the world. What Walter keeps referring to as the reliability of European generation systems in fact arises from the proliferation of electrical generation plants across that continent. France has gone nuclear to avoid dependence on foreign oil, and the result for her rivers has been disasterous. At one time, Germany generated her power almost exclusively from burning coal--don't know if that is still true.
Poor eBeth, i bet her feet are killin' her. At least the doggies will be glad to have her home today.
ahhhhhh, my feet.
I posted the story of the first part of my walk home on the what am i wearing thread. what i was wearing was a mistake. those damn girly shoes nearly killed me. i finally found some flip flops at a dollar store - 2 sizes too big - i didn't care. there are blisters on the blisters on my feet - silly girly sandals are not meant for 3 hour walks on hot hot days.
WAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I'm glad Silvi called to let me know the office is closed today. I know I couldn't have walked back. and then at about 2 a.m. - when the doggies and i came in to sleep - i couldn't find my housekeys in the dark - was freakin' - how can i go to work tomorrow with no keys?
Power came back in my neighbourhood around 4 a.m. - 12 hours after the 'incident'.
I was in decent shape all round - I've got flashlights - a battery operated shortwave radio - LOTS of candles (which we were warned not to use inside houses, as there were fires) - my neighbours fed me - we all sat out all night. Joe and I both fell asleep on our respective porches, after lying down on our benches and talking over the railings for a while.
We've been told the power will likely come and go over the next 2 - 7 DAYS. There is a problem with water in Toronto - don't flush if you don't have to - don't water the garden - don't do the laundry - etc.
I'm not opening the fridge or freezer til i HAVE to - I know I'm going to have to throw a lot out.
There are cars stranded all over the city - they ran out of gas. Gas stations were out of service - the pumps are electronic.
Interesting times.
Posting before the power goes out again.
Awwwwwwwwwwwww Bethie!!!!!!!
Girly sandals are foot CHOMPERS!!!!!!
You take care of those blisters now, no popping!
