Biggest black out ever

[Ryan]

quote:
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It is probably the first time in their little, mindless hive lives that it has happened. One person cracks, and all of a sudden, everyone is crying and screaming. PAck instincts. I get powercuts, and it doesn't bother me. It is a part of life, and i suppose it just doesnt happen very often to most of them, especially the main of New York.
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um, true this is the 1st time that i remember this happening, but nobody i saw was crying or screaming.i believe that a better generalization of a typical new yorker would never include that kind of behavior. actually, all the people that i saw were mad pissd to have to climb out of trains, walk along the tracks and across bridges and highways with hundreds of other people for miles in 90+ degree weather like my parents had to do. As bad as that sounds, everybody thought still thought it was pretty cool and exciting because tons of people were on the streets dancing and partying with music blasting out from cars all night. Restaurants were giving out free beer and ice cream all over the place and some people set up barbeques in the middle of the city. Yes, i guess it is just a part of life but there is no need to decry or make such generalizations about the character of New Yorkers, Baron Samedi, and i'm assuming you dont live here. I know i'm probably overreacting and i know that i'll eventually feel really guilty about what i said because it isn't something I'd normally do or say but i cant help but feel a little offended.

-end quote

[color=darkblue][size=1][b]

I have to agree. I was going to post about Baron Samedi's post, but you got it IwakuraLain. No one ever talked about whining and crying, and I never saw anyone doing that on all of the news station, so I have no clue what he is talking about.

I was watching the news, just to see what was happening since I had heard about it and it was like a movie. People were leaving their cars on the highways and streets and just walking in huge groups. It looked cool.

And I disagree with the people who said it wasn't a big deal. Think about the New York side of the blackout. New York is the second largest city in the world. Think about living without any power for a day. You have to walk everywhere, and if you were Downtown when it happened, a lot of walking to get back home. Not being able to cook food, for dinner. People stuck at airports trying to get home but nothing works. Looting, like someone else posted above, is another major problem. Think about if you owned a store and people broke in and stole things. You would be pretty pissed off. That is just a few problems with the blackout. It is a "big freakin deal." Just put yourself in their position.

PS: Why do you get powercuts, Baron Samedi? You better be paying your electricity bill.;)[/color][/size][/b]

[Darkmoon]

pfft, I was caught in the middle of the Black out. I live in Toronto. Worst possible time for meh too... I had just gotten 5 pages typed up when the computer shut down on me and none of it was saved! Bah, really felt like hurting something -.-;;

But besides that it was kinda interesting <.< Down town was really a sight, lol. My dad's resurant had the most customers then it ever had appear at once all lookin' for dinner. He had to drag the chair out from under them to get them out cause he didn't have anything else left to sell XP

First time anything like that's ever happened to me. Prolly the last too.

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]The only reason it's a big news issue is because it affected such a huge mile radius. Sure California gets lots of brownouts every year, but that's because California has too many people living in an area [LA County] not large enough to handle so much electricity.

It is, however, big news for the Midwest. The only power outtages we have ever suffered there are results of thunderstorms or ice storms. And another main reason it's such a huge deal is because everything happened simultaneously, if you think about it that's pretty crazy and pretty darn news worthy.

P.S. Harry, Shy lives in the same county as the infamously bustling LAX ;)[/color]

[Demonic Angel]

I heard of this black out in news yesterday. There were lotsa people in the streets walking. O.O
That's sad for them. But why panick just because there's no electricity? Just because of that, doesnt mean they have to.
It's really not the time to be panicked about that. e.e
If it is the last day of their lives, then thats the time to panick, if you get what i meant. o.o
I wouldn't be screaming and going all crazy just because there's no electricity. I would be enjoying looking outside the window and play with the candles. It is fun for me. ^_^

[Patronus]

[size=1][color=333366][b]Shy, you heard wrong. No one is panicking.

I live in Ohio, but in the southern tip. So, yeah, I'm lucky.

Leh[/b][/color][/size]

[Sara]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Raven [/i][B]
[color=purple][size=1]"I'm scared," she said. "It's that unknown `what's going on' feeling. Everyone's panicking. The city's shutting down."

-[b]Yahoo news[/b][/color][/size] [/B][/QUOTE][QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Leh [/i]
[B][size=1][color=333366][b]Shy, you heard wrong. No one is panicking.[/b][/color][/size] [/B][/QUOTE]
[SIZE=1]I heard wrong too, eh?[/SIZE]

[Patronus]

[size=1][color=333366][b]It is possible. Alot of people are calm, turn on the tv and you will see.

Leh[/b][/color][/size]

[stardust]

Why do people panic?Because it's really weird here to have a huge blackout.the first thing on everybody's mind was that it was a terrorist attack,even tho they said it wasn't...I don't know,it's just scary when you don't know what to do,we were told the power wouldn't be back for DAYS.

[lea]

well, i think one reason that people were a bit panicky, is that its human nature to be scared of the unknown. thats why lots of people are scared of the dark....they dont know whats there. actually, in a way, its almost amazing how dependant we are on electricity.....its kinda scary in a way, know what i mean?
me, personally, i was concerned for the people stuck deep in subway tunnels (the ones they couldnt reach, did they ever get to them yet? its hot in the trains, with no air, and it stinks) and for the little kids, and all the people who had to walk tons of miles, to not even reach home :(

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]::sigh:: You also have to consider that a lot of people witnessed the attack on the WTC in New York City, I'm sure that's not something that is easily erased from one's memory. Of course some people in NYC are going to be a little upset, I don't think anyone should deny them that reaction.[/color]

[KittyLynn]

[color=dodgerblue][size=1]Up here in Canada,I too was affected by the black out. We had no electricity for 2 days! We just got it back an hour or so ago..The streets were packed with people trying to get the last little bit of gas from the pumps, the last bit of money from the Instant Tellers, people buying ice for their meat and milk, it was insane! It was a little crazy for 48 hours and in some places still don't have power, but I lived and they will too. But its a little scary, they [I]say[/I] its not a terrorist attack, but maybe we'll never know until its too late. [/color][/size]

[ZeroBlade]

Whew, finally got my power back at 3 pm for me (its 6 now). Anyway, yea it wasn't such a big thing but it was HECK of a night. My radio was the only thing that keep me up to date. I was at work when power died and took me 2 hours to get back. The thought of terrorism did go through my head but I convinced myself that it isn't - in my opinion if it was they would have killed themselves and/or others to do it and there wasn't any thing like that. My other thinking that a computer attack is much too advanced for them to do. Anyway while I was heading back I brought batteries and such and within minutes I saw like 2 looting crimes in broad daylight. Moment I saw that I decided to stay up until next morning to make sure I didn't get robbed myself. I was bored out of my mind as you can imagine without any power so I took my flashlight and took a walk outside. It is one of those things you DON'T forget. Its very rare to see no lights in NYC and so many people out so late. To kill my boredom, I decided to play traffic cop and help these other people direct the traffic at this major intersection. It was really cool, I had fun and the police was ok with it giving us flares to use instead of the flash lights we had. I did that for like 4 hours until we weren't needed anymore. (I think it was 11:45p when I stopped). After that I just stayed awake for the whole night. There was no way I could sleep with the heat and the dead silence there was. (I can't sleep without a constant sound - a fan). IT WAS FREAKY. Personally blackouts isn't anything new for me (my home country had it on a daily basis) but it felt different in NY - it was just out of place. I walked around the area at like 3 or 4 am and there was no one in the streets. With the street lamps off and no cars passing by it litteraly looked like I was in an ruined city. At most I saw 4 other people awake with flashlights, and like 1 car every 10 minutes. I really wished I had a cammera... Anyway, I lasted all the way until like 8 am today before I came inside my home to take a nap or something (I was awake since 7:10a yesterday). The only thing I want to do now is find some of video of how Manhattan looked without the power. Even though I had power for a little over 3 hours now, I have yet to see any. Thats pretty much what I did that whole night - my own little adventure :P

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff][font=Comic Sans MS]OH MY GOSH ZERO! Haven't seen you in forever, man! ^_^ Yeah, I can imagine how it was for you. The pictures of NYC w/o lights are breath taking. Good for you that you were a good sumaritan directing traffic and all. I want everyone to see this, to take note. THIS is the spirit of the great [b]New York City[/b]. Sure, it's where everyone has an opinion, where half the city is quarreling with the mayor about one thing or another, but after what everyone went through with 9/11, when times get tough, New Yorkers are there for eachother, and they always pull together.

When I was with out power, my family lit a bunch of candles, my sister got to brag to my mom that "Ha! You're glad NOW that I kept all our candles." and we sat around listening to WABC AM on the radio, which was broadcasting nonstop, commercial free about the black out, and we talked about experiences when we were little, and when my mom was in college. It was a family thing, and I had fun. My sister went all morbidy and was like "It makes you think how fragile our little society is, with out a one little thing, it all goes down." lol.

Switching gears a little bit, Semjaza said on pg. 2,[/font][/color]
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Semjaza Azazel [/i]
[B]Was the September 11th descriptor at the beginning of the article really necessary? What the hell does that have to do with anything? Of course their first quote is based off that too.

I feel like everything I read or hear about New York has to make reference to it. As if anyone left in this country doesn't know about it. [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=#9933ff][font=Comic Sans MS]Bleh. You have no idea how horribly annoying that is. I love you dearly Semi, but hush up. In case some of you don't know, I live 40 min away from NYC, and that is WITH traffic. This is like the fact that it's a hella more frightening when you're in a fire, rather than when you see it on the news. You know? When you're like me, and you LIVE here, you've LIVED insanely close to where 9/11 has happened, it's a lot scarier. And really it does remind us like that. I mean, lower Manhattan is STILL trying to recover desparately, and the "unofficial" anthem of NYC is "God Bless America". I mean, I know the country knows what happened, but it's not the same when you're inside, or right near what happened. And almost everybody here knows someone who knows someone else who's family is the in-laws of somebody who was involved in it. The presence of 9/11 lingers like the smoke still there after the fire had been put out in the ruined twin towers. We all still remember. You can't go day without hearing a reference on the news. So yes, that was nessecary in the article, because seeing the evacuations, everyone on the Brooklyn bridge (and others) brought back the memories we're all trying to forget.

I don't want to quote some of the longer posts, and besides I'm too lazy, but I appreciate the posts of:
[list]
[*]BG on page 3
[*]Ryan on page 2
And
[*]GO YOU, IWAKURALAIN![/list][/color][/font]
[QUOTE][i]Part of what was originally posted by IwakuraLain [/i]
[B]Yes, i guess it is just a part of life but there is no need to decry or make such generalizations about the character of New Yorkers, Baron Samedi, and i'm assuming you dont live here. I know i'm probably overreacting and i know that i'll eventually feel really guilty about what i said because it isn't something I'd normally do or say but i cant help but feel a little offended. [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=#9933ff][font=Comic Sans MS]I don't like generalizations of New Yorkers either, and I felt a bit offended as well, as I like to think of myself as close enough to be considered "New Yorky". GO YOU. I like what you had to say. (I heard about the street parties, too. I wish I could have been there!)[/color][/font]

[Stuart]

[color=purple][size=1]I too saw the picture of NY w/o lights and it may be the only picture ever with NY w/o lights, it's a once in a life time picture right there ^_~

Ok so.. maybe Im wrong but still the picture is amazing to me so there :p[/color][/size]

[Kain]

Man the powerout really sucked.I couldn't watch tv,play video games,or listen to the radio except for in the car.I'm still not too cleear on what happened.But thank god the power is back on in my house cause i don't know what i would do.

[Guest Forbidden One]

[color=blue]For the last time -_- for all those who have been misinformed. No one in New York City was panicking, everyone took this blackout in stride, there were a couple of problems with the subways which are infact still down at this time. However New Yorkers were far from panicking in fact people were celebrating and having bbqs.

For someone that lives in New York this is a big deal, in the sense that it seems everything from planes going into buildings to blackouts happen here. However the city has seen much worse times, and a blackout is much better news to me then hearing about "The Governator" for all those Californias who could care less. -___-

As the saying goes people only care when, it is directly affecting them. This thread beyond a shadow of the doubt proves it. [/color]

[DeathKnight]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Forbidden One [/i]
[B][color=blue]As the saying goes people only care when, it is directly affecting them. This thread beyond a shadow of the doubt proves it. [/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=crimson]Hehe.
----

I didnt really care about the [melo]dramatic coverage on CNN honestly. I'm more curious as to the reason it happened in the first place- not the general praise of the people affected, or a looping video of herds of them moveing across the landscape.

But, I heard on the news that they speculate the whole cascade started in Ohio or Michigan and that it shouldnt have reached Manhattan. Thats what Pataki said, anyway.

Curious.

[size=1]PS. "the great [b]New York City[/b]"? LOL.[/size][/color]

[Ellerby]

[size=1][b][color=crimson]I live in Ontario, Canada and I got the blackout. Over 20 hours with nothing to do except weep and moan. Luckily my friend has a pool. When are power turned on the first thing we heard on T.V. was Americans blaming it ALL on Canada. When, we seem to have our power up first and they don't. -_- No offence to American OBers cuz I know you wouldn't do that but I also have to admit some Canadians are saying it was Niagra(sp?), New York. Can't we all just get along? But, back to the actuall blackout. Most rumours were it started with a Lightning Strike to a Power Plant but I don't think that's it. The first thing that popped into my head was: This is gonna make a GREAT OB thread!. But Raven beat me to it.:grumble: But, yeah. Biggest Blackout Ever seems like a good name.

....Blackout 2003? Now that's messed.


P.S. It's amazing how little U.S.A. knows about Canada.[/b]

-=§=- :wave:[/size][/color]

[G.D. Ryoko]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Forbidden One [/i]
[B][color=blue]For the last time -_- for all those who have been misinformed. No one in New York City was panicking [/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=blue]I panicked. I was comming home from my vaction on the subway when everything blacked out. I was so happy I was in a station and not in a tunnel. Also walking across the Brooklyn Bridge wasn`t easy because I am afraid of hieghts and bridges. Man that blackout so scard. I never want to get caught in a blackout again.[/COLOR]

[lea]

i used to live in ny (brooklyn to be exact...prospect park to be precise)...i miss the place ;.;

[Semjaza]

[quote][color=#9933ff][font=Comic Sans MS][b]Bleh. You have no idea how horribly annoying that is. I love you dearly Semi, but hush up. In case some of you don't know, I live 40 min away from NYC, and that is WITH traffic.

And so on.
[/color][/font] [/b][/QUOTE]

That has absolutely nothing to do with my point. I don't feel I'm brushing off the significance of what happened whatsoever. In fact, I know I am not. I personally know plenty of people right there and some that were even [i]in[/i] it, rather than simply close to it. It doesn't matter because that wasn't part of my post.

The fact of the matter is that that incident has nothing to do with this blackout in any respect. Any damn thing I read about New York in terms of anything has to make a reference back to 9-11 for no apparent reason

At least the paper quoted in this thread had a guy making a comparison between the two incidents, which is fine and good. I have no problem with that. I've read about 10 other articles on this, and almost all make the same statement for little or no reason other than just to say it.

I was reading the Chicago Sun Times today and they practically had that same sentence word for word. "People in New York, which faced the brunt of the 9-11 attacks, tried to make their way home in the power outage without a fuss." Or something like that.

Please tell me what relevence that has? It's ridiculous, and it seems like they try to feed it into every New York story so I can maybe feel more sympathetic about every other problem the state has (actually mostly just the city, because that's about all they mean when they say New York anyway).

This even affected lower Canada, Ohio and Michigan, but apparently that doesn't matter anywhere near as much because New York got the most of an attack two years ago. Yes, it's a far more important area really, but it's still a strange sentence to just stick in there.

It's like:
"So, New York..."
"Wait, which New York?"
"The one that faced the brunt of the 9-11 attack."
"Oh, [i]that[/i] one. I thought you meant the [i]other[/i] one."

I might as well describe Chicago as the city that was almost eradicated by the Great Chicago Fire in an article about that heat wave that killed many, many people here. It's just as irreleveant to the topic.

Again, I'm not downplaying the importance of what happened and I understand people aren't over it and everything else (how could they be?), but come on. It's stupid on the part of these newspaper journalists.

[lea]

i know what you mean, semi....
the journelests are bring up past subjects that have nothing to do with the current story...
its like saying, bob, who broke his arm 3 years ago, got an A+ today....its just not connected
maybe its so people dont get confused with another new york? ;)

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]I do find it a tiny bit ridiculous how easily the press seemed to forget about the [i]other[/i] mertopolitan areas affected by the blackout. The other cities and surrounding suburbs had weather just as hot, and millions of people were caught without power there, too. Detroit residents didn't even get their electricity restored until later than NYC's...but ah well, I suppose New York City has earned itself some fame over the years :)[/color]

[quote][i]Originally Posted By Semjaza Azazel[/i]

[b]It's like:
"So, New York..."
"Wait, which New York?"
"The one that faced the brunt of the 9-11 attack."
"Oh, that one. I thought you meant the [i]other[/i] one."[/b][/quote]

[color=deeppink]Hee ^_^![/color]

[Nate]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MistressRoxie [/i]
[color=#9933ff][font=Comic Sans MS]
Some details are sketchy, but it looks like lighting hit a power plant in Canada (NYC Mayor Bloomberg is saying Quebec, and most radio stations say Ottowa. We'll know by tomorrow.) and then they tried to handle it, and there's something about a plant going down on the U.S. side near Niagra, and since some power grids rely on eachother, a TON went down!

[/font][/color][/QUOTE]


Forgive me if this ha already been answered, I haven't read it all; I don't feel like reading it all, hence i won't.


From what i heard, it was not a lightning strike. Something happened in it, and they had to shut it down.

It was not in Canada, it was Con Ed Power Plant in New York.

It was not a fire; despite what the pictures they show say. When you cool a 3 thousand degree boiler, you have to depressurize it, too. The black smoke from the tower is steam smoke, from the quick drop.

If you believe it was 10 plants dead, YOUR WRONG. There are 70 in New York alone, and another 100 immediate in Canada. Over 100 down.

VA?s 50 some plants will drop their power outputs going to VA to pipe energy to Con Ed so it can start. A power plant can only make as much energy as it gets, hence they need alot. All the states then can are chipping in their energy.

They cooled Con Ed quick, they had to. High temp to low temp= stress fractures. If one piece breaks, one boiler blows, we are SCREWED.

It will take a lot of time and power to get a boiler up to that 300 degree mark where it can incinerate anything instantly, hence creating power. If Con Ed pops one fuse, it's back to square one, including possible fractures. Turn acs off if you have no power. If they have to put out 100% of the energy they make, they can't do it. Fuse blows. Help Con Edd if u live in New York, turn off the ac.


If you?re wondering how i know this, my brother-in-law is the number one stress technician in his company, which means he knows all this stuff about it. He works in power plants all the time *blush* *boast mode off*

[James]

[color=#707875]I can understand why New Yorkers first thought that this was a terrorist attack. It's a very logical conclusion to draw, especially after the experiences that NYC has been through over the years.

But once it was established that it wasn't a terror attack, I'm sure that most people settled down and realized what the situation was all about. And I guess that primarily, at this point, most people in the area don't care what the cause was. They just want to get the power back on as soon as possible.

I guess that it really depends how long the power is out for, before you can start declaring whether or not this is a very major incident. I mean, yes, it's major and unusual. But if the power is only off for a couple of days, it's certainly not a huge emergency. And already, power has been restored to quite a large area. From what I've seen on the American news channels, it seems like the situation is being cleared up relatively quickly.

So that's good news for all concerned, I'm sure. Especially given the heat at the moment.

This reminds me of a few years ago, when the main natural gas facility in Victoria suffered from an explosion (which was due to someone making a mistake or something...it wasn't an attack or anything). The explosion destroyed part of the primary infrastructure and as a result, the entire state was out of gas for about two weeks or so.

It may not seem like gas is as important as electricity, but at our house, we have a natural gas system for hot water and a bunch of other things. It sucked not having hot water for two weeks. lol

And our stove/oven is natural gas powered as well. So, that was also out for two weeks.

In that sense, I know what it's like to have some sort of power outage. It's a big inconvenience, for sure.[/color]