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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Blackout!

This Day in History: August 14, 2003

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/2003-northeast-blackout_n_3751171.html
For more photos: Click the image.

The image above is New York City. No power. No lights. No electricity period. The only light visible comes from buildings equipped with generators, candlelight and automobile headlights. New York is just one city experiencing the largest power outage in our nation's history: the great Northeast Blackout of 2003. One would expect major looting and other crime-related activities but surprisingly crime, this time, fewer arrests as the city stayed dark. This day was nothing compared to the New York City Blackout of 1977.

The contributory factors: an aging electrical grid, a series of technology flaws and a few overgrown trees. Lack of proper maintenance led to a cascading series of outages stretching from Michigan to New England and up into Ontario, Canada. Number of people affected: 55,000,000!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003
Picture this...
Commuters in New York City and elsewhere had to sleep on steps, hitchhike or walk home as trains were rendered powerless and gas pumps stopped working; food spoiled as refrigerators and freezers thawed; jugs of water sold out as supply plants lost their ability to supply consumers; minds were set to wandering about terrorism fears less than two years after 9/11. Source: Northeast blackout of 2003
  http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/northeast-blackout-2003-back-10-years-gallery-1.1426456?pmSlide=1.1426445
Swarms of stranded people attempted to leave Manhattan, August 14, 2003.
All bridges and tunnels out of the Big Apple were swarmed with cars and people.
Click the image or photo gallery.

Citizens even took it upon themselves to mitigate the effects of the outage by assisting elderly neighbors or helping to direct traffic in the absence of working traffic lights.

Where were you during the blackout of 2003? 

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