10 Years Later "The Blackout" August 14, 2003

[RWC130 594]

10 Years After The Blackout, How Has The Power Grid Changed?

By DAN BOBKOFF

Ten years ago a sagging power line hit a tree near Cleveland, tripping some circuit breakers. To compensate, power was rerouted to a nearby line, which began to overheat and sink down into another tree, tripping another circuit. The resulting cascade created a massive blackout in the Northeast U.S., affecting power in eight states and part of Canada.

Some 50 million people were left without power for days after the lights went out around 4 p.m. on the sticky summer day. Walking around the Upper West Side, New York felt transformed with a flip of a switch. Strangers, who moments earlier avoided eye contact, started chatting. They now had something in common. There was a mix of excitement and fear.

Many New Yorkers were trying to get home from work. There were no subway trains, so competition was fierce for buses and cabs.

http://www.nynow.org/post/10-years-after-blackout-how-has-power-grid-changed

What were you doing on this date?

How did it effect the operations of Emergency Services in your town?

Were you ready?

Any changes today?

[kinkchaser 352]

In New Ro the lights went out about 4 something in the afternoon. We had many stuck elevator calls immediately and did scores of service calls thru the night. All available rigs were manned and units drove around in their district with all warning lights on to reassure the citizens and be a beacon for those needing help and having no phone service, all cell phones were out and cordless home phones died after a short period. ALL WENT WELL UNTIL ABOUT 500 AM with the sun coming up we had a train crash and a good structure fire at the exact same time.

The train was a diesel train crashed in to a stalled commuter train occupied by railroad workers, mucho injured.

I think we did pretty good with no time to prepare. Certainly so close to 9/11/01 we were anoxious until we heard it was the whole east coast

[pjm1733 22]

What were you doing on this date? working

How did it effect the operations of Emergency Services in your town? total recall

Were you ready? yes

Any changes today? new radio new phones ,others

no major problems, numerous calls for service I have worked busier storms . . . .

​Best/Chilling Radio Transmission

SOD to HQ in service with automatic weapons, chemical munitions, and armor

[wraftery 1,275]

In New Ro the lights went out about 4 something in the afternoon. We had many stuck elevator calls immediately and did scores of service calls thru the night. All available rigs were manned and units drove around in their district with all warning lights on to reassure the citizens and be a beacon for those needing help and having no phone service, all cell phones were out and cordless home phones died after a short period. ALL WENT WELL UNTIL ABOUT 500 AM with the sun coming up we had a train crash and a good structure fire at the exact same time.

The train was a diesel train crashed in to a stalled commuter train occupied by railroad workers, mucho injured.

I think we did pretty good with no time to prepare. Certainly so close to 9/11/01 we were anoxious until we heard it was the whole east coast

New Rochelle Hospital (now Sound Shore) was one of the places that had emergency power long-term. Along with necessities like operating rooms, etc, NRH also fed emergency to one place it wasn't really needed...the spotlights on the roof that lit the American Flag. It stayed lit throughout the night.

[CFFD117 19]

I was watching Braveheart on DVD, right as William Wallace is riding onto th battlefield with his face all painted, power goes out. I can't comment on the emergency services standpoint as I wasn't involved yet. Personally, my family was prepared, we had a generator which enabled us to have water, refrigeration, heat even though it wasn't used, some lights, and most importantly the entertainment center.

[dwcfireman 656]

http://www.nynow.org/post/10-years-after-blackout-how-has-power-grid-changed

What were you doing on this date? Working in my hometown grocery store.

How did it effect the operations of Emergency Services in your town? We were slowed down because the apparatus bay doors were not on the emergency generator, so it took a few extra seconds to open them by hand. Monroe County, NY (Rochester area) was not largely effected in emergency responses. However, agencies were called out to assist at nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and aiding local DPW's and highway departments to assist and maintain average daily functions.

Were you ready? Was anybody? No one expected this to happen, but it did. Are we ready for it now? More so than before, IMO.

Any changes today? IMO, no. This contradicts my previous answer, but after seeing the affects of Huricane

Sandy last year proves that we are still not ready for major black outs and power outages. If we were truly ready this would never happen again.

Now, when I say this would never happen again, it's based off of the information of the true national grid. Oh wait, there is none!

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/tres-amigas-superstation-could-connect-the-3-us-electrical-grids.html

Pardon the editing, but this picture roughly resembles the THREE (3) elecetrical grids in the United States. The black out in 2003 turned out to be extrememly minor to what could have happened, meaning 50% of the contiguous 48 states not having power for several hours, or worse, several days. There is an infinite number of ways to prevent the next big black out, but I'm not an electrical engineer, so I'll leave that problem solving to the professionals.

Edited August 23, 2013 by dwcfireman

[nfd2004 750]

I was buffing the Bronx. About 4 pm I noticed that my gas tank was very low and with a 120 mile ride home, I need to think about getting some gas for the Buff Mobile. I was going to get gas but I was also getting pretty hungary and a Wendy's sign was just up ahead. So I pulled into Wendy's and ordered a couple of burgers. When I was done, I got in the car to go get some gas and I noticed the traffic lights were out. Next I noticed the stores were closing in the shopping center. Those roll down steel fronts were all being pulled down. I pulled into the gas station and the pumps weren't working.

No electric power and no gas, with a 120 mile ride home. I couldn't hang around so I just headed home and hoped for the best. I was finally able to get gas in Bridgeport, Ct about 60 miles from the Bronx. They didn't loose any power. I don't think I would have made it much further. Lesson Learned: Whenever my gas tank gets to one half, I always fill up. I started doing that 10 years ago, and haven't messed up yet.

I had a friend who was in the Wall st area. He told me with no subways or elevators running, that night the richest and the poorest made a piece of cardboard their bed under the stars in the streets of the City of New York. There was no seperating the rich from the poor. From a three piece suit to hand me down rags. Nobody was better than anybody that night. Just grab a piece of cardboard, get confortable, and enjoy the fresh air. That was one night nobody had to worry about brushing their teeth.

One of the problems I do remember is the elderly who couldn't get up to their apartments in those high rise buildings. Some needed to get their meds. I also remember the FDNY putting their second pieces of Support Ladder Companies in service with three firefighters. Later it was reported that it was a good decision as they assisted hundreds of people trapped in elevators.

[grumpyff 1,159]

I was in the shower in an apartment in Bedford Hills, that I had just moved into a few weeks prior. I heard my kids arguing about a DVD, and noticed the lights flickering. I thought it might be the wiring/circuit breaker was bad. The everything went out, and I heard one of my neighbors yelling that the whole East Coast was out. I made my way into work, and spent the next 12 hours securing the 42 st/8 subway and standing by with a response van of 1 sergeant and 8 cops. Had a blast as everyone was in a good mood. We learned that our radios only worked a short distance without the repeaters, and that the battery powered emergency lights in the command only lasted around 20 minutes. I do not think anything was done about that (although for a few years after, we had a stash of glow sticks pre-positioned around the commands that were underground.