The (Big) Blackout Of 2003

[m]

I was reading with the fan on when the fan started to feather, then it stopped, and a moment later started up again. Then it went out and so did the power. I thought it was just a glitch or someone hit a powerpole. But then the water pressure was very low. Okay, they're working on a blown water main and they had to cut the power. My first thought was terrorism, from our friends of all things modern and those purveyors of reason and modern thought, al-Queda!

Much to my surprise the reports came in from the neighbors that this was not just the neighborhood but included several states. My parents invited me to thier house where they had an electric generator and I spent the night there.

Of course what's an event like that without all the blaming and finger pointing? The first thought was somewhere in Ontario,Canada, even though it had started in Ohio. Three transmission line had failed, one had sagged into a tree. This caused a short, which triggered a voltage flux (so far as we know) and that brought down a transformer station. The alarm that was supposed to detect this type of trouble had failed.

The biggest problem is the power grid where several states and parts of Canada are connected by a single power grid, and it's old. New houses are being built daily and with the hot weather we've had the last five years, I'm surprised the system hasn't collapsed on smaller scales but more often, because of the demands on it.

But it was kind of fun, I saw stars I haven't seen in awhile because there was no light pollution. The weird part was the darkness and how few drivers were on the road with no traffic light working. We had no water pressure, so I had to take a shower before I went to work, by filling up jugs of water. Done it before on mission trips. Go survivalist me! And when I came to work, it was closed, just as I figured. Not much fun though, because the movies weren't running, the resturants were closed and the stores had no power. B-o-r-i-n-g.

So where were you the day the power went out, and what did you do? For us, the power came back on 27 hours later. Makes me wonder if we're really blessed or really spoiled.

[ThaIceLady]

Man it must have been hectic for those people.

I'm on the east coast also and last night we had this big thunder/lighting storm, and the power went out and I was typing on my computer when it happened. I was thinking "holy crap it's coming for us now!!!" ahahahah but then in like 4 seconds the power came back on.

Whoo let me tell you if I had lived up in New York, Michigan, Canada, or Ohio and had to be there when the power went out I would be so freaked out ahaha.

On this radio station DC 101, the DJ was talking to this guy from NY about what happened. The guy was joking around saying "yea New York has all the excitement" something like that. Then he said "it's all about NY!! whoo"
Then they were joking around saying "Imagine how the people in Los Angeles would have reacted if it happened to them.

Hey Toxic, I bet it was weird for everything to have shut down. All the businesses and shops closed, no usual entertainment.

"Makes me wonder if we're really blessed or really spoiled." So true, so true!

[80s Child]

^^Just for the record, it wasn't ALL of Canada who was blacked out. It was only Southern Ontario really. Where I live was completely unaffected.

[m]

Hey Toxic, I bet it was weird for everything to have shut down. All the businesses and shops closed, no usual entertainment.

Yeah it was, it had almost a post-nuclear feel to it. The traffic lights were out too, but no accidents were reported. So the roads and intersections were really dark.

[Dave Herald]

I was in the bathroom when the power went out. Drying my hair, for those of you thinking otherwise.

My initial thought was that the light simply blew, so I thought I'd get another bulb and all would be fine, but when I stepped into my room, I noticed that nothing was on, and that's when I realized the power was out completely.

It was around a little after 4:00 by that time, and I thought it was just my apartment. I would have gone outside and talked to my neighbors, but quite frankly, I don't know them all that well and would sooner just avoid them.

So I sat and literally did nothing for the next three hours until my boyfriend came home and told me what had happened. Then the two of us sat around some more and talked. (It sounds so stupid when I say that, but really, that's what we did. Without TV, a stereo or computer, there's not a whole lot to do. Not to mention it was dark..).

But I guess we lucked out, because our power came back on around 8:00 that same night, so we were only without it for about four hours total, and our water pressure wasn't affected at all, which was good. Although our cable didn't come back on until around 10:00.

I'm just glad that I wasn't stuck at the airport or in the subway like so many others were. If I had to be anywhere during the blackout, I'm glad it was my own home, even if it was hotter than sin and boring.

[m]

Our power came on like 27 hours later, and until yesterday we were under a boil water advisory.

[canadiana]

I didn't even realize the blackout was even a big deal until I got back home. When it actually happened, I was a little up north (I'm from Ontario) on a retreat with my church ... and we didn't even realize we had no power until we came back into the room after being all sweaty from the outdoor activities and realizing that the air conditioning wasn't working.

Unfortunately, the place we were staying in relied on septic tanks for water ... therefore you need power to use the water. So we had no access to water. We weren't even able to flush toilets! It was quite an experience, especially for someone like me who usually refuses to go in a toilet that already has stuff in it.

But yeah, I didn't even begin to think of people stuck in elevators or the hospitals that need power or the elderly in their apartments that couldn't climb the stairs and had no water ... I only began to realize how big this thing was when we headed back home and we listened to the radio in the car.

It is cool to hear a lot of people's stories though ... how people worked together, directing traffic, and how people went star-gazing.

This whole incident made me realize how blessed we are to be able to have access to water, air conditioning and electricity when most of the world doesn't. It's so bad to know how dependent we are on it ....