Power Outages

[Chet]

CNN reporting outages across the east coast - NTC, Detroit, Cleveland.

Sounds too odd to be coincidence.

 

[nerudite]

From the CBC:
Power disaster hits North America
Last Updated Thu, 14 Aug 2003 16:37:32
TORONTO - A power outage such as North American hasn't seen in almost 40 years has crippled huge areas of Canada and the United States. Industry, government and transportation have ground to a complete halt. There's no clear explanation why the power is out.

So far it isn't clear just how extensive the outage is - but reports of power cuts have been reported all the way from Chicago to New York and from Ottawa to Washington.

The disaster struck just after 4:15 p.m. ET and with the afternoon rush hour about to hit, it looks as if traffic gridlock is about to hit every major urban centre including, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Chicago and Detroit.

 

[jordanb]

Wow. I've not noticed any problems here.

At least the trains are still running and my office has power.

 

[Cardinal]

Tranplanner, you there? Plannergirl? ts corbitt? Fill us in.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Tranplanner, you there? Plannergirl? ts corbitt? Fill us in.

Chi, NW burbs still here.

Givning me the creeps. Asking for feedback sounds like asking for a sitrep of battle damage when you know someone is not there any more you just don't know who is gone.

 

[Repo Man]

They are saying it is a massive grid overload in one of the major power systems.

 

[Chet]

It seems so bizarre to have an overload this big in only 90 degree heat.

This sounds like the plot to Trigger Effect which was written and directed by a guy I went to high school with.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

We need to start a survivalist thread

We could share nuggets of information like which wild plants are edible and which aren't

 

[Chet]

Yeah Duke, and which street in NYC might possibly be safe tonight. Scary stuff, especially if your stuck in a subway car under the Hudson River.

 

[PlannerGirl]

all if fine here

jsut talked to someone with the homeland security nazis and its NOT terrorists its the summer and its hot, more users every year and this year BAM we finaly got a hot day

someting in NY failed im told

ill keep ya updated as my contact gives me more

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Scary stuff, especially if your stuck in a subway car under the Hudson River.

Now that you mention those things, VERY

It looks like not even or just barley in the 90's out east. That seems hardly like it should have taxed the system that much?

 

[PlannerGirl]

well it does not take much to stress an old and already overworked system and the way the grid that failed is when one part goes down it overloads the rest and its like fuses going in a fuse box (pop pop pop) they will have to slowly pull each section back online once there are less users so it does not trip the triggers again.

dont ask why i know this crap, i read too damn much

 

[BKM]

I guess this illustrates the danger of over-centralization of anything.

 

[JNL]

fine here

Good to hear you're okay.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

The blackout, which briefly knocked television networks off the air, sent thousands of New Yorkers streaming into the streets.

Fires are burning in the Bronx and Brooklyn, according to MSNBC.

there was no train or subway service in the city. Thousands of people were believed to be stuck in stopped subway cars with no air conditioning.

thousands also are stuck in elevators in city high-rise buildings. Outside, traffic lights are out, stalling traffic, and pedestrians are filling the roadways.

WNBC reported reported all major airports are blacked out. ABC News said planes are allowed to land but not take off.




WOW

 

[PlannerGirl]

Yup and i like it hot so save for my furry kids id be fine

 

[nerudite]

Yup and i like it hot so save for my furry kids id be fine

Yeah, but traffic will probably be a lot worse than usual... be careful getting home.

 

[michaelskis]

So, I am at the gym, watching this power outage thing on the TV while I was on the Treadmill, and the lights go out.. I was like SHIT... then realized the treadmill did not stop. The staff shut off the lights to play a joke on us.

Reading as power, so I guess that Philly does too.

 

[Cardinal]

We need to start a survivalist thread

We could share nuggets of information like which wild plants are edible and which aren't

FM21-76, Survival. The only field manual I kept from my Army days. I have plenty of canned food as well as dried food that I take camping - at least enough for a month. The biggest issue would be water, although if I can find it I do have a filter and some iodine tablets. Add a good first aid supply, tools, guns, camping/backpacking equipment, reading materials, and know-how, and I think I'll do alright when that day comes.

 

[nerudite]

Okay everyone... remember, when it hits the fan, we all meet at Mikey-poo's house.

 

[Mastiff]

Yup and i like it hot so save for my furry kids id be fine

I will NOT say anything about batteries...
I will NOT say anything about batteries...
I will NOT say anything about batteries...

 

[Dan]

My folks in Buffalo say that they've got power, but that it's hit-or-miss throughout the rest of the area. Most of my relatives back in WNY are dark.

It's 85 degrees (30 C) in Buffalo. This is considered extremely hot for the area; people complain like Brits when it's in the 80s for too long. I'm glad my parents have power.

Cyburbia's server is in Denver, and controlled from BC. We should be fine here.

 

[JNA]

waiting to hear from family in New Jersey.
Sis lives & works in Manhattan.
Brother was in a meeting in Lower New York State was expecting to make it out to family in NJ.
Family was planning to fly out friday afternoon.
will have some good stories later on...

 

[PlannerGirl]

just got a call from a friend in West Islip NY and they are dark also dark in the Hamptons.

 

[Cardinal]

Okay everyone... remember, when it hits the fan, we all meet at Mikey-poo's house.

Bring beer.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

Okay everyone... remember, when it hits the fan, we all meet at Mikey-poo's house.

I believe that's "Cardinal Mikey-Poo" now. Thank goodness I'm in FL. It gets hotter than hell here and the power never goes off unless we're hit by lightning.

 

[SW MI Planner]

Majority of lower MI (south of I-94) went out including us. We are back on only because we had diesel powered generators, but were still out for 4 hours. Plus, from what I heard, they are shutting us back down at some point to conserve since the generators can't power the entire City. But I also heard that there was a fire at a power plant in New York and that is why the electricity went out, so who knows.

Let me tell you, now is not the time to have a city owned utility - we had like 10 people answering phones that were ringing off the hook wanting to know why their electricity went out.

 

[Richmond Jake]

Bring beer.

'nuff said....uuummm, beer

 

[biscuit]

Bring Beer

How will we keep it cold with the power out?

 

[Cardinal]

How will we keep it cold with the power out?

Here's a couple ideas:

1. Make it Guinness and drink it at room temperature.

2. Keep it in the springhouse or cellar.

The more important question is what to do when the beer runs out. Maybe we should be planning to descend on El Guapo and his home brewery.

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

How will we keep it cold with the power out?

Dig a 4 foot pit and place the beer in the ground. Cover withe a false hatch using the sod or dirt for a cover. Remove only the beer you need each morning to get drunk during daylight hours. Beer should keep at the perfect tempurature for drinking, basement floor tempurature.

It works great when we use it on our trips to the canadian outback

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Here's a couple ideas:

1. Make it Guinness and drink it at room temperature.

2. Keep it in the springhouse or cellar.

The more important question is what to do when the beer runs out. Maybe we should be planning to descend on El Guapo and his home brewery.

we save the yeast off the bottome of each bottle (preferably ale), using any kind of grain preferably, and anything else with sugar in a pinch, we can produce MASSIVE vats of alcaholic beverages every 48 hours. Hops occurs wild in every state and province in the US & Canada. Some types of tree bark can be used to substitute

Might not be the best tasting, but it will keep us drunk

IN a month and some engineering we could sell product for trade and profit

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

FM21-76, Survival. The only field manual I kept from my Army days. I have plenty of canned food as well as dried food that I take camping - at least enough for a month. The biggest issue would be water, although if I can find it I do have a filter and some iodine tablets. Add a good first aid supply, tools, guns, camping/backpacking equipment, reading materials, and know-how, and I think I'll do alright when that day comes.

I have 2 that matter, Edible Plants of North America, and FM 8-9 NATO Handbook On The Medical Aspects Of NBC Defensive Operations. Been reading up since 9-11, just in case

Also, as long as I can find a stand of cat tails, I will NEVER starve

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Here is a fun thought, just think what this kind of situation may have caused if the SARS epidemic had gotten a Toronto sized foothold in NY when the power went out! All those people close together in the streets?

 

[NHPlanner]

Latest rumor I've heard is that the worm (virus) that's been hitting windows 2K machines might be to blame.

 

[Downtown]

We were out for about 5 hours in Albany. It wasn't bad until it got dark and then Rob was bored, so I had to put my book down and entertain him. sigh.

 

[NHPlanner]

We were out for about 5 hours in Albany. It wasn't bad until it got dark and then Rob was bored, so I had to put my book down and entertain him. sigh.

Wow....you really left yourself open on that one downtown.....I'll refrain from taking the easy shot.

 

[PlannerGirl]

hehe good one Downtown ;-)

wonder if in 9 months their will be a baby boom of sorts

 

[Mud Princess]

We had friends visiting from out of town, so we sat out on the screened-in porch in the dark. It was kind of fun, actually.

Still had beer (& fruit pops) in the fridge... the important stuff.

At one point I noticed my neighbor's porch light was on, and realized the power was back. We decided not to turn on a light, and sat in the darkness listening to the crickets.

When the power went out Thursday, I was at work, printing out a report I had planned to put in the mail. I had only 4 pages to go! Oh well, guess that's what I'll finish today.

 

[martini]

It was really quite entertaining to watch the news coverage last night. If you've EVER dreamt of what a pedestrian society would look like(albeit a crowded one), this was prime example numero uno. Every one was calm and moving along at a good pace. No fear was seen, no pillaging. From what I've heard, there's been very little crime. Maybe a local can update us on that? From a pedestrian advocate level, I LOVED it. Of course if it wasn't such an innocuous problem, this might not have been as much 'fun' for me to watch.

 

[RoadRunner]

Still had beer (& fruit pops) in the fridge... the important stuff.

it pains me to think of the great mass-skunking of '03. the loss of beer last night must have been unbearable...no refrigeration? [shudder...]

 

[Cardinal]

When the power went out Thursday, I was at work, printing out a report I had planned to put in the mail. I had only 4 pages to go! Oh well, guess that's what I'll finish today.

I have a battery back-up that is supposed to keep my computer running for two hours. It has kicked in when the power has gone down in the past. I suppose after that I would need to switch to the laptop, but then would not have the printer or other accessories. Losing the phone lines would be the worst - no Cyburbia!

 

[Downtown]

Wow....you really left yourself open on that one downtown.....I'll refrain from taking the easy shot.

that's ok. i figured the power outage was a good excuse to give rob one last big hurrah before i institute the hanky panky hiatus. It's requiring too much effort to be creative enough to satisfactorily work around this giant belly. and I still have three months to go. poor rob.

but we also did play scrabble.

 

[Tom R]

power

Our power here just went off for about 3 seconds. Driving home to Akron was kinda weird. One street light would work, the next one would be black etc. I vowed if the Firehouse (a sports bar near my house) had power I'd stop it was and I did. A couple of 24 oz Honey Brown drafts and some jalapeno poppers and all was right with the world.

 

[IPlan]

Well, here in my section of Ontario, we where out from about 4:15 pm Thursday, to 3:00 am Friday morning.

I went into work Friday, and we worked without air conditioning and limited lights to help conserve. But we shut down at 2:30 becuase of rotating blackouts.

Planning Benefit
No power, everybody was outside walking around talking to neighbours, kids playing out on the street. A blackout accomplished in hours what we would all see as the perfect community!

 

[Tranplanner]

I had a nice 2 and a half hour walk to my brothers place, and a half hour drive from there to get home. At least I didnt get stuck on the 19th floor at work - the firefighters elevator was still working. Dont tell MikeD we used it...

Friday morning we still didnt have power, and the radio said that City Hall would be shut down so we just loaded up the car and headed out of town to start our vacation a day early. Took half an hour to line up for gas, and after that we were on our way.

Apparently City Hall is still shut down today so Im not sure if Im on vacation right now or not.

btw sorry for the no apostrophes thing -Im on a french keyboard and I cant figure out where they are.