Blackout Front Line Report!

Boris Godunov · August 14, 2003, 18:15

Hey gang!

Wooo, is it a FUN day here in NYC!

At about 4:15 PM the lights in my office in Midtown started to flicker, and then the computers all started to make some hideous grinding noises. Seconds later, out go the lights, and freakier still, the phones cut out.

Oh, the mayhem that ensued as an office full of people had their computers blip off, losing precious, precious data! The screams of the tormented were loud, I tell you.

Anyway, since cellular reception was nil (a doubly upsetting thing), we basically sat around listening to a barely-calm security guard over the loud speaker yelling at as to "REMAIN CALM! DO NOT PANIC!" He would then mumble curse words to someone while the speaker was still on...

The power came back up briefly for a few minutes, and later on I realized this must have been backup generators to get people out of stuck elevators. I was able to get through on the phone to my folks, but it cut out in mid conversation again. I could just hear my mom going nuts when that happened.

Shortly before 5 PM the building announced that the generator for emergency lights was only good for an hour, so we had to leave. Great. So down the emergency stairs we went. The reminiscence to those images of the WTC stairwells wasn't lost on us, nosirree.

Outside, thousands milled about outside Penn Station, and cars jammed everything, bumper to bumper. A friend I work with who lives near me walked home with me. I didn't see a single cop anywhere, not even a traffic cop. We walked downtown down the middle of Broadway along with hundreds of others. On 23rd street, we witnessed city workers helping people out of an escape hatch from the subway, people who had been stuck in those horrible, hot cars.

I found my roommate outside our apartment, she was terrified. I'm now at my friend's place, who has a laptop and dial-up modem that is working. We have some beer and water. Looks like a fun night ahead...

Cheers!

Japher · August 14, 2003, 18:18

good to hear you are doing alright... better drink those beers before they get warm!

Asher · August 14, 2003, 18:21

Damn easterners can't do anything right.

SlowwHand · August 14, 2003, 18:38

Watch out for the predators, come nightfall.

Sava · August 14, 2003, 18:44

good to hear you are okay Boris...

keep us updated if you can...

on a side note, I wonder if this outage and the general failure of the power grid can be attributed to de-regulation. NY mayor Bloomberg made a point of mentioning "the failure in our de-regulated power network" when explaining how ComEd isn't the only power provider.

reds4ever · August 14, 2003, 18:47

probally just some frustrated millitant inner city ghetto-type astronomy club trying to get some dark skies

mrmitchell · August 14, 2003, 18:49

@ reds

Nice frontline report Boris

Don't waste the batteries on that laptop though

The Emperor Fabulous · August 14, 2003, 18:56

Wow...that's crazy...All the way from Ottawa in the north to Detroit in the west to Vermont in the east to New Jersey in the south

It started in Canada, they say...figures...

notyoueither · August 14, 2003, 19:17

Blame Canada!

Dr Strangelove · August 14, 2003, 19:29

Millions of American muslims turned on their air-conditioners, stereos, computers and TVs all at the same time, overloading the system. Let's see Homeland Security do something about that!

Peter Triggs · August 14, 2003, 19:32

And start eating Canadian beef again.

Tuberski · August 14, 2003, 19:32

I believe it was called:

Operation DAMN IT'S HOT!!!!

:d

ACK!

VetLegion · August 14, 2003, 19:35

Terrible news. What do you think this will result in?

Also, why are they sending 40 000 policemen to the New York City? Were there some riots the last time this happened?

notyoueither · August 14, 2003, 19:37

Do fish **** in the woods?

MrFun · August 14, 2003, 20:16

Boris -- glad to see you're not only doing well, but making a party out of it too!

Imran Siddiqui · August 14, 2003, 20:24

Interesting...

CNN is now reporting that they believe the problem started with a LIGHTNING STRIKE at the Niagra Falls power plant, and after that one went offline it set off the chain reaction.

:) Smiley · August 14, 2003, 21:06

I'm in central NJ and the juice has been on the whole time in most of central NJ. Did get a power surge at 4:15 when all the power in the grid got dumped into our district.

Odin · August 14, 2003, 21:37

Quote:

Originally posted by

Smiley
Did get a power surge at 4:15 when all the power in the grid got dumped into our district.

Dumped.

Boris Godunov · August 15, 2003, 19:59

Well, the power's back in my neighborhood, finally. Came on about 1/2 hour ago. That made over 27 hours without it.

It actually came back up briefly at 1 PM, but there was a fire at the 14th street power station and it got shut off almost right away.

I spent last night with my roommate Caroline at a friend's place nearby. We managed to watch half of a DVD on the laptop before the battery cut out. How dumb was that? We had figured the power would be back any minute...

When we realized it was going to be a while, Caroline and I trekked back to our insanely dark apartment. A rather large moth had found his way into it, and in the candle light, it fluttering around freaked the hell out of Caroline. Killing it in the near-dark wasn't easy, but hey...a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

After that we decided to go to Union Square and hang out for a bit with the hippies. Kinda fun, actually. Very communal.

Today, we went up to the UWS, which had power back by 4 AM, and hung out at a bar where Dan, my other roommate and Caroline's bf, works. He hooked us up with free food and beer. Ain't that sweet?

So, now to clean out the refrigerator...

This is the last thing NYC needed, considering our already disasterous budget woes. The cost of this fiasco is not something we need to bear.

GePap · August 15, 2003, 20:03

For once the Bronx and northern manhattan got something before folks further south!
Take that you midtown losers! (or downtown, wherever)

(maybe cosmic payback for the bakcout of 99? Nah..)

Boris Godunov · August 15, 2003, 20:06

UWS came on at 4 AM. That's where all the money is.

SlowwHand · August 15, 2003, 20:07

Boris on a moth hunt.

Sava · August 15, 2003, 20:08

moths are ****ing ferocious!

GePap · August 15, 2003, 20:10

Quote:

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
UWS came on at 4 AM. That's where all the money is.

Yeah, but the Bronx got power back (well, parts of the south Bronx) by 10pm yesterday. I could see the lights in the distance. Interestingly enough, the moon yesterday was red, and you could see a fair number of stars.

Sava · August 15, 2003, 20:12

Quote:

the moon yesterday was red,

was that Mars maybe? I heard it was going to be big because it's passing its closest in 55,000 years.

Spiffor · August 15, 2003, 20:12

Are you people afraid of butterflies

?

Pekka · August 15, 2003, 20:14

I'm afraid of spiders and snakes... but moths???

GePap · August 15, 2003, 20:17

Unless Mars is so close it is within 250,000 miles of the earth, no, it was the moon.

Pekka · August 15, 2003, 20:19

What a perfect manly moment to show off and be rescuer for a lady, and then a gay guy gets to do it. What a waste

Dom Pedro II · August 15, 2003, 20:27

I found a huge moth last night... but I didn't kill it. I put a glass over it and then let it outside.

I didn't do it for humanitarian reasons, I did it because do you have any idea how gross that would be to squash that little bat with antennas??