Bizarro Posted August 14, 2003 #1 Share Posted August 14, 2003 wow! i feel sorry for my family in Detroit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aslan Posted August 14, 2003 #2 Share Posted August 14, 2003 Forgive my ignorance. Why ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dust19 Posted August 14, 2003 #3 Share Posted August 14, 2003 Dangit!! I thought I'd get this story posted first! hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dust19 Posted August 14, 2003 #4 Share Posted August 14, 2003 Forgive my ignorance. Why ? Because their son is Damion Schwartze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarro Posted August 14, 2003 Author #5 Share Posted August 14, 2003 all the power is out, Aslan. a lot of the northeast US is out of power. people are wandering the streets in NYC. its a real mess. http://www.cnn.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pale_Horse Posted August 14, 2003 #6 Share Posted August 14, 2003 I was reading that people were trapped in the NY subway cars. God, can you image the uncomfortable heat they are encountering! I hope no one gets injured in all of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarro Posted August 14, 2003 Author #7 Share Posted August 14, 2003 could it be unexplained related? check out this page talking about the 1965 blackout and UFOs: http://www.chez.com/lesovnis/htm/blackout65.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snuffypuffer Posted August 15, 2003 #8 Share Posted August 15, 2003 that has got to suck. But in a way, I'm proud, as I've heard no reports of looting as of yet. See, we can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjo Koolzooie Posted August 15, 2003 #9 Share Posted August 15, 2003 I heard on the news there has been some looting actually. I can not remember what part it was in though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel_gal Posted August 15, 2003 #10 Share Posted August 15, 2003 I was part of that stupid power outage thing cause I live in southern Canada in Ontario and I still wonder what caused the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aslan Posted August 15, 2003 #11 Share Posted August 15, 2003 Yes, I saw this on CNN today. It looks very grim, and my heart goes out to all those poor people who had to sleep in the streets of New York. But I completely fail to understand how this chaos ensued. I mean, has eastern America never had a blackout before ? I regularly go without electricity for six or seven hours at a time, and for a wonderful four days in '97 had no running water and electricity that only came on for about an hour or so at a time. I've sat on the floor in the pitch black in supermarkets for over an hour before, waiting for the electricity to come back on, and I've been stuck in God knows how many lifts because of the same problem. I'm not trying to detract from the suffering of the people of the eastern US, who quite patently had, and are having, a very rough time, but a reliable electrical grid must be, in worldwide terms, the exception rather than the rule. You would think that America, of all places, would have have all it sorted out. What I mean is that the authorities were taken completely by surprise - they obviously didn't conceive of anything like this happening. I mean, were there no generators anywhere ? That aside, I thought the people of NY coped admirably: I was particularly impressed to see people directing traffic; and the drivers accepting direction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy Posted August 16, 2003 #12 Share Posted August 16, 2003 By the time anyone checks this LINK, more than likely the stats will have changed, but this will give some idea of an update re New York: http://www.wnbc.com/news/2407382/detail.ht...&tml=&tmi=&ts=H Aslan, thank you for your kind words regarding the behavior of those in New York. There was some VERY minor looting in Brooklyn, NY and more involved looting in various cities in Canada. Overall, humans behaved civilized, considering the intense heat and horrendous circumstances. How did this happen? So far, the EXACT reason, origin and specifics have not been revealed, the investigation is ongoing. I personally feel most, if not a large portion of Americans are just as stunned, Aslan. There were two other major power outages in Northeast, USA.... One in 1965 and the other, more serious, 1977. Water systems in Ohio, Michigan are in deep trouble, subways in NY still inoperative. 10 million people WALKED off the island of Manhattan...... Millions slept in the streets without food, water........ bathroom facilities........ Currently, Canada and the US are 'debating' the root cause and "blaming" each other for this hell. Needless to say, that solves zip........ The major News outlets and hospitals, plus First Response teams did have generators. It is my personal opinion that the Mayor of NYC leaves much to be desired. A "minor inconvenience" is absurd! Aslan, you are 100% correct. This is 2003, NOT 1903. One would normally conclude that as a species, we would have had the forethought to prevent as best as possible, events such as yesterday. Deregulation of Power Companies, lack of Leadership, Congress sitting on their butts, failure to modernize the "grid" system, lack of escape routes.... the list is endless. 800 rescues from elevators in NYC ... 350,000 people trapped in the subway system. We are our own worst enemy............ grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarro Posted August 16, 2003 Author #13 Share Posted August 16, 2003 the thing is that nowadays everything is computerized. when the power goes out, things that should continue functioning fail too. everything is interconnected. im sure a lot of those people could deal with a day or so of no electricity, but if this stretches out for awhile, look for serious trouble. i know that during the blizzard of '93 we lost power for well over a week. it was 25 degrees in my bedroom for a long time. it was pure misery. we dealt with it because we lived in a place that was relatively close to nature and could forage for firewood. people downtown froze to death after burning whatever they could find trying to stay warm. you couldn't drive because every road was covered in 2 feet of snow and there are no salt trucks here. we just had to wait for it to melt. in a place like NYC, there aren't enough public restrooms. i can only imagine what all those people did when they had to go. ewww. electricity is one thing, but when water service goes that is really bad. you would think that people could buy soft drinks or something but 1. there is no gas station open to get gas and 2. there is no store open because all the registers are computerized. we've become too dependent on electricity. lots of people have generators but this kind of thing is rare and not everyone buys them. i don't think there would be enough generators to keep society running anyway. we need a more reliable grid system- hopefully one safe from some type of attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaj Posted August 16, 2003 #14 Share Posted August 16, 2003 USA is a big country with wires everywhere, old ones and new ones, mixed. Think it´s pretty tricky to keep the system going.. Must give USA credit for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy Posted August 16, 2003 #15 Share Posted August 16, 2003 Bizarro.......... When you have temperature extremes, in either direction, major problems arise..... I remember the blizzard of which you speak... UGH! Yet? At least extreme cold allows food not to perish as quickly. In all sincerity, I don't think there is ANY "system" immune to attack, not to mention the pourous borders we have here. No doubt the existing system needs to be revamped, we DO need more reliablity and MORE accountability in this Country. As for New York and the lack of gas for vehicles...... Ahem, have you ever driven in NYC? Oy! "Gridlock" not only applies to electrical systems not working. True, computers have taken over the world.... Yet, we have had "electric" cash registers and gas pumps, since Spot was a pup...... even if not computerized, it's a disaster when the lights go out. I also think this points out, that in reality, our vulnerability is NO different than Pre September 11th. Populations continue to rise, we act "after the fact" and the word complacent keeps creeping back into our collective society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarro Posted August 16, 2003 Author #16 Share Posted August 16, 2003 ya, Nancy, i was speaking more about Detroit and the other places affected when i mentioned gas being a problem. i know there is no mass transit of any kind in Detroit and some articles i read mentioned that tow trucks and trucks delivering water were running out of fuel. they are having to truck gas in from the distant parts of the state just to keep water coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukato-San Posted August 18, 2003 #17 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Just wanted to say that it made me very proud how everyone came together to help each other out, and the looting was at an absoulute minimum. Honestly, that gives me a lot of hope for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snuffypuffer Posted August 18, 2003 #18 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Just wanted to say that it made me very proud how everyone came together to help each other out, and the looting was at an absoulute minimum. Honestly, that gives me a lot of hope for the future. yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarro Posted August 19, 2003 Author #19 Share Posted August 19, 2003 http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/b...breaking_5.html terrorists claiming responsibility for the blackout. i don't buy it but you never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintendork Posted August 20, 2003 #20 Share Posted August 20, 2003 so? i live in new jersey and we had it out for more than a day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engulf Posted September 5, 2003 #21 Share Posted September 5, 2003 heard that damn crap group Al-Qaeda plotted it,idiots...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sear Posted May 8, 2013 #22 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Power Outages "Spit Happins" How do you deal with commercial power failures? I live in the forest, inside the Adirondack Park of New York State. My water comes from my own private well. When the commercial power fails, the only water I'll get from the tap is what's in the ~30 gallon pressure tank. For me, the worst case scenario of a power failure is: - Overcast moonless, starless night sky - during a storm - I'm in the shower, lathered head to toe and the power fails. a) That could plunge the bathroom (the house) into darkness. And at my age stumbling around in the dark covered in soap suds groping for a flashlight is not an optimal pursuit. Apart from the obvious, leaving soap residue on skin can cause alkali burns. But I've found there's enough water in the pressure tank that even if the power fails, there's enough water for me to rinse off. I solved the darkness problem by installing an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). It's a batter of Optima Deep Cycle yellow tops, on a charger. Important lights in the house run off it. Those lights are 12 volt LED. So they can be used for hours into a commercial power failure. So even when the commercial power fails, the lights stay on. Also, the radio on my desk runs off the same UPS. So I can listen for broadcast information, if it's a serious problem. Have you taken any steps to deal with commercial power failure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.United_Nations Posted May 8, 2013 #23 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Power Outages "Spit Happins" How do you deal with commercial power failures? I live in the forest, inside the Adirondack Park of New York State. My water comes from my own private well. When the commercial power fails, the only water I'll get from the tap is what's in the ~30 gallon pressure tank. For me, the worst case scenario of a power failure is: - Overcast moonless, starless night sky - during a storm - I'm in the shower, lathered head to toe and the power fails. a) That could plunge the bathroom (the house) into darkness. And at my age stumbling around in the dark covered in soap suds groping for a flashlight is not an optimal pursuit. Apart from the obvious, leaving soap residue on skin can cause alkali burns. But I've found there's enough water in the pressure tank that even if the power fails, there's enough water for me to rinse off. I solved the darkness problem by installing an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). It's a batter of Optima Deep Cycle yellow tops, on a charger. Important lights in the house run off it. Those lights are 12 volt LED. So they can be used for hours into a commercial power failure. So even when the commercial power fails, the lights stay on. Also, the radio on my desk runs off the same UPS. So I can listen for broadcast information, if it's a serious problem. Have you taken any steps to deal with commercial power failure? the starters account is closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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