Other Disasters Disasters
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and the Canadian province of Ontario on August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m. EDT.
Most places restored power by midnight, some as early as 6 p.m. on August 14. New York subways resumed limited services around 8 p.m. Full power was restored to New York City and Toronto on August 16. At the time, it was the world's second most widespread blackout in history, after the 1999 Southern Brazil blackout. The outage, which was much more widespread than the Northeast blackout of 1965, affected an estimated 10 million people in southern and central Ontario, and 45 million people in eight U.S. states.
The blackout's proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of FirstEnergy, an Akron, Ohio–based company, which rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage. What should have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into the collapse of the entire Northeast region.
Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p.m. on August 14. New York subways resumed limited services around 8 p.m.. By midnight, Albany, New York and parts of Long Island, New York; three‐quarters of New Jersey; parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan; New London County, Connecticut; parts of downtown Toronto, Mississauga, London; portions of western Ottawa including Kanata and south to Kingston; many areas of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Ontario; and parts of Southwestern Ontario, particularly areas near the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, lost power for only 4–8 hours.
By the next morning (August 15), some areas of Manhattan regained power around 05:00, Staten Island regained power around 03:00. Half of the affected portions of Ontario regained power by the morning. By early evening of August 15, two airports, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport, were back in service. By August 16, power was fully restored in New York and Toronto. More details
The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout that affected most of New York City on July 13–14, 1977. The only neighborhoods in the city that were not affected were in southern Queens (including neighborhoods of the Rockaways), which were part of the Long Island Lighting Company system, as well as the Pratt Institute campus in Brooklyn, as well as some other large apartment and commercial complexes that operated their own historic power generators.
Unlike other blackouts that affected the region, namely the Northeast blackouts of 1965 and 2003, the 1977 blackout was confined to New York City and its immediate surrounding areas. Also, in contrast to the 1965 and 2003 blackouts, the 1977 blackout resulted in citywide looting and other acts of criminal activity, including arson. More details
Most places restored power by midnight, some as early as 6 p.m. on August 14. New York subways resumed limited services around 8 p.m. Full power was restored to New York City and Toronto on August 16. At the time, it was the world's second most widespread blackout in history, after the 1999 Southern Brazil blackout. The outage, which was much more widespread than the Northeast blackout of 1965, affected an estimated 10 million people in southern and central Ontario, and 45 million people in eight U.S. states.The blackout's proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of FirstEnergy, an Akron, Ohio–based company, which rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage. What should have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into the collapse of the entire Northeast region.
Most places restored power by midnight, as early as 6 p.m. on August 14. New York subways resumed limited services around 8 p.m.. By midnight, Albany, New York and parts of Long Island, New York; three‐quarters of New Jersey; parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan; New London County, Connecticut; parts of downtown Toronto, Mississauga, London; portions of western Ottawa including Kanata and south to Kingston; many areas of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Ontario; and parts of Southwestern Ontario, particularly areas near the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, lost power for only 4–8 hours.
By the next morning (August 15), some areas of Manhattan regained power around 05:00, Staten Island regained power around 03:00. Half of the affected portions of Ontario regained power by the morning. By early evening of August 15, two airports, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport, were back in service. By August 16, power was fully restored in New York and Toronto. More details
Unlike other blackouts that affected the region, namely the Northeast blackouts of 1965 and 2003, the 1977 blackout was confined to New York City and its immediate surrounding areas. Also, in contrast to the 1965 and 2003 blackouts, the 1977 blackout resulted in citywide looting and other acts of criminal activity, including arson. More details
