New York: State of emergency declared

2003-08-15 01:01

New York - A major power outage simultaneously struck dozens of cities in the United States and Canada late on Thursday afternoon, CNN reported.

Cities affected include New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. The power outage occurred shortly after 16:00. Officials said the outage does not appear to be related to terrorism.

By 18:00 the power was being restored in parts of the affected area, starting with the northern and western edges, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference.

He said it was unknown how long the outage may last but did say it would be "hours not minutes".

The New York Stock Exchange announced plans to open on schedule on Friday, using emergency power.

40 000 police officers deployed

Bloomberg mobilised 40 000 police officers and the entire fire department overnight to maintain order. As of late afternoon there had been no reports of looting or other disturbances.

New York Governor George Pataki declared a state of emergency for the state and deployed additional state police.

State officials said the outage was likely a natural occurrence. They said the Niagara-Mohawk power grid, which provides power for New York and stretches into Canada, was overloaded.

Bloomberg said there was "absolutely no indication" of terrorism.

Black smoke coming from a power station on East 14th Street was a natural reaction to the power company shutting down its boilers, Bloomberg said.

"No damage was done to the Con Ed facilities," Bloomberg told CNN.

A statement from the Department of Homeland Security said, "The department is working with state and local officials an the energy sector to determine the cause of the outage and what response may need to be taken."

'Cascading blackout'

Bryan Lee, a spokesperson for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said based on preliminary information it appears that a "cascading blackout" has destabilised the power grid as far north as Canada and as far west as Detroit and Cleveland.

FERC and the Department of Energy were monitoring the situation and evaluating the problem, Lee said.

Frank McCarton, deputy commissioner for the Office of Emergency Management, said the blackout may have originated in Canada. "We understand that, from Con Ed, that we had a power surge and a dip and a failure that originated in Ontario," McCarton said.

A pedestrian directs traffic at a downtown Toronto intersection during a power outage.

At least 1.5 million people in central and northern New Jersey were without power late Thursday and there was no train service for homebound commuters.

Airports

Emergency officials were trying to expedite transport of commuters from New York City by ferry across the Hudson River. Traffic signals were rendered inoperable, and emergency officials urged motorists to stay off the roads.

Much of Midtown Manhattan and Wall Street was shut down. All area airports and the Long Island Railroad were also affected.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded planes at all three New York area airports and in Cleveland because the blackout affected security screening facilities. The FAA reported planes also were grounded at the Toronto airport. The airports were operating on backup power, officials said.

The New York City Police Department said a number of people were trapped in elevators. Thousands of people could be seen leaving buildings and walking into the streets. New York subways were reported stopped and people were trapped in the cars.

Transit workers escort riders off of a subway car on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during a power outage.

Walk home

"We are going to have a situation where people are going to have to walk a long distance. They need to be careful," Bloomberg said. "Our advice is to go home, open up your windows, drink a lot of liquids."

In Washington, a White House official said information about the situation was being relayed to President Bush, who was in California.

The last big blackout in the United States took place almost exactly seven years ago, August 11, 1996, when some 4 million customers in nine Western states and parts of Mexico lost power for as long as 10 hours.

In 1977, a blackout left some 9 million people in New York City without power for up to 25 hours.

- News24