Blackout: Water crisis
2003-08-15 22:18
Detroit - Michigan and Ohio states struggled to restore power and the water supplies on Friday as electricity cuts disrupted commerce and sent tempers rising.
Detroit remained completely unplugged on Friday with absolutely no power and no prospect of it until Sunday at the earliest, according to officials at the Detroit Edison power company.
Power was only restored to 150 000 of the 2.1 million people who were abruptly disconnected on Thursday. Edison chief executive officer Tony Earley preached patience however.
"Don't panic, we will be getting power back as soon as we can, so just treat it as a summer storm, just quieter than you would normally have," said Earley.
That did not go over well with some frustrated customers.
"How is it they're able to restore the power in New York and we can't get it together here," said Detroit resident Janet Braunstein.
Many major businesses in the city, including the world's number one automaker General Motors Corp, instructed employees to stay home. People formed long lines at gas stations, trying to stock up on essentials like water and gas.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick directed elderly residents of public housing to seek temporary shelter in designated "cooling centers".
Overnight, public officials checked on all 12 000 people living in public housing, and delivered more than 240 000 gallons of water to senior citizens.
Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm declared a state of emergency for five counties in the south-eastern portion of the state, and called in the National Guard to help distribute water supplies to the elderly and the frail.
In Cleveland, in neighbouring Ohio, the mayor Jane Campbell promised power and water supplies would be back to normal by Friday evening.
Nevertheless, she recommended that businesses remain shut because of the blackouts, and she extended an order requiring residents to boil their water through Sunday.
The city has called in members of the Environmental Protection Agency to test the water for bacteria because of the power failure.
Some hospitals were working off bottled water supplies. "We have enough bottled water for a couple of days," said Fred DeGrandis, the Cleveland Clinic Health System chief executive officer, "but we don't know what we're going to do then."
- AFP