NY power starting back up
15/08/2003 01:20  - (SA)  

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Blackout halts business 'No evidence' of terror NY crippled, panicked by power cuts Power cut: Nuclear plants closed 'Unexplained' blackout in US, Canada Power cuts hit US, Canada

New York - There is no evidence that terrorism was to blame for a massive power outage that hit millions across the northeastern United States and Canada, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday.

Bloomberg also said that power was starting to be restored to New York City, and that he hoped it would be business as usual by Friday.

Bloomberg also noted that so far there were no reports of injuries, as people evacuated skyscrapers and subway trains.

"The first thing that everybody should do is to understand that there is no evidence of any terrorism whatsoever," Bloomberg said at a press conference here.

"For some reason or other, there was a power failure in northern New York or southern Canada. That cascaded down through the system and affected the power grid as far east as Connecticut, as far south as New Jersey and as far west as Ohio," he said.

Hours, not minutes

"Power is starting to come back from the north and from the west.

"What that means is that we will be starting up power in the city.

"It will take a decent amount of time, hours, not minutes, and nobody really can be any more specific than that," he said.

Bloomberg asked New Yorkers to turn off electrical appliances, in order to reduce demand when power was restored.

He said that emergency services were all working normally, and that there were no fires or criminal activity reported in the city.

New Yorkers pull together

New York city power plants shut down as soon as they lost power from outside the city, to protect their local grid, he said.

And Bloomberg paid tribute to New Yorkers and the way they had handled the incident - for many feared there had been an attack similar to the September 11, 2001 terror strikes.

"There's nobody that's a bigger fan of New Yorkers than I am, and I think you're seeing the very best of the best," Bloomberg said.

"When the going gets tough, New Yorkers pull together. They are very proud people. They are people who understand that we live in a very complex world together."

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