Blackout: The Power Outage That Left 50 Million W/o Electricity | Retro Report | The New York Times

Retro Report: In 2003, a blackout crippled areas of the U.S. and Canada, leaving some 50 million people in the dark. Ten years later, we are still grappling with concerns over the vulnerability of the power grid.
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Blackout: The Power Outage That Left 50 Million W/o Electricity | Retro Report | The New York Times
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[@AdhamOhm]

Because of this blackout I met almost all of my neighbors in the apartment building I was living in at the time. About 20 of us got together on the roof and started grilling whatever meat and other food we had in our fridges that we couldn't save. Then we spent the rest of the night drinking beers, chatting and watching the stars. I admit it's kind of sad that it took a blackout to get me to socialize with my neighbors.

[@AllDimensionEclipses]

That is awesome

[@1400-h3b]

Adam Ohm sounds so fun yet not really i feel bad for yall😢 i was born 1 year after

[@abbycollins]

Why not the ground?

[@daniel.n460]

Abby Collins ya have a barbecue in the middle of the street.Welcome to New York

[@Putaspellonyou]

Heard something similar from a good friend who lived in NYC. He said they barbecued on the roof all night and caught whatever breeze they could.

[@pacificfrontier3566]

the Mayor of Toronto is savage!!! LMAO What a come back

[@spicechica93]

Righttt, I don’t care that I was born in America. So true , some are too dumbly proud sadly 😣

[@SomethingSomethingg]

Diana Morel Look at our President! Has he ever genuinely apologized or taken responsibility for any mistake he’s ever made? I think the USA is so convinced that it’s the greatest country on Earth that when we make mistakes it HAS to be someone else’s fault because we’re perfect.

[@erika7366]

Abshir Ali j

[@Hadra568]

Mel Lastman had zero chill

[@dirkturrell6460]

He was a good mayor I must say!

[@Shelver92]

Gotta go to da bathroom and can't even go nowhere

[@AnthonyTotheRescue]

hahaha came here for this

[@qppirwuu795]

😱😢😢😭😵

[@antz350]

lost it

[@jschackmann2]

Just do it on a tree

[@MrSpruce]

Darryl your emojis gave me cancer.

[@Zoheb89]

This seems like something Homer Simpson would do.

[@dubman2965]

He did

[@eliteshots7389]

z Ali Your funny ha ha ha

[@trainzguy2472]

D'OH!

[@madc2004]

Steve bartman did it

[@taragragg400]

The mayor didn't know water was involved in electric grids????

[@ElectoneGuy]

Step 1: Blame the Canadians. Oh, it wasn't the Canadians? Step 2: Blame Cleveland.

[@vytautasbalkus8843]

WAIT! Blame Raymond

[@raymondperkins2955]

Vytautas Balkus why blame me

[@raymondperkins2955]

Raymond Perkins i was just a baby

[@vytautasbalkus8843]

not you, Kenney was his last name

[@abbycollins]

Raymond Perkins I wasn't even born until 1 year later!

[@reasonable370]

Huh. Didn't even know Canada's power grid was connected to ours.

[@faithrada]

Oh yes... we buy and sell power back and forth all the time.

[@robertsitch1415]

Reasonable Back then Ontario was a net importer of electricity that mostly came from interconnections with Quebec, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York. That explains why Southern and Eastern Ontario were affected. Of course now the province's energy companies rehabilitated the reactors that were not operating at that time and built more new generation than necessary. On top of average demand for electricity being several thousand megawatts lower during the recession and still today due to deindustiralization and conservation measures.

[@AdhamOhm]

Our phone systems are connected too, creating the big happy family that is known as the North American Numbering Plan. That's why calling to Canada doesn't cost extra on most phone services.

[@marcvanderwee]

The infamous Northeast blackout of November 9, 1965 affected parts of Canada too. The blackout of July 13, 1977 'only' affected New York City and surroundings.

[@jakethreesixty]

There's a hydroelectric dam in my town that supplies Montreal, despite being about 200 miles from the border.

[@dennisn1672]

Good thing it wasn't winter. Pipes would have broke and no heating + everything that happend with the transportation grid. Could have been a lot worse.

[@tomking1890]

Would not have happened during the winter. The electrical demand would not have been as high, and the lines would not have heat sagged.

[@MarCeyG]

Furnaces run on gas

[@randomvideosn0where]

It depends, there are a lot of houses that use electric heat plus space heaters that are electric, more lighting because less sunlight, more cooking to make the house warm on electric stoves, there is a lot of electricity use in winter too.

[@shalala4571]

tom king Electrical demands are way higher in the winters but ok

[@JA238979]

@@MarCeyG Unless you provide alternative ventilation for carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, you will need an electric fan as part of a gas heating system. If I lived in a cold region, I would keep extra propane and at least a small propane or natural gas heater on hand in case of emergency. There are even some that are certified for indoor use, but you have to follow safety protocol. In countries without the luxury of electricity during winter, heavy blankets and additional layers of clothing are very important.

[@TheImpiroGirl]

3:24 Toronto mayor is savage but God it's so true

[@SuperCoalBlox]

TheImpiroGirl right lmao

[@baruchben-david4196]

Yep. Great comeback.

[@creativelycrazy6869]

It was so funny , but honestly though.

[@ColeTrainPhenomenalcrew]

TheImpiroGirl right lmao

[@Latabrine]

👌That was awesome!

[@GhettoWagon]

What I remember was the people of NY all drove like morons and crashed into one another when none of the lights worked. No one slowed down or stopped. It only lasted a day and a half yet so many freaked out in 3 hours.

[@ThroughKinAndClan]

Ghetto Wagon that just shows what an apocalyspe really is it doesn't have to be a forever event. Just a few weeks and months of something like this and all city folks are screwed for a long long time

[@phuturephunk]

I found the opposite. Everyone was just kind of going with it. I actually got from Inwood to Chelsea, to Williamsburg in record time that day to go drinking with my friends. Every intersection was a stop sign, essentially and drivers obeyed that concept. Actually, I'll go as far as to say driving during those two days was fantastic.

[@GhettoWagon]

This was on long island Bunch of morons live there, way worse now. Nope they just barreled down the roads at night and crashed into anything.

[@trainzguy2472]

Typical of drivers in any big city.

[@GhettoWagon]

No. JusT typical behavior of morons. a big city has nothing to do with it. I'm glad I am far away from that mess as these people would of freaked out with the power loss I went through a few months ago

[@ScallywagBeowulf]

I can’t be the only one who loves The New York Times Retro Reports. They are not biased one way or another, and they give fantastic information on what happened during these events. I love these so much.

[@dreadlockwarriors]

Yeah, way before the netflix movie leave the world behind. netflix wanted more subscribers to get personal data, via the muslim hamas, isis obamas.

[@airamortiz4661]

I was here, in the Bronx, during the big blackout in 1977. I remember the looting and my grandmother cooking in the heat so the food wouldn't spoil. It was scary. I was also here for the second blackout. I was at work and we knew something was seriously wrong when the street lights on the Grand Concourse weren't working. We had candles in the pharmacy were I worked. The pharmacist filled the last prescriptions by candlelight and sent everyone home. It was still daylight and many people were worried that terrorism might be involved so everyone calmly headed home. I saw people directing traffic, and motorists calmly yielding way for pedestrians. A special shout out to NYC bus drivers and the MTA for picking up and transporting passengers free of charge and safely as the trains weren't running. The buses were crowded but everyone was calm and just wanted to get home to their families. I got home to discover that the water pumps in my building were electric and in addition to no power, we had no water. I had candles at home, water in the fridge and a battery powered radio and flashlight. My wheelchair bound neighbor had no candles, flashlight or water when I knocked on his door. I went down with my flashlight as the hallways in NYCHA buildings have no windows and I got him water from a fire hydrant and found people taking water to seniors and walking people down from the 14th floor with flashlights. Not everyone had flashlights or candles and some didn't even have buckets to carry water home. BUT EVERYONE WAS HELPING! 911 changed a lot of attitudes. I make sure I have water, flashlights, candles and emergency gear at home. My cell phones are always charged and I have medicine and food at home for six months. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.

[@glennweeks7176]

have you ever heard America take any blame? No ...we love to blame everyone but ourselves...

[@user-5xh1kc6o]

@Craig F. Thompson I'd argue that in terms of the amount of human suffering the holocaust and slavery that went on for centuries aren't that different.

[@user-5xh1kc6o]

@Craig F. Thompson lol what? please elaborate, unless you're being sarcastic

[@andrewarmstrong7310]

WOW! BOTS communicating!

[@OmmerSyssel]

The trade-off running your crazy USAmerican individualistic agenda... Good societies are recognised by their ability caring for the weakest, not the most powerful!

[@carlymonroe5838]

And the world loves to blame America for everything and generalize America over everything so what’s your point

[@k.a5765]

I remember this. We lived in the ghetto and my mom was so scare the whole night. We had no phone to call for help and she was alone with two little girls. My mom had to walk the Brooklyn bridge that day.

[@EndTimesDisciple]

Let me guess your dad was in prison

[@Mysterious_Ace]

I lived in the ghetto at that time, too. I understand the feeling of being scared. Makes sense.

[@ameridesign]

@@EndTimesDisciple 🤣🤣

[@principalmcvicker6530]

@@EndTimesDisciple lmfaoo

[@k-tech5592]

You know that dude got fired!

[@basicz223]

K-Tech ye

[@martymarv7644]

Lmao

[@InsaneNuYawka]

Imagine *being* that dude lol..

[@mahin0185]

I think it was most likely Homer Simpson's fault xD

[@laethe230]

InsaneNuYawka probably felt about the same as the guy that messed up during the Hawaii missile alert recently lol

[@MCkeetch]

I remember having no power for two days. It wasn’t all bad though, it really showed the sense of humanity and community in my neighbors and neighborhood. Kids all played together, while parents were cooking all our thawing meat on bbq’s and we had a big street party. I think it was a blessing in disguise honestly.

[@kelly3014]

I remember this day. I was a live-in nanny, and the family was gone. I waited a half hour for the power to come back on, but since it didn’t I decided to go home. As I was locking the door, my Mother I worked for called me and said under no circumstances should I leave, the traffic was terrible! Thank God I avoided that mess!

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

I remember this blackout very well, knocked out power to most of Ontario, and my hometown of Oshawa, east of Toronto. ALL I WANTED TO DO THAT DAY WAS GOTO THE LIBRARY AND PLAY RUNESCAPE BUT NOOOO THE BLACK OUT HAPPENED!!! Oh well, I had fun anyways, later that night we had a bon fire in our neighbours driveway, roasted some marshmellows and hotdogs and had tons of fun, all lit by candles and fires on Bruce Street, Oshawa

[@MrThidj901]

+Matt Brine hahaha i appreciate reading and viewing videos comparing "happenings" in canada VS USofA. It's always like a happy break in canada and havoc and hell and riots and Doomsayer in USofA. hahaha i will continue my research now :D Thank you!

[@zammmerjammer]

+Matt Brine And then... the purge began...

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

zammmerjammer AS far as I know, Oshawa was pretty chill, maybe someone somewhere or two, or three, broke into peoples home or stores and looted but things where pretty chill that day. I remember many people outside with car radios on, bbq's cooking, and people just making the best of no electricity.

[@CaptainSpicard]

Heh, I was on Bruce street that night. Did you see that big black Chevy van with the light on top?

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

Yeah I think i remember that, Where abouts where you on Bruce street? At the time i was living in the big brick house with the green fance with a pine tree on our yard but now its all changed, I hate they cut down the pine tree.

[@dializ7253]

Thank you for this video. Just showed this to my youngest 3 who are 11,10, and 8. They thoroughly enjoyed it. I was also telling my husband about it since he is from Milwaukee. I was born and raised in Queens, NY. I was 16 working at Keyfood Supermarket. I remember my boss telling us to go home at 6 because he didn't want anything to happen to us once it got dark out. I walked home, my Mom, Dad, Grama, and sisters were all home. Mom used matches to light the stainless steel gas stove we had to cook and they also used the grill. We were mandated to stay inside. People started looting and etc. It was so peaceful at our house and on our block. My Dad died when I was 18, my Grama (his Mom and my only living grandparent) died when I was 21, and my Mom died when I was 23. Was actually a great memory that will forever live on in my mind and heart. Was a better memory compared to 9/11.

[@veronicachic]

that was a truly fun day, in nyc, not gonna lie

[@dianaval6082]

It was actually exciting, unexpected, fear, and an experience:)

[@ellishernandez4544]

+Panic! At the chemicals Fall Ok i dont think the people in Sodom and gomar would agree but Jesus CHRIST said it would be worst and the darkness of the next coming event will cause the life of many thats the frist death.the secound is eternality in hell for loving lust and pleasure more tjen God and Truth.God lvs all but he hates SIN.THAT WHY PEOPLE MUST REPENT.

[@gabrielalmonte4497]

That's true lol, I spend the whole night outside with my friends

[@danielmorse6597]

The old bell system had massive backup reserves. Unlike today.

[@em4957]

I don't remember it but my mom said I went swimming with my cousins in their pool lol... guess I had fun too even though it wasn't NYC

[@podsmpsg1]

I remember that. I was almost 15. My aunt and I went out for a joy ride, we got a flat tire. We got off the highway and called a tow truck and had to wait hours for the tow truck to come. The tow truck came, replaced the tire and we went back home. My mom said to my aunt "you shouldn't have gone joy riding when there was a massive power outage".

[@jewman303]

And how many babies were born 9 months later? Lmao

[@theflowercallednowhere]

Donny Donowitz my sister

[@T3XACAN0]

The poor babies

[@svetamakoveeva318]

@@T3XACAN0 what why

[@T3XACAN0]

Sveta Makoveeva They were born when the power went out...electricity is important when it comes to infancy care.

[@boborson5536]

Texrøy Juniør Seniør I understand your concern and you're absolutely right, but we're refering to people getting bussy while the lights were out.

[@eaglescout1984]

I remember reading the report on how this happened (for an assignment in one of my engineering classes). There was a moment when the grid operators near Cleveland realized there was a problem and they had a few minutes to take action (the time limit was unknown to them, it's just when the next event occurred that made it impossible to recover the grid). The action would have been to drop the city of Cleveland from the grid. Well, they didn't do anything and once the next trip out occurred, it overwhelmed the grid and the cascading failure continued.

[@Bulhbluhbuy]

It’s much MUCH more complicated than that. There were several events that led to it including IT issues (there was a bug in the Cleveland plant so they weren’t getting alerts as well as a system switchover at the region level). They literally didn’t realize how bad it was until it was too late

[@denelson83]

Don't forget that a severe geomagnetic storm can bring down quite a huge chunk of a power grid, such as what happened in 1989 in Quebec.

[@brokkrep]

denelson83 or 1998?

[@cinquine1]

@@brokkrep That was the ice storm. It was much worse.

[@SoilToSoul]

@@yoyoyo3531 it is an M class. Wait until an X class hits 😬

[@rwa2play]

I.e. the blackout of 1977 that left Downstate NY in the dark for about 25+ hours. Yeah it was just a thunderstorm but still when a storm can take out a grid like that, what are you going to do with a solar storm can do much worse?

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

​​​@@rwa2play if you think that was bad, go back all the way to 1859, when the carrington event occurred. One of the scariest moments in history barely ever covered. People don't understand that if we had a Carrington event today...it would be pretty hard to come back from. In 1859 all the electricity went out across the globe, in 1859 when it was fresh as a printed gazette and that caused mayhem. A solar flare from the sun made its way close enough to Earth and that messed with the atmosphere I believe, I don't know the exact science...but it has a 1.5 chance of happening in their life time, although today it has a 15 percent chance of happening now that its been such a long time since then. Oh also, everyone everywhere could see the northern lights as a result of this. Just blackness, and the gorgeous flares of earths atmosphere. The earth was charged for about 5 days where sparks flew everywhere, shocks to operators, documents set ablaze, fires begun. Some suggest the 1870 Chicago fire was of direct relation to the unstable amount of energy from the geomagnetic solar storm.

[@TwirlGirl2197]

Anyone else watching in 2021 during/after the Texas snowstorm blackout?

[@coldboltlighting1237]

This is Texas to the max!!

[@luvvideos07]

I lived through the power outage in Texas. Extremely cold. In Texas we are prepared for temps up to 120 degrees. We are great then. When the temps get down in single digits then we have a problem.

[@RPG1234ninja]

Feels like something Homer Simpson would do, forgetting to turn off a switch and going to lunch lol

[@daki7070]

In a episode he causes a blackout by using a small singing santa .

[@HVACSoldier]

Toriel Dreemurr Is it available on KZbin?

[@induceddemand]

There are so many stories of strangers coming together and cooperating to get through the '03 blackout. My favourite has to be out of Toronto: When the blackout hit, it was the beginning of the afternoon rush hour. Streetcars were stalled, the subway was down, traffic lights were out, and traffic was gridlocked. So, random passersby started directing traffic at downtown intersections. Instead of sending cops to relieve them, Toronto Police (understaffed and overwhelmed) began to distribute high-viz safety vests to them, essentially making them volunteer traffic cops. Even though they weren't and didn't have any training or power to do anything, everyone sort of just... followed their directions and got along.

[@1GTX1]

It is similar in alot of parts of the world during hard times. People got along during nato air war here in former Yugoslavia/Serbia. There was level of organisation and solidarity that no one here thought it was possible, and it was not repeated since than, but the hardest period was when most of electric grid was destroyed, alot of people looked like they had given up. It's incredible how important electric grid is.. at first it was targeted by fiber droped from air but it would be fixed in few days by removing fiber, but at one point most of the electric grid was hit by real bombs..

[@marcjames-finel9461]

4:30 lol this story wasn't even the biggest one on the news paper because of Micheal Jackson

[@lmfs4032]

Marc James-Finel more lies about Michael. Nothing has changed. Smh.

[@shadowblastxtreme9032]

@@lmfs4032 more truth*

[@missrobyncalifornia]

I imagine him saying in Erkels voice "Did I do thattt?"

[@nirvanafan500]

Bc of people lying

[@eny4life718]

I was 13 and in summer camp when this happened. We was just about to go on a trip, and had to get on the 3 train. We got word that the power in NYC went out and the trip had to be canceled.. I wudda been hella tight stuck on the 3 train . Smfh

[@karlitosway7474]

I pretty sure it was a epic night

[@lisafoos3948]

Very Trill Hundreds of babies were born nine months later . : )

[@Kitties_are_pretty]

Wow a power outage affected fifty million people and *hundreds* of babies were born nine months later? Amazing!

[@cal920c]

Well... considering most of the time nothing happens...

[@eliteshots7389]

TriLLBeatz 334 Do you mean an epic night. e is a vowel and you have to say an before every vowel.

[@HackingAtLife]

Exactly!

[@jumpmanbig]

TLTR: My stepfather inadvertently took a decision that save us. I remember that day very clearly, even though I was only 8 years old at the time. We live in Gatineau, just on the other side of the river from Ottawa, on the Quebec side. Every summer, we would travel about 3 hours to go to Sandbanks. Upon arriving there, my step father asked my mother if we should fuel up now or when we left. At the last second, he pulled into the gas station and decided to fuel up now. Unknown to all of us, that was one of the best decision he ever made. When it was time to leave, as usual, we would stop at a McDonald just after we left. When we got there though, they were closing, saying there was no power. It was in a small town and not unusual. So instead, we went to another fast food place a little bit further, but they were closed too, but we were pretty much excepting it. We decided to go to a Wendy's near the 401, quite further from the village. When we got there, we saw they were closed too, due to a power outage. It was at this point we turned on the radio and heard only static on most stations, then we got nervous. We managed to land on a working radio station and learned of what was happening. it was not clear yet how bad it was, but we knew it was something to be concerned with. As we drove back, we saw lines of hundreds of cars waiting at gas stations. It was at this point we realized how lucky we got with the decision to fuel up when we arrived, otherwise we would have been stranded 3 hours from home, without food, water, gas, anything. As we drove towards home, we managed to call my aunt, we lived in Ottawa to get some news and we learned from her that Quebec was not affected and as I said, we lived in Gatineau, Quebec, so we at least knew that we would be ok as long as we got home. As we got closer to the Quebec border, we got more and more radio stations working and we realized the scope of what was happening. When we got in Ottawa, it must have been around midnight and there was literally an exodus of people from Ontario going to Quebec to buy food, water, gas, lamps, lighters, generators, batteries, everything and some to stay with relatives or friends who lived in Quebec. Most stores in Gatineau stayed open until 3 am to help out people from Ottawa. I remember when we were able to stop at the McDonald near our house to finally eat dinner, the line was so long, it had almost became a small refuge. I never saw that many employees at a McDonald at 12:30am. I remember looking towards Ottawa and seeing nothing but darkness.

[@sha-ad9257]

3:29 lol a t-shirt with ''i survived the blackout New York 2003'' ok nice for you .I survived 30 days without electricity in the winter of 1998 during de ice strom.I want a t-shirt for that lol

[@ezra2345]

Sha-ad There's a t shirt for that actually.

[@sha-ad9257]

Madyson Tortorella for the ice storm in 1998 in Quebec .......... i dont know that.

[@judgedredd8657]

i was without power about 30 days too 1998 QC

[@DowneasterProductions]

Sha-ad I survived the winter of 2016 in Maine we got 30 ft

[@zammmerjammer]

I have a t-shirt that says "I survived the 2003 blackout." Except that I lived in Toronto, so the shirt also says "I survived Toronto: SARS, West Nile, SARS again, Blackout 2003."

[@covathetech]

The 2019 NYC Blackout brought me here

[@rondaxen88]

ok

[@clhchp6900]

I was just listening to the jim bakker show he said one could happen again where there will not be any electricity in th Us 🇺🇸.

[@covathetech]

@@clhchp6900 That would be catastrophic

[@trollollol14]

This reminds me of the purge

[@TheRedd725]

Me too

[@dreeeambaby]

thought the same thing

[@DeadRaymanWalking]

I still remember that blackout! I was getting some rest on that day of the blackout when I heard my fan shut off. I didn't know it was a blackout until the power at my house came back on four hours after it went out, and there were news reports that the blackout hit New York and areas of Canada.

[@mattricher21]

My dad was stuck 7000 feet underground, I now work where he was working in the mines. I pray this never happens again.

[@wmluna381]

How'd he get out? Did they have evac protocols back then? If not, do they have them now?

[@cynthiabronson1387]

I recall this day just like it was yesterday. I being from N.Y. state was one of those effected by this crisis. I happened to be in the hospital trying to recover from having an operation. It was terrible. The hospital had a generator that kept the lights dimly lit . I remember I was hot and miserable because they couldn't run the a.c. . It was awful. Never wanted to be home in my bed so bad in my life. Ty for this video had always been curious as to what the culprit was of that outage. Now I know. Ty again!

[@over00lordunknown12]

3:30 "I SURVIVED THE BLACKOUT NEW YORK 2003" My thoughts: "Who _didn't_ survive it?" Video: "at least 11 deaths" Me: "Oh."

[@peckiledorf]

3:20 for the win

[@adamcrofts9903]

Joe Shook so true though 😂

[@nicholas5623]

That comeback tho

[@Gaetano.94]

Mel Lastman what a man!

[@jimwerther]

Idiotic

[@clairmac]

I actually really miss Mel Lastman (mayor of Toronto) and he was right, when things happen and it effects Canada and the US, we're always immediately blamed and then it always turns out it wasn't us.

[@ImcognitoDre]

R.I.P to Mel 😢

[@joshuarivera7630]

I was 6 years old when that happened, but I still remember it well, we suddenly lost power in the afternoon and thought it would be a few hours, it was out for 2 days. My mother had the whole family sit in the car so they can charge their phones. I slept in my dining room with my mother in sweltering heat.

[@RB01.10]

You could charge cell phones in cars back then ?

[@tomtom1541]

​@@RB01.10lmao, just wait till you find out a 90s Lexus had hands-free calling inbuilt to the car.

[@TheAfghan72]

Best summer of my childhood.

[@Keiji555]

I remember that! I lived in a small township in Northern Ontario near a city. Our township was one of the only places with businesses that had power generators. So people all over the city decided to come to the township to get to these locations. (it was done in a civil way.) The lineup at the Tim Hortons was longer than the lineup at the gas station in town. XD

[@happeharkore]

You don't need electricity to use the bathroom...

[@maxischew514]

Norman Farmer well you need power to power the pumps to pump water to the toilet.

[@JOHN----DOE]

You get one flush. Then, if no electricity, no pumping in more water. Been there in ice storms.

[@desktorp]

It's almost like people went to the bathroom for generations before the advent plumbing and electricity.

[@PatchworkRose567]

Go to the bathroom outside

[@elchungo5026]

Dalton Chew every heard of outside?

[@refixed]

Being 5 years after the 1998 Ice Storm when I was without power for 21 DAYS, I remember this being no big deal at all

[@BRO-ul8vz]

I clearly remember this day since it happened on my 7th birthday. I remeber my present that day was a candle to light my room. My dad also had to walk from Manhattan to Queens.

[@omarstephenson7000]

I was still in high school when this happened. I remembered this happening when I was in the East Village part of Manhattan. The lights started flickering, and all power went out just like that. We were struggling to save as many perishables in our deli by putting the items in freezer boxes. We were lucky to have sold most of the perishables with customers paying cash for that as well as beverages. It could have been a lot worse!

[@omarstephenson7000]

@Caroline Pahl How would I go about doing that?

[@MethosFilms]

i had solar panels on my rv. propane to cook food. i wasnt even effected lol. ;)

[@MethosFilms]

no u wont be effected if u got solar panels as long as u clean them off off snow often. all u need is a solar panel, a charge controller, a deep cycle battery and a power inverter. solar panels go to the charge controller it regulates the power flow. the power flow goes to the deep cycle battery. from the battery u wire the inverter that has normal plugs on it. they come in power levels of 100 watts to 5000 watts. a normal house hold plug can handle 1800 watts or 15 amps. your power usage for the deep cycle battery is measured in amps per hour.

[@MethosFilms]

during a power outage as long as the sun is up u will get power :) i was the only one on the block that had power during the black out. i even warmed milk for babies from my rv because i had propane stove and i could also do it from electric i get from the deep cycle batteries

[@ALGORITHMTICKLER]

SV methos Dang, you know a lot about this stuff, can I hang at your rv is there is another blackout? LOL

[@HAA0603]

I was born in 2006, so I didn't really experience this. Anyone who went through it, it'd be cool to hear your story.

[@ED80s]

Me and my pregnant coworker had to walk for 3 hours until her husband could pick us up w his car. She wore wedge heels which were starting to hurt her feet so I gave her my flats (we have same shoe size). After a few blocks I couldn't walk in her wedges anymore so I walked barefoot for hours on the Toronto city streets. Thank God it was summer.

[@Airplane299]

@@ED80s That sounds painful, but kinda fun nonetheless. Was TTC/regional transit not running buses or streetcars?

[@ED80s]

@@Airplane299 no. And if any were they were packed solid. Street cars run on electricity so they were not running. We couldn't even hail a cab. It was insane

[@Airplane299]

@@ED80s Given how much we rely on TTC, that's nuts. Must have been nice to see the city in a different light for once though (no pun intended). Glad you made it out safely.

[@ED80s]

@@Airplane299 😊

[@suavehinrg]

This is the Blackout I lived through. Thank you for this documentary because this 2003 Blackout is often overlooked and forgotten over the more famous 1977 NYC Blackout.

[@DacLMK]

And now there's the Texas blackout (or it was about a month ago)

[@DiChEnBiEbEr]

I was only two during the blackout. My parents and I resided in Astoria, Queens. Took my mom two bridges to reach home. My fathers car was one of many that was stuck on a bridge. Luckily he got away along with a tow truck. Crazy experience for them.

[@wmluna381]

Definitely makes the case for putting together a *Get Home* Bag with good walking shoes to keep at work or in your car if you have to abandon it . These types of things are more likely to happen than WW3.

[@patriciac4245]

They went through this yet they fail to realise that this is still happening in Puerto Rico.

[@JUSTforwhitlisting]

Nationalize your grid. We did that in Quebec and we have one of the most advanced grids + world class research

[@mrbrainbob5320]

Zachary Zalass that doesnt really make any sense

[@iBhacaBeats]

Eskom in South Africa

[@pauly260]

...buh, buh, buh dat bee duh KOMMINIZM!!!

[@wanderlustandsparkle4395]

Nationalizing have you seen how the American government spends our money and look at Venezuela they nationalized everything and now they are a 3rd country with an apocalypse.

[@jewberggoldstein7112]

I dunno sounds like Fascim to me. Better keep it private for compaines lol

[@jhaywilliamson1978]

I remember this very well. Luckily, I was living is Mississippi at the time, so I therefore wasn’t affected by this. But I had family that lived both near Philadelphia, New York, and Toronto and they all got affected by that power outage. It amazes me that all it took was for some power to screw up and then cause a huge blackout. Lol

[@jimmyrodasmolestina979]

I remember the black out of the summer of 1977 !!I. I was ten years old living in Richmond Hill Queens NYC we all came out of our houses with candles and flash lights and the whole neighborhood came alive

[@iyquc]

EXCELLENT series. Every episode is gripping and worth my time--bravo! :)

[@ThePolerbearproducts]

I vaguely remember this as a kid. I remember hearing about a blackout and looking outside and seeing the streetlamp on with the sun setting in the background. That memory will stay with me.

[@keslerthomas9411]

29 hours I've survived for like 48 without complaining XD

[@nudist0885]

When superstorm Sandy hit the NJ/NY/CT area my immediate neighborhood was without power for 148 hours straight (6 whole days plus change). The days were easy, the nights were boring. I didn't own a generator (still don't) so I couldn't watch TV or turn on any of my lights. I used a few candles and a few mirrors to light up certain parts of my house when I needed to. I had a digital readout portable AM/FM radio that I kept tuned to WKXW NJ 101.5 for a lot of that time. When the "talk" got boring I'd change to a music station for a few hours or so and then I'd go back to the talk station to hear what the next topic was. Because of the portable digital readout radio I was able to keep from going crazy from 6 straight nights of silence and desolation. That's the only week of my entire life that I've been without electricity for more than 24 hours at any one time (including when I was at summer camp in the woods when I was 11 years old back in 1975).

[@Dash3105]

+nudist0885 Same.

[@chandlerstovall]

Kesler Plays so your 60 years old and úr name is nudist??

[@sir_john_hammond]

Someone needs to learn math

[@heathercbc7287]

We lost our power a few years ago for nearly a week. Luckily it was summer, we have a garage, and a generator. Every morning I fired it up, and made coffee for us and our neighbours..

[@NYCfrankie]

Native New Yorker from Bensonhurst Brooklyn born and raised 🇮🇹💯% i was 14 when the blackout occurred and I've never been so grateful for the generators that my father had bought in 2002

[@BxCreative]

I remember this blackout despite being about 6 or 7 years old. In nyc maybe power came back quick but for my neighborhood in the bronx it took a whole week and a half. My family and I took turns going up and down 13 flights of stairs to get water from the pump 😭

[@sun_rocket2929]

Imagine if this happens in Phoenix AZ in the summer heat? It would be catastrophic deadly

[@TheVideomaker2341]

I was only 7 when this happened, I was playing my PS2 (I don't remember which game) but the power suddenly went off. I thought it was a prank from my older brother but instead, the whole neighborhood had a power outage and didn't find out later that the ENTIRE northeast had a power outage and some parts of Canada.

[@danieltigges8590]

How can you not remember what game you were playing? Crazy!!!

[@lemaluis7484]

Daniel Tigges because it’s from 16 years ago, 2003

[@davidca96]

I remember this, I had just moved an hour north of where I lived before and my old house was affected by the blackout but my new one never lost power.

[@Mysterious_Ace]

I had just turned 3 when this happened and yet I still remember it like it was yesterday. In my area (southern Ontario. Not being specific.) We had no power for days.

[@MeetTheSpirits]

I remember this well. I was living only a few miles from Eastlake, where the outage originated. We were prepared though, with plenty of lighting and everything else we needed. We kind of had our section of the neighborhood lit up a little. And the store around the corner from us was giving out the ice cream for free so they did not end up with a bug mess on their hands. They stayed open and handled business the old fashioned way, until it got too dark to do so anymore. I remember they sold out of flashlights, batteries ad candles. Our electric was out for about 10 hours, but a lot of areas were out for a few days. It is always good to be prepared for this, it can happen anywhere at any time.

[@GummyDinosaursify]

I remember this. My energy is from Consumers Energy, which wasn't affected, but all the other electric companies were. Which lead to this bubble in the middle of my state where it was literally just my town and the town over with power. People were lining up at the gas stations, taking everything from supermarkets and the hotels were booked up. It was so weird to see in my little town.

[@jolyonwelsh9834]

I would love to relive this! This was the best day for me in 2003.

[@caolanm2480]

I was in New York that day on holiday. I was 7 years old and my family and i were stuck in the subway for 2 hours. The heat was unbearable. I remember some people saying it was a terrorist attack. Eventually my dads friend had to drive us home to Connecticut where he lived from New York.

[@taekwondotime]

I remember exactly where I was when this happened because it happened in the afternoon while I was driving with my buddy over to his parents house to go swimming. :) We had literally hopped in the car and drove about five blocks when we noticed a traffic light that was out. No big deal. Kept on driving. Next traffic light was out too... and so on and so on. Hmmm. Got to his parents place and his Dad was listening to the radio where they said the blackout was affecting the entire northeastern chunk of North America. Went swimming, eventually went home, and I think the power was eventually restored by around 2 am. :)

[@brandonperez5697]

August 14th 2003 I was born then suddenly New York City had a blackout so that means I'm in The Unlucky day for my life

[@sparksthedaytrader9606]

I was born 11 days after you dude congrats.

[@cybersumae2459]

I was born on August 17 2003 only a couple days

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Were you circumcised?

[@danielmorse6597]

I remember it well. At work, we were having voltage issues, lights flickering, ac units kicking off. I felt the auxiliary generators kick on in our building. We began to shut down the computers. We were not internet reliant yet but ur data went down. Remember copper landlines? They still worked. In Kalamazoo/Portage MI we never lost power. To our east it was a completely other matter. Battle Creek to NYC, no power. We began to get people driving across the state looking for rooms and gas.

[@VinceHere98]

I remember when this happened. I was only 5 years old. Sucked balls. I couldn't even watch TV. Those people at FirstEnergy should have been more responsible.

[@VinceHere98]

RetroGuy76 gotta agree with you. FirstEnergy? More like NoEnergy.

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

I have never even heard of this. I was one year old at the time.

[@WhovianSentaiRiderFan]

RetroGuy76 I lived in New York. I haven't had power for 40 minutes or an hour. I had to spend a whole blackout in the bathroom watching Doctor Who on my phone. Power Outage makes me feel sick. I feel like I was gonna throw up.

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

Did the 2003 blackout hit Boston or anywhere in Massachusetts?

[@WhovianSentaiRiderFan]

Ninja Briefs the Saiyan yep.

[@jacobreuter]

I know I shouldn't laugh but the "we gotta go to the bathroom and we cant go nowhere" had me actually laughing out loud

[@0namehere]

I was just a kid when this happened (9 years old). I lived in Toronto. I remember all the talk of the Americans blaming us. I also never learned of the big chain of problems the blackout caused. I mean I heard things, but not so seriously. For instance, drinking water for some!

[@N0616JCProductions]

I was about the same age as you when that happened, I think I was glad that I was near my house at the time of this occurrence and that it happened during the summer where everyone do not have to worry about getting warmth. Still that was not an event that I would like to repeat to live again. Not fun at all.

[@JackRigbyhimagain]

N0616JC Productions THe key fortunate bit was that it DID happen in summer - imagine in a real winter freeze what would have happened to many, many people!

[@N0616JCProductions]

Jack Rigby Gotta agree with you. If it were to happen during the winter, it would be a miracle if anyone survive the outage.

[@stevenschnepp576]

​@@N0616JCProductions You mean like in the 1998 ice storm that knocked out power for weeks?

[@magdalenasantos8734]

I got an ugly feeling something like this is going to repeat soon again before December

[@elainehinton4646]

My daughter and I got through without a hitch. First thing we did was take showers. We knew the water tower would not refill without the electric. We had candles, bottled water, flashlights with batteries and solar lighting. Everyone should be prepared for complete utility outages for several days. There are so may things that can cause total grid failure. Solar flares, terrorist attacks, weather, and stupidity.

[@MysteryMii]

Even though I was 2 when the blackout happened, my parents told me that our house did not lose power during the blackout (we live in Northern New Jersey, BTW). I guess you could call us one of the lucky ones.

[@klaze9318]

Saturday, July 13, 2019 NYC Blackout, a day to remembe, barely any light, in downtown manhattan and some parts of the Bronx and upper New York. What a day lol.

[@timb02]

I was flying into LaGuardia when it happened. pretty weird to see it so dark.

[@Bigekanelives]

Crazy how something like this happen in NYC yesterday

[@a_serhir2350]

Parents: Why are your grades dropping? Me: 3:04

[@KamsPoliticalPredictions]

So true 😂

[@RageyRage82]

A friend of mine was killed by a vehicle in the dark on one of those days. He had to cross the road, he didn't see the vehicle coming, he got run down. He was transported to a hospital with emergency power. He was on life support for nearly two weeks before he succombed. I remember it like yesterday. This was when I lived in southern Ontario in Canada. So tragic.

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

I was there, it sucked, but it was also fun. I'm an Oshawa Native and from about mid-day when I was biking to the library with my friends suddenly the power was out. We thought it was just the Traffic lights but as we got further into downtown Oshawa going to the library, we started realising that there was something bigger going on than just dead traffic lights. Foward to night time, and I had turned into a crying baby because even as a 11 year old I had started thinking that the power would never come back, the only thing that really up lifted my spirits was my neighbours down the street started a bonfire in their drive way and we all started hanging around it, playing music on a boom box, roasting marshmellows and hot dogs at 12 in the morning... and by god when I woke up, the power was on again!!! or so I thought... For the next week the power was unstable. The next day with power restored in Oshawa I went to another friends place and we played in their pool, and he mentioned he had a Sega Saturn and I was like "AWESOME! I WANNA SEE THAT!" So after drying off for a bit, we went inside, up to buddys room and started to play on his Saturn and then BOOM... power was out again for hours... I can't remember much of what happened after that as the power unstability gradualy decreased until eventually the power was pretty much fully restored with no black outs, no more hic-ups, aside from your usual random black outs and brown outs unrelated to the 2003 black out here in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. - Matthew Brine (Native of Oshawa, Ontario)

[@rjthegreatest3115]

This is a true piece of history

[@markc312]

I remember I was going into Sophomore Year in High School that year in August. On the Day the Blackout happened I was at Two-A-Day Football Camp for my H.S. until 7pm when Practice was over. At this time the Sun was going down and we ALL(H.S. Friends) were shocked that Everything was Dark except for the Headlights of cars. So we decided to walk home that Night after practice on Kennedy Boulevard in North Bergen an take in the Memory of that Night of the Blackout, it was Mind-Blowing to See Everything Dark an to look over the River and see NYC completely Pitch Black. I’ll never Forget that Blackout of 03’, now I’m missing being a young kid.😢

[@pasqualinamichelaconsiglio9391]

He went to lunch. Boy, oh boy! Should of eaten your lunch at your desk. On another note: Toronto, Ontario was blamed not Canada. Also, during the blackout a garage door at a family business was open when the blackout hit. My father slept in the factory in a chair with the garage door wide open. This was the first night of the blackout. Someone, a family member came by to climb a latter the next day to manually close the door. My father got into a bad accident years before and couldn't do it himself but I remember thinking and looking back now, I can't believe he stayed in that factory didn't ask anyone to take shifts in watching the factory. He automatically stayed put until the Hydro came back on. And, of course we were the last to get power. Final note: Mayor Mel Lastman rocks!

[@shyryTsr2k]

I remember when this happened, luckily my dad was an electrician at the time and had a big generator in his work truck but it was only big enough to power some of our house. Gas was very had to come by.

[@lorimeyers3839]

My 13U baseball team played (and won) a national championship game on this day. Remembered the scoreboard went out just before the game began, and we ended up hearing parents saying there was no power anywhere. After the game, we drove from Cooperstown back home in lower upstate, NY.

[@waldenjance7681]

“Tell me, has the United States take blame for anything?” -Mayor of Toronto 2003 CIA: *Brave words for someone in power in a democratic country*

[@lordvenom4419]

Yeah he didn't care of is career

[@connorrobertson7257]

I remember the blackout. I was living in Southern Ontario. And I remember them blaming us when in reality it was their fault. My dad worked in the industry and I remember him being very upset. Seems silly now, but at that time we were being blamed for people dying.

[@Danakedgamer0523]

i thought it was skynet taking over!

[@youtubR72]

Kolobos0523 hahaha lol

[@Seedlinux]

I remember very well that day. It tooks me 5 hours to walk back home...

[@RunwayIsAwesome]

Remember, in North Korea, people suffer like this EVERY DAY!

[@danieltigges8590]

Good

[@krashsite2125]

@@danieltigges8590 Good?

[@ooka7705]

Krashsite Good.

[@sogekinggodofsnipers8505]

@@ooka7705 ummm what ?

[@katie-st8nx]

It's a bit diffrent when you don't already rely on electricity but I get what you mean

[@vimalalwaysrocks]

People in India: Hold my beer... power outage almost everyday..

[@espacfc2365]

Vimal V And that’s a good thing why?

[@krashsite2125]

@@espacfc2365 It's not, and that's the point.

[@JustAnotherGeekX]

Venezuela: Hold my beer

[@raspy1135]

This is literally every third world country

[@keeweefroot2692]

I remember this so vividly. I had just arrived to the US from Panama a few months before this (I was 5) and we took a trip to New York from DC. We were in our hotel room when the blackout happened and we went insane. All you heard was screaming in the streets and in the hotel. Great introduction to the United States lmao.

[@shanelovesmustang4597]

Lolllll

[@zjones9876]

I was working in Alexandria VA at this time and I remember our office losing power just as I was getting ready to leave for the day.

[@mashamitchell9574]

3:19 The general sentiment of America globally.

[@iliketrains839]

The 2019 blackout brought me here

[@diamondabney]

Jennifer Lopez did her concert there.

[@danielmorse6597]

I was in Kalamazoo MI. Manager of a store at Crossroads Mall. The lights began to flicker. I shut off our systems. I heard the Mall Systems react. Breakers in places were flipping. We had entered a brownout situation. The AC went out. The mall got hot quickly before they switched on their own backup system to run the systems AC. I sent my guy home. Some stores were closing. The cell phone guys told me that they were getting reports from corporate about a power situation. Soon we were getting calls. Most people were still on the old copper wire system then and the bell system was designed to withstand power outages for a time. Called the parents. Mom told me that the lights there went off but came back on. I got home and we still had power. A few miles away, in Battle Creek half the city and all east had no power. I was at a gas station and there were waves of people coming from the Detroit area and parts east looking for gas. Leaving town... It was hot that day.

[@wmluna381]

I was just talking to my boss about this. I was in Florida at the time and wasn't affected. He confirmed a 4-5 day outage near our old office in Rochester Hills, MI but he had power in his house in Holly the whole time by some miracle (Oakland County area).

[@ingridsitems]

I worked at an ADT monitoring center at the time. All of a sudden we were getting flooded with power failure signals. We had CNN on in the center and that's when we found out about the power failure. What a crazy time.

[@tgreenwald]

WATCH DOGS

[@leerman22]

That asshat planted that tree that took out the grid!

[@maxischew514]

In watch dogs the blackout wasn’t caused by a glitch in the power grid, it was caused by Raymond Kennedy ( T Bone ) to highlight a flaw in the system.

[@maybehere_]

GODDAMMIT DEDSEC

[@maxischew514]

JoeyIsKing It was Rayman T Bone Kennedy. Not dedsec.

[@maybehere_]

Dalton Chew Im talking about in the second one -_-

[@llama3856]

Imagine if this was to happen today on that scale... We'd be doomed with the technology we rely on today.