On August 14, 2003, because of a hydro blackout, I enjoyed a most pleasant evening on two front porches in Wortley Village.
CBC News Online reported the incident in the following manner:
At 4:11 p.m. ET on Aug. 14, 2003, Ontario and much of the northeastern U.S. were hit by the largest blackout in North America's history. Electricity was cut to 50 million people, bringing darkness to customers from New York to Toronto to North Bay.
[Photo in context]
Streetlights went out, subway trains stopped mid-tunnel and refrigeration equipment went dead. And while some electricity consumers had service restored by early the next morning, many areas remained in darkness well into the next day and even the one following. [Aug. 20, 2003]
It was for many a serious incident.
On my street, however, the blackout is remembered fondly.
First, my next door neighbour called me over to enjoy a beer before it got warm.
[Stayed tuned for Part 2]
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7 comments:
Oh my! Thank you for reminding me of the 5th anniversary of one of the most incredible experiences of my life! I was sitting on a subway train with my sister in midtown Manhattan (4th Ave and 42nd) when The Blackout (I always say it with capital letters) hit. Our host lived on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. The subway was down, the buses were packed like human sardine tins, the roads were all gridlocked, and there wasn't a cab to be had. Cellphones were fairly useless for much of the evening because everybody was trying to call out.
So my sister and I started walking. It took us about 6 hours to get to my friend's flat in Brooklyn, and in that time we never managed to get a cellphone signal long enough to do more than call our parents and let them know we were okay. My friend, sadly, never heard from us 'til we showed up at his door. His relief was as great as ours... We were all so glad that we made it to the apartment safely.
But I learned a lot about people and myself in those six hours. The only thing I would do differently if I could is I would've had a camera on hand that day if I'd known.
-smarmoofus
what a story, smarmoofus!
Six hours of walking - did you feel safe, nervous, exhausted, worried?
I plan to do several posts; i may feature it in one of them - your story is such a contrast to my own.
Gord H.
I missed out on The Blackout, but in another month my part of the world will be remembering the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Fran (9/5-6/96).
Like Smoofus, I learned a lot about people once the lights went out. There were some very damned big neighborhood cookouts in those first couple of days. Nobody could cook inside (no utilities and it was too damned hot anyway!) and everybody's freezer was shut down, so it was eat it or lose it. Those who had them, brought their chainsaws out of mothballs and -- sometimes literally -- cut their neighbors free from the tangle of fallen lumber.
I learned far more about them after about nine days without electricity. (Nine days is how long we were blacked out. Some people went much longer than that.)
The most popular people in Raleigh, North Carolina during those few weeks were the guys who climbed to utility poles to get the lights back on. You would have thought we were the French on VE-Day any time a convoy of trucks from one of the dozens of power companies from all over the southeast rolled through.
And it was while I was waiting for treatment for seven stitches worth of self-inflicted laceration thta I heard three words I never thought I'd hear used together (at least not in this order): "Superficial Chainsaw Injury".
Needless to say that three years later when Hurricane Floyd came to town, folks were just a little better prepared.
Hope you know that photo is a fake.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/space/blackout.asp
hi mojo,
the tornado that swept through my hometown in 2000 didn't have a name but I was certainly happy to welcome a few strangers with chainsaws onto my parent's property. a 100-year old maple had fallen onto their house, over their kitchen, and they were distraught until help arrived and sunshine poured through their windows again.
No surperficial chainsaw injuries as i can recall.
be careful out there, mojo.
and john,
i'm sorry to hear it's a fake; however, the blackout wasn't, the photo seems to illustrate the blacked out area pretty well - so, it will do in a pinch.
cheers,
gord h.
We had many 100-year-old trees (some probably even older than that) make inglorious exits during the storm, and a great many of them landed in unfortunate places. One of my parents' neighbors lost a car to one such tree, and I still remember seeing its crushed remains -- with a 6 or 7 foot section of the tree still embedded in the roof sitting by the curb with a sign in the windshield that read "Used Car for Sale: See Fran for Details".
Times like that you gotta laugh.
Unless you're an insurance adjuster anyway.
mojo, though I hate seeing trees bite the dust (my dad lost 2 aged walnuts to the aforementioned tornado), teamwork and good humour are often the order of the day.
such a great sign on Fran's car.
written inc. should award that one a prize.
cheers,
gord h.
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