25-09 - Flipbook - Page 58
Mi n i str i es
'Whether rich or poor, it was the longest of nights': How
a 2003 blackout brought New York City to a standstill
On 14 August 2003, 22 years ago this week, the electricity cut out for more than 50 million
people in the US and Canada, as North America experienced a massive power cut. The
BBC was in New York City when the lights went out.
On a sweltering summer afternoon in 2003, a colossal electricity grid failure tore through the
US and Canada's interconnected power systems. The chain reaction caused multiple power plants covering an area as far west as Cleveland and Detroit and as far north as Toronto
and Ottawa to shut down. Within minutes, more than 50 million people found themselves
without electricity. New York, the largest city in the US, was just one of the many places
where everyday life was brought to a sudden standstill on 14 August 2003, 22 years ago this
week.
"The blackout began just before yesterday evening's rush hour, bringing chaos to the trafficclogged streets," reported BBC correspondent Nick Bryant. "Members of the public were
forced to deputise as makeshift cops. Avenues normally jammed with cars and trucks were
quickly flooded with people, and thousands more were stranded for many hours on the
city's underground trains in stifling heat of almost 100 degrees."
The disruption to New York was widespread and chaotic. It would take emergency services
hours to evacuate passengers from around 600 subway and commuter rail cars that were
stranded between stations. Many people would have to inch their way in near darkness
Myles Burke
