What caused the August 14 2003 Blackout?

The blackout’s proximate cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of FirstEnergy, an Akron, Ohio–based company, which rendered operators unaware of the need to redistribute load after overloaded transmission lines drooped into foliage.

What did the government do to help the 2003 blackout?

The U.S. and Canadian governments created the joint U.S.–Canada Power Outage Task Force, with a mandate to study the events and make recommendations with a view to avoiding another economic catastrophe of that scope.

How long did the blackout of 2003 last in Michigan?

On Aug. 14, 2003, a tree branch in Ohio fell onto a high voltage power line, and that outage affected eight states from New York to Canada and Michigan. A software bug failed to re-distribute the overloaded transmission lines. The outage was fixed for most in a day but lasted for a few days for many people.

What happened in the 2003 blackout?

On August 14, 2003, a series of faults caused by tree branches touching power lines in Ohio, which were then complicated by human error, software issues, and equipment failures, led to the most widespread blackout in North American history.

What is the name of virus that was suspected to cause the 2003 blackout in the US?

SPIEGEL: You’re referring to Stuxnet, the so-called “super virus” that was allegedly programmed to sabotage Iranian nuclear facilities.

What year did we have the big blackout?

What happened? More than 50 million people in Ontario and the northeastern United States experienced the largest power outage in the history of North America on August 14, 2003.

When was the Big Brown out?

What year did Detroit have a blackout?

2003
Cars and trucks make their way down Fort Street as lights are dark due to the massive power outage in Metro Detroit. From stoplights to streetlights in Metro Detroit nothing worked as a massive blackout happened around 4:15 pm on August 14, 2003.

What states were affected by the 2003 blackout?

August 14 and 15, 2003 – The northeastern U.S. and southern Canada suffered the worst power blackout in history. Areas affected extended from New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey west to Michigan, and from Ohio north to Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario.

How much did the 2003 blackout cost?

Overtaxed, they cut out by 4:05 P.M., tripping a cascade of failures throughout southeastern Canada and eight northeastern states. All told, 50 million people lost power for up to two days in the biggest blackout in North American history. The event contributed to at least 11 deaths and cost an estimated $6 billion.

Has the US ever had a blackout?

The Northeast Blackout of 2003 is the second most widespread power outage in history. Much larger than the Northeast Blackout of 1965, in America alone, this blackout affected 45 million people in 8 states. Detroit lost water pressure and were under a water boiling advisory for 4 days after power was restored.

When did the northeast go dark in 2003?

The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario on August 14, 2003, just after 4:10 p.m. EDT.

When was the blackout in New York City?

Parts of lower Manhattan were blacked out during Superstorm Sandy, in October 2012. Rutgers University history professor James Goodman, author of “ Blackout ,” which chronicles the epic 25-hour New York City outage of July 13, 1977, admitted “my heart skips a beat” when considering an outage this summer.

How many people died during the 2003 Northeast blackout?

The blackout contributed to almost 100 deaths. In Ontario, a cyclist was hit by a car in Guelph and a father of two was hit by a car in his front yard west of Ottawa. In Connecticut, one death was reported.