Blackout

Ten years ago this week, the lights went out throughout much of the Northeast in a massive blackout.  At 4:10pm on August 14th, 2003, a power line which was already sagging from the summer heat came into contact with a falling tree branch and short-circuited.  From a combination of technical struggles and human balls-ups in reaction to that one short-circuit, more than 10 million people in Canada and 45 million people in the U.S. lost power.  For some, power was restored by 11pm that day, but for others it would take days.

NY Daily News, the day after the blackout.  Image via

Because the subways here in the city are run by electricity, people's mobility was severely curtailed.  Save those lucky souls able to snag a yellow cab in the chaos, many were given the option of either spending a night in their workplaces, or walking home.

Brooklynites walk home over the Brooklyn Bridge. Image via

Cars and police with flashlights were the only illumination in the streets.  Images via

Power was restored to the city throughout the day on Friday, August 15th, late enough to allow for this amazing photo of the sun coming up on a black skyline:

Image via

For a brief moment - just a day - millions of people shared the very same experience.  New York's NPR station, WNYC, created this cool Storify slideshow of New Yorkers telling their own stories from the blackout. Check it out below!  

Were you in the 2003 blackout, in NYC or elsewhere? What was your experience?