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| Blackout: Stranded overnight | ||||
| 2003-08-15 | ||||
Blackout a peek into homeless life
THE huge power outage gave New Yorkers a glimpse into the world of the homeless today as tens of thousands found themselves stranded in the streets with no shelter for the night. I feel so bad for the New Yorkers, they’ve been through so much in the last couple of years. But look how maturely they’ve handled it: no riots, no destroying and looting. I hope the Iraqis are watching that... watch and learn how civilised people do things. Many who had joked their way through the early hours of what turned out to be the nation’s worst blackout quickly lost their sense of humour when struck with the reality that there was no way to get home.
hmmm that’s not so nice: i’d expect him to open the gates in an orderly fashion and military-style make as many beds as they have space and linen. After all, it’s an emergency! Outside the cavernous Grand Central Station at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, American Red Cross Volunteers supplied drinking water to hundreds of people who, like the Oyamas, were pinning their hopes on resumption of train service. GO the red cross! "Basically, we’re trying to keep people from getting dehydrated," volunteer Danielle Dietrich said. "We’ve had a couple of elderly people with heart trouble but we managed to get them police help." If i were there, I’d want to go and direct traffic at the nearest intersection and get some of those people moving. Does NY have a volunteer organisation of citizens who help in emergencies who can cover the major intersections, freeing up police/fireys for more important jobs? Australia has the State Emergency Services/Territory Emergency Services: hundreds of unpaid volunteers who train every week to help out in situations such as this. The Grand Hyatt did open a small area of its ground floor, a sort of mini-mall lined with chic shops, to about 100 people who were trying to grab a few winks on the hard marble floor. "At least they have some lighting here" Corine Sanders said. "That makes me feel safer than sleeping in the streets." The Hyatt, like many such establishments, has back-up emergency generators. Yes... backup generators all round. Preferably ones that run on ethanol and not Saudi Black Slag. Incidentally, apparently some nuclear facilities were having trouble with their backup power. Hate to see a terrorist take advantage of that loophole in the future. All it takes is for the coolant pumps to break down for a couple of hours. Get better soon, NY!
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| Posted by:Anon1 |
| #22 And besides, if the energy situation gets just too depressing, you can drink your ethanol energy source with quinine water, ice, maybe a touch of lime, and feel a whole lot better about the world.... One of my great-uncles used to flavor his with blackberries (they grow wild in Louisiana, and can be harvested by the ton). At 170+ proof, there wasn't much of a taste of ANYTHING, just a monster headache the next day. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-8-15 10:32:10 PM |
| #21 And besides, if the energy situation gets just too depressing, you can drink your ethanol energy source with quinine water, ice, maybe a touch of lime, and feel a whole lot better about the world.... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-8-15 9:19:25 PM |
| #20 FRED: yep they really wrote that headline in the DTM. Pretty dumb. ATTABOID: ethanol is now a net energy PRODUCER which gives out MORE energy than what it takes to produce (including the 'hidden costs' of fertilizer etc). Advances in technology of production in the last 10 years have made it viable. Many sites still quote figures that are pre-1990. Also, you can make ethanol out of more than just CORN which is what Den Beste (who is a great and informative commentator) had a problem with. Yeah it's got startup costs, yeah it's expensive, yeah it doesn't give as much energy as Saudi Black Slag but it also doesn't pay people to KILL US WITH PLANES AND BOMBS not to mention possibly sabotaging our electricity supplies (and I use the royal 'we' as in all the western world, because I consider the US and Australia and Britain to be members of a collective 'we' as in Western, and to a lesser extent NZ, Canada and the rest of the english speaking world) |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-8-15 7:57:59 PM |
| #19 Just yesterday, before the blackout even happened, I noticed a Duquesne Light utility truck driving by me here in Pittsburgh, and it had the slogan "Delivering Quality Energy" on the side. Later, I realized just how lucky I was to be receiving "quality" energy, as Pittsburgh was unaffected by the blackouts. You others in the NE must be getting electricity diluted with water, or mixed with oregano or something. You need to find a better power pusher! |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-8-15 1:05:03 PM |
| #18 I was watching Fox News this morning, and they were saying that there was almost no panic, looting, or vandalism. I told my boyfriend that this is why people watched Fox News, because at that moment other news outlets are scrambling to find the one dyspeptic guy whose neighborhood delinquents took the opportunity to tag his fence, and he's going to be gibbering about the collapse of civilization. I see they had to go clear to Nairobi, instead. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-8-15 1:03:36 PM |
| #17 Was Faith shaking her head from side to side when she said this. And it's good the Director of Multicultural Activitites (just a guess, NY Times piece?) checked in with her input. Nice to hear electricity is colorblind. Ditz! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-8-15 12:53:19 PM |
| #16 Another interesting thing about this blackout is how it effected people of all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. "This is such a multiculural phenomenon", said Faith Lovejoy, director of Multiculural Activities for NY city. "It's like a tossed green salad with many ingrediants, textures and flavors", she added. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-8-15 12:38:55 PM |
| #15 Jeez. Someone should be keeping a list of stupid remarks and ideas about this blackout.... Anatoly Chubais, chief executive of Russia's national power monopoly Unified Energy System, called the blackout "the biggest accident in the history of world energy systems." Ok, am I the only one who sees any irony, or loss of perspective, in this one? And this from Nairobi (as the press goes out to stir up gleeful comments from the third world): "I'm happy -- let them experience how bushmen live without power, even for just one minute," added Emma Nzau, a 28-year-old receptionist. "Americans are so used to electricity, they should be like the Chinese and ride bicycles to work." Now, we can take a lot of ribbing, being a superpower and all (like, who cares?). But letting us know how bushmen feel is a really bizarre notion. What, did Chevron suck up all the bushmen's native electricity for American use? Do bushmen feel pangs of guilt when pygmies get eaten? How is Emma the Kenyan Receptionist working to make MY life better? Then, there are the powerful investigative pieces on how Iraqis are glad we are getting a taste of our own medicine. No wonder we can't get the power in Baghdad working, AHAWHAWHAW. Guess what... ours will be back up in 48 hours. Yours won't. Hillary is demanding an explanation... that should help. Let's pull management off the restoration process and have a press conference. Of course Bush, Cheney, and Big Oil are behind it, to grind the faces of the poor. There is no doubt that women and minorities were hardest hit by the outage. Talked to my poor old mom, trying to make coffee on her BBQ grill in Detroit this AM. I hope she's learned her lesson. She did not mention the bushmen but I'm sure they're in her thoughts. |
| Posted by: Mark IV 2003-8-15 12:26:42 PM |
| #14 " Does NY have a volunteer organisation of citizens who help in emergencies" - Yes, the citizenry of NY, who have repeatedly exhibited the tendency to self-organize as needed when crises occur. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2003-8-15 11:26:25 AM |
| #13 Anon1 See Biomass : http://denbeste.nu/cd_log_entries/2002/09/Morepracticalproblems.shtml |
| Posted by: Attaboid 2003-8-15 11:24:46 AM |
| #12 Ethanol. Ethanol? What are you smoking? Ethanol, with it's associated indirect costs, is NOT viable. |
| Posted by: Attaboid 2003-8-15 10:50:51 AM |
| #11 As you should expect, Den Beste has a great, informative piece not only on the blackout mechanics but the process of powering back up as well. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-8-15 10:42:27 AM |
| #10 Chuck--It's not like the |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-8-15 10:17:52 AM |
| #9 So far all I've seen about looting was a Nike store in Brooklyn, and outbreaks in both Toronto and Ottawa. Odd, that. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-8-15 10:06:38 AM |
| #8 Debbie The french government of the day, under Jacques Chirac as prime minister, sent secret service agents to Auckland to blow up the Rainbow Warrior which was planning to go to Muroroa Atoll to protest against French Nuclear tests. A Portugese photographer lost his life. Under an agreement brokered between New Zealand and France, the agents were detained on a military base in French Polynesia (bummer of a sentence). However this wasn't enough, and when one of the agents became pregnant, on Chirac's orders she was repatriated to metropolitan France. On arrival she was met by Chirac, and it was covered as a heroine's homecomeing by French tv. Oh, and by the way, no Government fell over this at all. |
| Posted by: Edmund Burke 2003-8-15 9:55:33 AM |
| #7 Chuck--Regardless of cause, if it originated in Canada that upsets me greatly. Our infrastructure, economy, and security in the North East--our most populous area of the country--so vulnerable to conditions in a foreign country? Our infrastructure shouldn't be at risk from events in Canada, and vice versa. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-8-15 9:52:20 AM |
| #6 Any museums looted? |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-8-15 9:21:08 AM |
| #5 Today is BASH CANADA DAY! on my blog. The first thing the government of Prime Minister Cretin thought to do was issue a press release that the blackout began when lightening hit a power station in Niagara Falls, New York. Unfortunately, both the National Weather Service and the Canadian equivalent reveal that there was no lightening at the time closer than Chicago. And we shoul all remember that the blackout of 1965 began all together, children... IN CANADA |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-8-15 8:56:05 AM |
| #4 DOes NY have a volunteer organisation of citizens who help in emergencies who can cover the major intersections, freeing up police/fireys for more important jobs? No such animal here. Just ordinary people pitching in. Lot of people stranded, though. This joins the great blizzard in the late '70's and the great blackout in the'70's in the log of New York disasters. This'll be a conversation topic for years to come. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-8-15 8:51:29 AM |
| #3 THis is why I love this country...Massive blackouts, what could have been a very chaotic scene, and it was people helping people, good behavour, very civilized. Can you imagine if this would have happened in Paris? They can't even handle the heat...and remember how their society broke down during the strikes a few months ago? A friend was talking about a situation in France many years ago, but he couldnt remember the details and I am curious...something about a sunken Greenpeace ship and the collapse of the French government....this is sketchy I know, but can any Rantburg reader tell me about this? Maybe just a link to an old story...THis happened years ago, before I started paying attention to the world...Thanks. |
| Posted by: debbie 2003-8-15 8:07:31 AM |
| #2 That was fun. Lots of people spontaneously jumping in to direct traffic. Many even had the cool reflective jackets! |
| Posted by: someone 2003-8-15 5:56:09 AM |
| #1 Anon1 - "Does NY have a volunteer organisation of citizens who help in emergencies who can cover the major intersections..." Not that I know of, but the Beeb has been semi-rational (No "The streets are tense and edgy - and who can blame them!" stories, yet...) and even interviewed a guy who was directing traffic - turns out he's an actor and plays a cop on a TV show, so he thought, "Why not?" and jumped in to help. Beeb reporter seemed pleased as punch with him. Mee too, actually. 8^) |
| Posted by: .com 2003-8-15 4:09:51 AM |