DETROIT – It’s been 23 years since a major power outage put 50 million people from Detroit to New York in the dark.
No power. No gas pumps. No water.
On Aug. 14, 2003, the lights went out for more than 50 million people across the northeastern United States and Canada -- the largest power outage in North American history.
It started with something remarkably small.
Related read: Paula Tutman recalls covering 2003 Blackout: ‘Nobody has power, who are we talking to?’
A bug, a branch, a blackout
A tree branch hit a transmission line in Ohio.
A software bug at the utility meant alarms and warnings failed to trigger as designed, and the grid couldn’t stop what came next.
The result was a cascading failure that plunged entire cities into darkness during a heatwave.
More than 250 power plants were shut down within minutes.
All of DTE Energy’s grid in Michigan went down. Even the transmission lines connecting Consumers Energy and DTE experienced problems.
Life ground to a halt
Gas pumps stopped working. Flights and trains were canceled. Food spoiled as refrigerators and freezers warmed. Water and ice sold out in some areas.
Amtrak stopped all trains leaving the New York City area. Service between Detroit, Dearborn and Pontiac was also suspended.
Nationwide, about a dozen people died directly from the outage, and many more are believed to have died indirectly.
A man in Harper Woods died from carbon monoxide poisoning linked to a generator. A man in Pittsfield Township died after candles caught a home on fire.
Most people across the impacted areas had power restored within about a day, but the financial impact lingered -- with damages estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The system responded well”
President Bush was in California for a fundraising dinner but addressed the outage in a short speech for reporters.
“I want to thank the people for their calm response to this emergency situation,” he said. “It’s been remarkable to watch on TV how resolved the people have been in dealing with this situation. I know their neighbors are thankful for the proper and calm response.”
Bush said communication between local, state and federal officials was “quick and thorough.”
“We’re better organized today than we were two and a half years ago to deal with an emergency and the system responded well,” he said.