DETROIT – It’s been 19 years since a major power outage put 50 million people from Detroit to New York in the dark.
About 50 million people lost power Aug. 14, 2003, when a tree branch in Ohio started an outage that cascaded across a broad swath from Michigan to New England and Canada.
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Commuters in New York City and elsewhere had to sleep on steps, hitchhike or walk home as trains were rendered powerless and gas pumps stopped working; food spoiled as refrigerators and freezers thawed; jugs of water sold out as supply plants lost their ability to supply consumers; minds were set to wandering about terrorism fears less than two years after 9/11.
The outage was fixed for most within about a day, but the outage had a lasting effect and cost hundreds of millions in damage.
Amtrak stopped all trains leaving the New York city area.
Amtrak operations also were down in Michigan between Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, and Pontiac, Michigan.
President Bush was in California for a fund-raising 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.
The last big blackout in the United States took place almost exactly seven years prior, August 11, 1996, when some 4 million customers in nine Western states and parts of Mexico lost power for as long as 10 hours.
Related read: Paula Tutman recalls covering 2003 Blackout: ‘Nobody has power, who are we talking to?’