INDEPTH: POWER OUTAGE
Personal Stories
CBC News Online | August 15, 2003
Updated August 18, 2003
Toronto - Last Thursday's power shortage left an estimated 50 million people sweltering in the heat.
A power blackout of this magnitude has only happened twice before - in 1965 and in 1977.
Some people were left stranded in downtown cores unable to get home as public transit was shut down. A few had to abandon their cars along expressways as they ran out of gas. And the people who made it home were forced to do without the conveniences of refrigeration, TV and the Internet.
But, as many readers have told us, it wasn't all bad. The neighbourhoods of downtown Toronto were alive with people enjoying the warm evening and chatting with friends. Many people took advantage of the clear night sky to do some stargazing from the inner city.
Here's how some of our readers coped:
"We were among the fortunate who had power restored shortly after midnight Friday morning. But our families in Oshawa still hadn't by early afternoon so my husband, Paul, packed up our unused Y2K generator and headed to Oshawa where he went from house to house powering up refrigerators. Late in the afternoon his parents and my parents were finally able to turn the lights on. His nickname now? 'Hydro Two.'
It's all about coming together."
"Let me tell you about my Thursday. The power goes out around four, and at work we have direct lines to banks all over the world, and when Ottawa, Montreal, New York, Washington, Detroit, Cleveland and others all drop out of sight simultaneously, we knew it was a big deal. But I had a date at 6:30.
So I went to check on the GO trains. They're my way home. They're all
running as usual. I thought I could go meet my date and take the train home
whenever I'm ready. So I go have some beers, then around 6:30 I go to the
bus terminal to wait for my date, who gets in around 7:30 (not bad), but
it's not like there's anyplace open to eat, so we sit & talk and then go down to Union Station to go our separate ways.
Oh my. Union Station was crazy. The trains had stopped! There was only a bus terminal packed with thousands and no clear directives as to which busses go where or when, or where to wait. It really looks like it could take hours to get home, if I could even get onto an appropriate bus at all.
I consider my options. I considered walking to a friend's place, since there
were a few within an hour or two's walk, but who even knows if they'd be
there? I figured I could go back up to the office and take a nap, but when you're on the 48th floor, stairs aren't so appealing. Besides, I discovered they only let people in going down, not up.
I hailed a taxi, and he wanted $500 to take me to Pickering. I got the taxicab
number, and when I called in this afternoon to complain, they said he'd already been fired. I take it I wasn't the only one to rat him out. It is actually illegal - charging that kind of price is against the Toronto taxicab passenger bill of rights.
At this point, I really had no options left but to sleep on a park bench or
go give the bus terminal another try. It had died down somewhat, though it
was definitely a mob mentality when it came to getting on a bus. I am not
proud of this, but I dodged the old, juked the crippled, and vaulted over a
small child to obtain a standing position on a bus that barely reached my
destination almost two hours after I boarded it.
I don't mean to make myself out as a bitter victim, but Toronto was (at
least in some parts) truly chaotic on Thursday night. No question about it."
"When our computers died and the lights blacked, I clambered down a dozen floors. It wasn't as challenging as it might have been. Despite my arthritis, I had a cane and my employer had an evacuation plan. They buddied up employees with disabilities with others who aren't disabled. From my office, I walked quickly to the Palliative Care Unit at St. Michael's Hospital where my sister is dying of cancer.
The hospital's emergency generators were up and running, but some patients had no lights in their room. Also, without air conditioning, the heat quickly began to take a toll on the dying. The nurses came around with flashlights for the bathrooms, fans for the bedside, and table lamps.
The steady scream of sirens and continuously clanging alarm bells unnerved even those only partially conscious. But the nurses and the aides calmed everyone. No one went without food, medicine, medical apparatus or a comforting word. I was impressed. This is health care at its best.
Those health care workers had stayed with patients long into the evening. I want to pay tribute to these women and men who radiated humour, confidence and compassion as frightened people struggled and prepared for their last breath."
"The evening gave neighbours the excuse to gather in groups, listen to car radios, etc. We planned a block barbecue for today if the hydro stayed off. We enjoyed the night, stayed out in the yard till dark, then lit candles and a lantern that my son stores in the garage.
Once I walked by my computer and without thinking tried to turn it on.
We reminisced about my youth on the farm without hydro, and how getting it has changed our lives so much. We talked about how we entertained ourselves before hydro. My daughter remembered seeing the old ice box at my mother's when she was little, unused by then, but still a treasure to mom."
"From my view, it was refreshing for the city to slow down a bit. We talked to our neighbours a little more than usual. In the heart of Toronto, we actually saw the night sky - the stars, the Milky Way and a shooting star or two.
My wife and I spent the evening chatting on our front veranda, with a candle lit - it almost felt like camping! It also made us appreciate those things we take for granted, like electricity. Toronto behaved itself really well - I heard lots of stories of people helping one another get home last night."
"I was fortunate enough to be heading to a bar when the lights went out.
I tried calling family but my cell kept fading. I met my girlfriends and we drank until the beer got warm and the bar closed. After 20 minutes of walking down King Street we found a cab to take us home.
We lit candles, turned on the barbecue and sat on the patio until 11. We listened to CBC Radio throughout the night for news. I'm at work now wishing I wasn't so essential - c'est la vie!"
"Around 8 p.m., getting dark in the house, but still fairly light outside. We decide to take a walk and see how no power is affecting the town. All the shops are, of course, closed, with the few exceptions being small corner convenience stores, still trying to stay open for emergency supplies. It's cash only and purchases are being totalled with calculators.
Getting closer to downtown I am amazed to see nearly every bar and small pub open and serving to literally masses of people, chairs and tables being brought out to the sidewalks and everyone in a festive mood. It's beginning to resemble the cafes and bistros of Europe. Power? Bah! Who needs it?
Further down the street, we spy an ice cream shop, the attendant madly scooping out cone after cone. Dessert anyone? OK, so we had a massive power outage, but the world around here doesn't stop. We improvise. We are, after all, Canadians!"
Where were you when the power went out? How did you cope? If you have an interesting personal story, send it to us at letters@cbc.ca.
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