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Normally bright city skylines, here in Toronto, were plunged into blackness |
2003: Lights go out across NE America |
England have
Massive power failures have caused chaos across the eastern United States and Canada, hitting major cities such as New York and Ottawa.
It is thought to be the worst power cut in US history, and has affected more than 50 million people.
Traffic lights failed, underground railways were evacuated and people were trapped in lifts in offices and apartments. Flights into six airports in the affected areas were stopped for several hours.
There were extraordinary scenes in New York City as workers walked home, choking pavements and roads.
Civilians manned intersections directing gridlocked traffic after traffic signals failed.
Thousands of commuters were unable to get home and spent the night sleeping on the streets.
In many areas, the main difficulty was the soaring heat. The blackout happened on one of the hottest days of the year, with temperatures of up to 32C.
Manhattan worker Lucy was one of those who walked home, leaving her office at 1630 (1200 GMT) and arriving at her Jersey City home at midnight.
"I tried to get a ferry from NYC, but they soon stopped from the pier I walked to as they all ran out of fuel," she said.
"The queues were terrible - people fainting everywhere from the heat."
For many, the incident brought back memories of the terrorist attacks of 11 September.
Jessica Nottes was on top of the Empire State building when the power went out.
"We had to walk down 86 flights of stairs," she said. "I kept thinking about the Twin Towers and how I would get down. But everybody was calm."
President George W Bush was quick to give reassurances that terrorism was not to blame, and added, "We're slowly but surely coping with this massive national problem."
Canadian officials have pointed to a fire in a power plant near the upstate New York town of Niagara as the cause, although the United States disputes this.
A spokeswoman for New York Governor George Pataki said US officials were looking at a power transmission problem from Canada as the most likely source of the power cuts.
Work has been going on through the night to restore electricity to the worst-hit areas, and some power is returning although officials say restoring levels to normal could take much longer.
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