Are We Still Vulnerable Nine Years After Northeast Blackout?
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Tuesday marks nine years since the northeast was plunged into darkness by a blackout that lasted for days.
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond On The Story
Podcast
"A river of power outage refugees pouring over the Brooklyn Bridge," WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported on August 14, 2003.
There was no electricity and, therefore, no subway service.
"Hundreds of people are all over the sidewalks," then WCBS 880 reporter Martin DiCaro said.
Since the blackout of 2003, 16,000 miles of new transmission lines have been added to the northeast grid.
But Jerry Kremer, chairman of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (AREA) told WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond that we're still at risk.
"It's just not a sexy enough issue for people," he said. "They just assume that the lights are always going to be on, and it's a bad assumption because the fact of the matter is, the money hasn't been put into it, and there's no political pressure to make all of the changes."
"We have to protect the system. We have to upgrade it," he said.
What did you do during the northeast blackout of 2003? Share your story below.
