Blackout of '03

Finally talked to Kevin this morning at 6:30. He said power had just been restored to his apartment (and obviously his cell phone since that's the only one he has). It was a mixture of good news and bad news. Good news is Kevin is safely at home. Bad news is he's not coming to visit this weekend. With everything such a mess, I'm sure it's for the best.

Kevin said he was at work when the power went out around 4pm. They all thought it would come back on after a few minutes, but became concerned when it didn't. The emergency lights came on and they were told in an announcement to stay at their desks. Apparently the exact same announcement was made on Sept 11th...so naturally everyone decided to leave the buildings. Eventually, Kevin got to the street and was able to hear the news on a car radio that people were crowded around. He decided to walk home.

Kevin spent 3 hours walking home and covered a total of 160 blocks. He was without power all night but, thankfully, was safe at home. What a crazy, crazy situation.

*Update: today the reports say 50 million people were out of power (up from 11 million last night).