August 14, 2003

The huge power outage that hit the NORTHEAST at 4p (ET) when the NIAGARA/MOHAWK power grid failed apparently started in OTTAWA, CANADA and rippled through NEW YORK CITY, ALBANY, DETROIT, CLEVELAND, TORONTO, and other major cities.

The blackout forced a number of stations off the air and many got back on the air using backup transmitters and power supplies. WHTZ, WLTW, WAQX, WKTU ran audio from WNBC-TV from 4:25p until just after 7:00p (ET) when they returned to music.

Also, affected were virtually all record labels in and around the NEW YORK CITY area, and airport operations in those cities and those with interconnecting flights were disrupted. Hope anyone you know wasn't on a subway or in an elevator … who's got the movie right to this one?