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NYC-Post Blackout Analysis
NYC finds flaws with itself in post-blackout analysis
NEW YORK (AP) - Police and fire stations lacked sufficient
backup power, telephone systems failed and the public address
system in a key city building didn't work, according to a city
report on its response to the August blackout.
The fire department's dispatch system in Brooklyn collapsed
after backup power-generating equipment at Verizon's midtown
Manhattan office went down, according to the report, "Enhancing
New York City's Emergency Preparedness," and the Emergency Medical
Service response failed citywide.
The problems at the Verizon office interrupted cell phone and
landline service, including at the city's Office of Emergency
Management's emergency operations center, police precincts,
hospitals and firehouses during the blackout.
The blackout, which began the afternoon of Aug. 14 and lasted
about a day, engulfed much of the Northeast and parts of the
Midwest and Canada.
"The city was fortunate that the loss of power occurred in nice
weather during daylight hours, was of limited duration and occurred
at the end of the workweek," said the report, which was issued
Tuesday.
A Verizon spokesman said that the report put too much blame on
the phone company but that over the past month it has purchased
several new backup generators.
"We should not lose sight of the real problem here - a power
blackout of unique proportions," spokesman Daniel Diaz Zapata said
in a statement. "Verizon was not the cause but rather a victim
like everyone in the Northeast."
Diaz added that "Verizon's network performed astonishingly
well."
The blackout cost the city between $700 million and $1 billion,
according to the analysis, conducted by city officials and
corporate executives. The number of serious fires during the
blackout was six times the normal number, largely because of
accidents with candles. The number of deaths attributable directly
to the blackout was unclear.
While the report concludes that most things went relatively
smoothly during the blackout, it found that much of what did go
wrong was due to lack of communication between city agencies and
insufficient backup power supplies.
"Many city offices and private sector functions did not have
sufficient backup power in place, including key agencies such as
the departments of health, sanitation, transportation and
neighborhood firehouses," the report said. "A small percentage of
emergency generators failed to operate, either failing to initiate
power generation or ceasing to operate during the blackout due to
mechanical failure or exhaustion of fuel supply."
Also, radio repeaters and radio systems failed due to lack of
backup energy and the mayor was unable to communicate with the city
effectively because City Hall - which did have backup power -
lacked the equipment and space to operate as an emergency command
center.
Finally, when power went out at the Municipal Building, which
houses 16 city agencies and some 2,250 employees, the public
address system failed because there were no backup batteries or a
generator.
The report offers 35 recommendations, including strengthening
the city's command center structure; reordering the 911 system so
callers can report incidents to the fire or police departments; and
developing a "private wired and wireless communications
infrastructure."
Several of the proposals would likely be prohibitively expensive
for a city that faces a $2 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal
year.
"Some of the things are practical, that you'll be able to fix
easily, some long-term, some things, maybe the real world is you
just say, 'it would be nice if, but we probably won't in the real
world get there,"' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
NEW YORK (AP) - Police and fire stations lacked sufficient
backup power, telephone systems failed and the public address
system in a key city building didn't work, according to a city
report on its response to the August blackout.
The fire department's dispatch system in Brooklyn collapsed
after backup power-generating equipment at Verizon's midtown
Manhattan office went down, according to the report, "Enhancing
New York City's Emergency Preparedness," and the Emergency Medical
Service response failed citywide.
The problems at the Verizon office interrupted cell phone and
landline service, including at the city's Office of Emergency
Management's emergency operations center, police precincts,
hospitals and firehouses during the blackout.
The blackout, which began the afternoon of Aug. 14 and lasted
about a day, engulfed much of the Northeast and parts of the
Midwest and Canada.
"The city was fortunate that the loss of power occurred in nice
weather during daylight hours, was of limited duration and occurred
at the end of the workweek," said the report, which was issued
Tuesday.
A Verizon spokesman said that the report put too much blame on
the phone company but that over the past month it has purchased
several new backup generators.
"We should not lose sight of the real problem here - a power
blackout of unique proportions," spokesman Daniel Diaz Zapata said
in a statement. "Verizon was not the cause but rather a victim
like everyone in the Northeast."
Diaz added that "Verizon's network performed astonishingly
well."
The blackout cost the city between $700 million and $1 billion,
according to the analysis, conducted by city officials and
corporate executives. The number of serious fires during the
blackout was six times the normal number, largely because of
accidents with candles. The number of deaths attributable directly
to the blackout was unclear.
While the report concludes that most things went relatively
smoothly during the blackout, it found that much of what did go
wrong was due to lack of communication between city agencies and
insufficient backup power supplies.
"Many city offices and private sector functions did not have
sufficient backup power in place, including key agencies such as
the departments of health, sanitation, transportation and
neighborhood firehouses," the report said. "A small percentage of
emergency generators failed to operate, either failing to initiate
power generation or ceasing to operate during the blackout due to
mechanical failure or exhaustion of fuel supply."
Also, radio repeaters and radio systems failed due to lack of
backup energy and the mayor was unable to communicate with the city
effectively because City Hall - which did have backup power -
lacked the equipment and space to operate as an emergency command
center.
Finally, when power went out at the Municipal Building, which
houses 16 city agencies and some 2,250 employees, the public
address system failed because there were no backup batteries or a
generator.
The report offers 35 recommendations, including strengthening
the city's command center structure; reordering the 911 system so
callers can report incidents to the fire or police departments; and
developing a "private wired and wireless communications
infrastructure."
Several of the proposals would likely be prohibitively expensive
for a city that faces a $2 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal
year.
"Some of the things are practical, that you'll be able to fix
easily, some long-term, some things, maybe the real world is you
just say, 'it would be nice if, but we probably won't in the real
world get there,"' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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