15 Years Ago, Blackout Plunged the Northeast Into Darkness

4:59 AM PDT, August 14, 2018 - Inside Edition Staff

Playing Why Was There a Blackout Along the East Coast 15 Years Ago?

Aug. 14 marks the 15th anniversary of the major 2003 Northeast blackout.

Lights went dark across the Northeast, plunging major cities, most notably in New York, into darkness. Power was out for more than 30 hours.

Trains and traffic lights shut down and thousands of people had to be evacuated from underground in Manhattan.

Many people thought the blackout was a terrorist attack, but then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg quickly made a statement to calm people’s fears.

The blackout was reportedly caused by a glitch at an Akron, Ohio, energy company.

It eventually caused 265 power plants to be shut down, affecting more than 50 million people across the Northeast.

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