Can you see in the dark? Neither could the 50 million or so people plunged into a world of darkness on August 14, 2003 when a tree in Ohio came in contact with high-power transmission lines, knocking out electricity in Michigan, New England and into Canada. It was the largest-ever power outage in the nation and brought up concerns about the reliability of the country’s aging electrical grid.
Where were you during the blackout of 2003?
Pedestrians leaving Manhattan flood New York’s 59th St. Bridge to Queens in this Aug. 14, 2003 file photo, after a power blackout crippled the city. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)
In this Aug. 14, 2013 file photo, passengers wait inside a stranded New York City subway train during a blackout. About 50 million people lost power Aug. 14, 2003, when a tree branch touching high-power transmission lines in Ohio started an outage that cascaded across a broad swath from Michigan to New England and Quebec. (AP Photo/Robbie Bailey, File)
In a Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 file photo, customers wait in line to buy essential items at a grocery store in Grosse Pointe, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
A taxi moves down Broadway through the heart of New York’s Times Square at dawn on the day after a blackout that left U.S. and Canadian cities in the dark in this Aug. 15, 2003, file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
In a Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 file photo, a stranded traveler sleeps in the baggage claim area at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
People try to board the back of a crowded New York bus during the blackout that left U.S. and Canadian cities in the dark in this Aug. 14, 2003, file photo. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
In a Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 file photo, the Empire State Building towers over the skyline of a blackout-darkened New York City just before dawn. Power lines from Jersey City, N.J., are in foreground. (AP Photo/File, George Widman, File)
Commuters sleep on the steps of the Central Post Office in New York during the early hours in this Aug. 15, 2003 file photo, after being stranded following the city’s electrical blackout. (AP Photo/ Mike Appleton, File)
Cars try to navigate their way through New York City during a blackout that hit U.S. and Canadian cities in this Aug. 14, 2003, file photo. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
In a Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 file photo, thousands of commuters wait for a chance to board a ferry from Manhattan to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River in New York, after a massive blackout shut down trains and subway lines. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
In this Aug. 14, 2003 file photo, New York City transit workers escort riders off of a stranded subway car, during a power outage. About 50 million people lost power Aug. 14, 2003, when a tree branch touching high-power transmission lines in Ohio started an outage that cascaded across a broad swath from Michigan to New England and Quebec. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, File)
In a Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003, file photo a couple enjoys a candlelight dinner at a downtown Toronto restaurant during a major power failure. Ten years after a blackout cascading from Ohio affected 50 million people, utilities and analysts say changes made in the aftermath make a similar outage unlikely today, though shifts in where and how power is generated raise new reliability concerns for the U.S. electric grid system. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson, File)