Major Power outage over the northeast.

A power outage struck several cities in the eastern United States and Canada this afternoon, wreaking havoc at intersections as traffic lights went out and trapping thousands of people in New York City's stalled subways.



The Department of Homeland Security said there was no indication that terrorism was involved but said authorities were investigating the massive power outage. A senior White House administration official also said there was no evidence that the outage was terror-related.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there were no indications of terrorism. He said the outage was a "natural occurrence" that may be connected to a power grid malfunction near Niagara Falls.

Bloomberg said he had heard from authorities that the outage started in Canada and cascaded down to New York and as far west as Ohio.Officials said they were working to determine the extent and cause of the outage. Bloomberg urged New Yorkers not to panic.

Lights Out

At about 3:45 p.m. ET, people in New York City, Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, Albany, N.Y., Detroit and Lansing, Mich., and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut reported power outages. In Canada, Toronto and Ontario also suffered outages. Most cell phone service was also affected.

An operator for Verizon phone service in New York City said calls were flooding in to directory information.

"Everybody's looking for every electric company you can possibly think of," the operator said.

No outages were reported in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston or Chicago. There were no power outages reported in the West Coast. Power company officials said there was no irregular activity in their power grid.

Traffic on Foot, Planes Grounded

Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded airplanes in all three New York-area airports — La Guardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark International airports — and in airports in Cleveland and Ottawa.

Areas believed to be affected by the power outage. (ABCNEWS.com/ Magellan Geographix)

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said there was no train or subway service in New York City. Traffic lights went out, and passers-by were directing traffic in midtown Manhattan. Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter trains lost power, stranding thousands of rush- hour commuters.

During rush hour at Columbus Circle, one of Manhattan's most-famous intersections, traffic moved slowly and cautiously. Police officers directed traffic as best they could, but by and large, with subway lines also not running, the traffic was on foot.

Hot, Humid Day

In Cleveland, at least one hospita said it was not severely affected by the power outages in the city.

"We are operating on backup generators right now … so everything … is OK for the moment," said Joyce Persaud, a spokeswoman for the Huron Hospital.

The outage hit New York City shortly before the major stock exchanges were due to close for the day. The New York Federal Reserve Bank said it could not confirm that every commercial bank in its district was operating.

Officials said they assumed most of those banks have backup power sources, and that the federal wire money transfer system is operating normally. The New York Mercantile Exchange said it closed access to its overnight electronic trading system until further notice.

The power went out on a hot, humid day when many residents had been blasting their air conditioning. In New York's Central Park, it was a sultry 88 degrees when the power went out. It was 87 degrees in Detroit and Cleveland at 4:30 p.m. ET, and 81 degrees in Toronto.


The power is starting to come back up. Cleveland, New York City, Ottawa, Toronto, Boston, Detroit... many more affected. People trapped in subway cars, transformer fire(s) reported, airports and railroads shutdown, buildings being evacuated.