Power outage in Southern Florida shuts down communities but prompts quick response

| 02.27.2008 | 14:26:356896 |

February 27 '08: The Miami Herald reported that a major power outage which hit Southern Florida "disrupted life in nearly every imaginable way," after what the Sun-Sentinel reported was a nuclear power plant shutdown which triggered a chain reaction that left more than 1 million people without power.

The Herald reported that many area hospitals' emergency backup power generators were immediately switched on while firefighting units had to be called into save people stranded in elevators. Additionally, the amount of calls placed to Miami-Dade 911 call centers spike during the outage, but that they "returned to normal" once the power began to be restored to many parts of the region.

Officials told the Herald, "During the peak of the outage, we were running all over town," Miami Fire Chief Herminio Lorenzo said. Additional units were called in to help as street intersections became completely grid locked. Many police officers reported a large number of accidents at intersections after street lights were turned off.

"In downtown Miami and in the Brickell business district," the Herald reported, "the loss of power plunged motorists into gridlock - and as office towers lost air conditioning, thousands of employees streamed into the streets, filling up tables in sidewalk cafes. ... Some parking garage attendants made the ultimate professional sacrifice: They raised the barricades and allowed cars to pass in and out without paying."

The Sun-Sentinel reported, "A spokesman for Florida Power & Light said the problems at the Turkey Point reactor were followed by an automatic shutdown for safety reasons." The worst of the outages were in Miami-Dade. "There were also reports of several blackouts in west and Central Broward County, including parts of the Seminole Reservation, Cooper City, Davie and Pembroke Pines.

National Blueprint Tags: Response & Containment, Transportation & Logistics, Public Health & Medical, Economic & Infrastructure.

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