All better now, in spite of stupidity

Rico says his father and stepmother live in La Jolla, a suburb of San Diego, and had their lights go out until about 4am this morning, but Craig Gustafson has the whole story at SanDiego.com:

A widespread power outage recently led to controlled chaos throughout San Diego County, Baja California, part of Arizona, and other areas as about five million people coped with the sudden loss of electricity. San Diego Gas & Electric officials said the power system is still fragile, even as the power is back on in this region.
The outage began at 3:38 p.m. after a five-hundred-kilovolt high-voltage transmission line from Arizona to California failed, triggering a cascade of events that then knocked the San Onofre nuclear power plant offline. Those are the two major power sources for the region.
SDG&E said 1.4 million of its customers in San Diego and Orange counties were affected, as well as residents east into Arizona and south into Baja California. The power failure led to school and business closures, suspended water service in some areas, flight cancellations, blacked-out traffic lights, silent radio stations, and trapped elevator passengers. Public schools throughout the county and several higher-education institutions were closed on Friday.
Power came back on in Orange County and small pockets of San Diego County by late Thursday evening, with the restoration occurring first in outlying areas of the San Diego region as roughly 115 power substations were rebooted one by one.

Blackout tips:
Keep refrigerators closed.
An unopened fridge will keep food cold for about four hours; a full freezer will keep food cold about 48 hours.
Turn off and unplug large electronics. Wait until the power is back on to restart them.
Stay home and off the roads if possible.
Keep landlines and cell phones open for emergency calls.

There were no significant reports of crime, although some outage-related traffic accidents happened throughout the county. San Diego police put more officers on the street to help direct and monitor traffic, respond to calls, and keep an eye out for looters who may want to take advantage of the dark.
Mike Niggli, president and chief operating officer for San Diego Gas & Electric, said he found out about the power failure at the same time as everyone else. "The lights in the office went out with no warning at all," he said. "I started at SDG&E in 1971, and I have never been in a situation like this." The investigation into the cause of the power failure could take months, utility experts said. At this point, the Arizona Public Service utility company said the outage began after one of its employees performed a procedure on the North Gila-Hassayampa transmission line near Yuma, Arizona. “Essentially we have two connections to the rest of the world— one to the north and one to the east— and both of those connections were severed,” Niggli said. “We actually don’t know what happened to the line. All we know is the line went out.”
The power failure threw a wrench in the everyday life of a modern society that is heavily dependent on electricity. Commerce ground to a halt as gas stations and other businesses closed their doors. Residents familiar with breezy San Diego temperatures scrambled to buy ice and other comforts to cope with a continuing heat wave.
Peggy Gimbel, who had to pry open her garage door to get out of her Carlsbad home, called the break from power “peaceful” as she sat at a nail salon. She said the outage shows the fragility of the region’s energy system. “It’s a fact of life. We are dependent upon things,” Gimbel said. About dealing with the lack of electricity, she said, “You put on your big girl pants and deal with it.”
For some, the outage’s proximity to the ten-year anniversary of the 11 September terrorist attacks caused worry: “It’s the worst day of the year. ...It’s just freaky that is was so close to 9/11,” said Kim Conway, who was shopping at a San Marcos grocery store. Her cart was filled with beer and alcohol as she and her neighbors prepared for an impromptu block party in the dark.
Transportation in all its forms was hit or miss, depending on if the mode required electricity to operate. Inbound flights continued at Lindbergh Field, but outbound flights were halted. Officials advised passengers to check their flight's status before heading to the airport.
The Metropolitan Transit Service halted trolleys, which require electricity to run, but pressed every available bus into service. Coaster and Sprinter trains continued to run late Thursday, as well as Amtrak. Public-transportation officials expected bus, trolley and train service to resume Friday, but cautioned travelers to be prepared for delays or limited service in some areas.
Heavy traffic was reported throughout the county’s roadways as darkened stoplights slowed traffic amid a mass exodus of drivers headed home once the power went out. Gas stations were mostly closed as they had no power to pump fuel and no means of processing transactions.
California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings said gridlock ensued minutes after the outage and there were several reports of drivers illegally running through intersections. “People are forgetting that when power is out at an intersection, it is a stop sign,” he said. “We’re having crashes because people are blowing through these intersections as if it’s a green light.”
Hospitals around the county continue to operate with backup generators, and officials at several facilities said patients weren’t in any danger.
The outage also led to roughly seventy elevator rescues as an unknown number of people became stranded across the county. Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said firefighters responded to calls with medical emergencies first, and began responding to the rest of those trapped in elevators about 6:45 p.m. Many of the rescues were requested in downtown and University City areas, where there are taller buildings. Luque cautioned residents to call for help only if there was an emergency. “Don’t call 911 unnecessarily,” he said. “Legitimate emergency calls can’t get through.”
Another major concern was water. The supply from the San Diego County Water Authority remains stable and safe, but some San Diego city residents may have difficulty accessing water as several pump stations are without power. City officials said some customers could see a significant drop in water pressure and urged residents to conserve.
Not everyone was left in the dark. Several homes, government buildings and businesses, including casinos and The San Diego Union-Tribune, had power thanks to backup generators. The power failure also left Friday’s opening of businesses and public facilities up in the air, as electricity may or may not be restored yet to some areas. The tendency was to preemptively cancel events.
The outage occurred on the final day of a heat wave that sent temperatures eight to twelve degrees above normal. Temperatures shot into the upper 90s and low 100s across inland valleys and foothills, and as high as 114 in the local desert. The weather was even stifling at the coast due to the lack of a sea breeze. By midafternoon, the temperature had hit 89 in Chula Vista and 88 in Encinitas.
The National Weather Service in San Diego said temperatures will moderate on Friday, rising to the mid-80s and low 90s across inland valleys and foothills, the 80s in local mountains, and the low-to-mid 70s at the coast.

Rico says he's lived through power outages; it's worse in the wintertime, when you get cold in the dark... But 'one of its employees performed a procedure'? That's a classic. Maybe SDG&E will have to perform a procedure on him...