Subject: [NEXTEL-1] NYC finds flaws with itself in post-blackout analysis

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 21:41:26 -0500

NYC finds flaws with itself in post-blackout analysis

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
October 28, 2003, 8:16 PM EST

NEW YORK -- Police and fire stations lacked sufficient backup power,
telephone systems failed and the public address system in a key city
building didn't work, according to a city report on its response to the
August blackout.
The fire department's dispatch system in Brooklyn collapsed after backup
power-generating equipment at Verizon's midtown Manhattan office went
down, according to the report, "Enhancing New York City's Emergency
Preparedness," and the Emergency Medical Service response failed
citywide.

The problems at the Verizon office interrupted cell phone and landline
service, including at the city's Office of Emergency Management's
emergency operations center, police precincts, hospitals and firehouses
during the blackout.
The blackout, which began the afternoon of Aug. 14 and lasted about a
day, engulfed much of the Northeast and parts of the Midwest and Canada.

"The city was fortunate that the loss of power occurred in nice weather
during daylight hours, was of limited duration and occurred at the end
of the workweek," said the report, which was issued Tuesday.

A Verizon spokesman said that the report put too much blame on the phone
company but that over the past month it has purchased several new backup
generators.

"We should not lose sight of the real problem here _ a power blackout of
unique proportions," spokesman Daniel Diaz Zapata said in a statement.
"Verizon was not the cause but rather a victim like everyone in the
Northeast."
Diaz added that "Verizon's network performed astonishingly well."

The blackout cost the city between $700 million and $1 billion,
according to the analysis, conducted by city officials and corporate
executives. The number of serious fires during the blackout was six
times the normal number, largely because of accidents with candles. The
number of deaths attributable directly to the blackout was unclear.

While the report concludes that most things went relatively smoothly
during the blackout, it found that much of what did go wrong was due to
lack of communication between city agencies and insufficient backup
power supplies.

"Many city offices and private sector functions did not have sufficient
backup power in place, including key agencies such as the departments of
health, sanitation, transportation and neighborhood firehouses," the
report said. "A small percentage of emergency generators failed to
operate, either failing to initiate power generation or ceasing to
operate during the blackout due to mechanical failure or exhaustion of
fuel supply."

Also, radio repeaters and radio systems failed due to lack of backup
energy and the mayor was unable to communicate with the city effectively
because City Hall _ which did have backup power _ lacked the equipment
and space to operate as an emergency command center.

Finally, when power went out at the Municipal Building, which houses 16
city agencies and some 2,250 employees, the public address system failed
because there were no backup batteries or a generator.

The report offers 35 recommendations, including strengthening the city's
command center structure; reordering the 911 system so callers can
report incidents to the fire or police departments; and developing a
"private wired and wireless communications infrastructure."

Several of the proposals would likely be prohibitively expensive for a
city that faces a $2 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year.

"Some of the things are practical, that you'll be able to fix easily,
some long-term, some things, maybe the real world is you just say, 'it
would be nice if, but we probably won't in the real world get there,"'
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--blackout1028oct28,0,6314678.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

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