|
The blackout in mid-August, the worst in North American history, cost New York City's economy as much as $1 billion, according to a report released on Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The power outage, which left thousands of New Yorkers stranded in the sweltering heat on Aug. 14 when the electricity went off shortly after 4 p.m., put a spotlight on serious problems with New York City's emergency preparedness and showed the flaws of the 911 emergency call system, the report said.
New York's subways were paralyzed in the blackout, which hit U.S. and Canadian cities from Manhattan to Detroit. Manhattan's restaurants had to throw out millions of dollars' worth of melted ice cream, spoiled meat and other perishables.
Verizon Communications Inc. (nyse: VZ - news - people) was faulted in the report for its role in problems with the 911 telephone system that New York City's 8.4 million residents rely on to report fires, crimes, accidents and other emergencies.
In response to the criticism, a Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said: "The city's 911 system did not miss a single call."
But Bonomo noted that for three periods, which lasted only minutes, a switching center's failure prevented 911 operators from sending calls to the emergency medical service.
Police precincts, firehouses and hospitals in the area all lost telephone service, according to the report, prepared by the mayor's task force.
CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?
Bloomberg, at a news conference, promised to overhaul outdated procedures that now delay 911 response times. Use of better technology also could help, he added.
"Right now, the city does not know where the fire trucks, police cars, ambulances and other cars of city agencies are," Bloomberg said.
Wireless communications may be improved for police and fire departments and other agencies, according to Gino Menshini, commisioner of the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.
"Redundancy is a good thing -- and to do it in an affordable way," Menshini told Reuters.
Problems identified in the the task force's report ranged from dramatically overcrowded ferries to service outages affecting cell phones and cordless telephones, which prevented millions from calling home.
Though the city had a list of buildings that can be used in emergencies -- from hurricanes to heat waves -- most are public schools with no back-up power.
Many private companies and city agencies also lacked back-up generators. So they had problems evacuating workers -- some of whom got stuck in elevators -- and scores of tenants in high-rise apartment buildings had no drinkable water.
New York City has 1 million disabled residents. Identifying these people, many of whom are homebound, was "a pervasive concern" during the outage, the report said. More outreach is needed, it said, adding such at-risk residents also should stockpile emergency supplies and develop buddy systems.
The slow recovery of steam pressure, a problem the report blamed on Consolidated Edison Inc. (nyse: ED - news - people), slowed the business recovery; 1,800 companies needed steam for air-conditioning and other services.
A Con Ed spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The city's hospitals also suffered during the blackout, with a handful losing power in "certain functional areas," the report said. Some hospitals were besieged by people needing non-emergency prescriptions because drugstores were closed.
|
|
