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15 minute outage college park { August 14 2003 }

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   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59178-2003Aug14.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59178-2003Aug14.html

Air, Rail Travel Affected in Washington Area


By Christina Pino-Marina
Washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, August 14, 2003; 8:19 PM


Flight cancellations and train schedule disruptions resulted from the widespread blackouts across the eastern United States and parts of Canada, but the regional power grid that supplies electricity to the Washington area remained largely unaffected, according to local officials.

Flights to New York and other cities affected by blackouts were canceled, according to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokeswoman Tara Hamilton, but scheduled flights to other locations from Reagan National Airport or Dulles International Airport are continuing as planned.

Hamilton said that between 4 p.m. and the end of the day there were a combined 33 flights to the New York area -- 17 to LaGuardia, nine to JFK and seven to Newark – that are now canceled. The biggest hit is to shuttle service out of Reagan National.

There were also seven flights canceled tonight to Detroit, five to Toronto and five to Ottawa. Flights from Dulles and National to all other places unaffected by the power problems are continuing normally, Hamilton said. Maryland Aviation Administration Deputy Director of Communications Holly Ellison said operations Baltimore-Washington International Airport at are running as scheduled, but she referred travelers to the airport's Web site, www.bwiairport.com, which tracks updated flight schedules. The airlines are responsible, however, for making those updates, she said.

Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak, urged rail travelers to the New York area to postpone travel until power has been restored. Tonight's 7 p.m. and 7:10 p.m. departures for New York were canceled. Magliari said that travel on the Northeast Corridor route, which runs from Washington to Boston, was experiencing heavy delays and congestion north of Trenton. He said that travelers trying to get to Philadelphia tonight would encounter little trouble but that some trains were being held at Philadelphia because of signal problems between Trenton and New Rochelle, N.J.

He also said that the Capitol Limited, which left Washington about 5:30 p.m. en route to Chicago via Toledo and Cleveland, departed on time and would be subjected to some delays depending on the power outages in Ohio. The Carolinian was delayed about an hour, but it resumed service and will take passengers as far as Newark, New Jersey. He advised customers to check with Amtrak personnel, call 1-800-USA-RAIL, or to visit www.amtrak.com for more detailed information.

Washington D.C. resident Tanisha Wilson decided to return home after hearing about the power problems in a taxi on the way to the station. Ann Davis was trying to get to Detroit, where the power is also out. She decided to wait for a Greyhound bus, but was told it was delayed.

An Amtrak spokesman says Virginia Railway Express and MARC commuter trains are running normally.

Metrorail spokesman Steve Taubenkibel warned riders that they would be stuck if such an outage did hit the Washington area. The transit agency does not have enough backup generators to power 83 stations and 103 miles of track. According to Taubenkibel, backup generators can be used to power lights at Metro stations, but not much else.

The company that coordinates the movement of electricity through D.C., Virginia, Maryland and five other states, said this afternoon that the system is stable. Phillip Harris, president of PJM Interconnection, said they have not experienced any significant outages because automatic protective equipment isolated the electrical grid.

Harris said PJM is standing by to provide power to New York City, once the system is ready to handle it on that end. What he calls “significant and very large regional coordination” is underway.

Today's outage gave the District's emergency operations plan a test run. D.C. Emergency Management Agency Director Peter LaPorte said the city put its plan in motion after learning about the outages. LaPorte said local officials were in touch with over 60 agencies within minutes. He says they also communicated with New York City officials, the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA and the Office of Personnel Management.

LaPorte added that the District did not experience a surge of power and said the city will maintain emergency operations.

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams said this afternoon that the power situation in DC is "stable" because the Washington area is on a different power grid system than New York and other cities. The mayor told The Associated Press that if there were a similar outage in Washington, he would urge people to stay put until the power was back up to ensure an orderly commute. He encouraged residents to go about their regular business.

University of Maryland officials reported a brief, 15-minute outage on the College Park campus. The outage started around 4:15 p.m. but power was quickly restored. A university spokesman said the school receives power from Pepco and generates its own from power plants around campus. Pepco spokesman David Morehead said the school's generators shut down when they got a surge in power because of the blackouts elsewhere.

BGE and Pepco are reporting no outages in central Maryland or the Washington suburbs. A Dominion Virginia Power spokesman said the utility has no power problems and is continuing normal service to its 2 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina.

The Associated Press and washingtonpost.com staff writers Maryan Chilinguerian, Robert MacMillan, Ann Marchand and Russ Walker contributed to this report.


© 2003 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive




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