I hope everyone on the east coast (like myself) made it through the blackout. Anyone wish to share their experiences "sans electricity" (computers, degreeinfo.com, ect....). I was finally able to get a clear look at the night sky without all those lights, and it was beautiful! However, my friends father was missing in manhattan until the early morning hours, when he got a ride home to Flushing by a group of Polish Tourists! (no joke)
I spent Thursday evening directing traffic at the intersections of Lawrence and Dufferin. After spending a couple of hours doing this arduous task, I was relieved by a police officer. I haven't seen this much chaos and mass confusion in a long time............ Let me tell you this. Directing traffic is not an easy task. Not every body appreciates seeing a civilian standing in the middle of the road directing traffic. When power was restored I did the following (in order as they appear). (1) did a "damage control" check of my property (2) took a nice long shower (3) had an ice cold beer
I'm not a resident of the effected areas, but I do want to say that the response of the millions of people who live there, Canadian and American alike, was great. Governments kicked into emergency mode smoothly, the public remained calm, people helped one another and even showed good humor through it all. The rest of us were watching with great interest and with some concern. What we saw was impressive.
Re: Re: Re: The Blackout No that was some other shmuck who showed up intoxicated. He directed traffic for about half an hour, then the cops showed up. I was already at home when the CBC arrived to video the chaos at the intersection. Curious: It was the intersection of Lawrence and Dufferin in Toronto. Did they mention the names of the cross streets? (I didn't get to see the news clip)
I was impressed to see Mayor Bloomberg direct the emergency procedures in a timely and efficient manner. He definitely has the same finesse as Mayor Rudolph Guliani. Our mayor, on the other hand, reminded me of Jack Nicholson in "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest".
blackout I teach a unit on Emergency Preparedness. Does anyone have any insight into ways to be better prepared for incidents? Was there any particular obstacle that could have been avoided? In what ways did you improvise?
Re: blackout bruinsgrad, Do you teach Emergency Preparedness to first reponders or civillians? Any specific types of emergencies you are teaching? There are different responses by different emergency personnel. The police have a different role than the fire and first aid have. For an example, where I work, we have obtained the local energy grid maps from the local power company. We have an officer assigned to work with them and set up communications. If we have a power outage or issue ( haven't had one as big as last weeks yet) we can tell by the grid how deploy our personnel to handle the area. If we have enough notice, we can notify the residents they will lose power ( hot summer brown outs). I can provide other public safety information if you wish, but please let me know what kind of information you are seeking and who would be your students. Thank you.
The National news in Canada had an hour long segment on the blackout. Anyone who cared was, of course, blacked out.
Why does this bring to mind the movie "Home Alone"? Did they play some polka music as they drove??? I am glad he's safe. I live in the Cleveland area and was at work when the power went out. Fighting the "rush hour" traffic with no stop lights can be pretty slow and crazy. It must 've been real tough at night. I will admit that they did an excellent job of restoring it. It went out around 4:10-15pm and it was back on by 12:30am that night. Blessings,
The only reason the Liberals are in the dark is that they have their heads so far ........... For future reference - next time it snows in Toronto, it is not national news.
Re: Re: blackout Thanks, I appreciate your response, but the unit I teach is for general civilian purposes, incorporated into a Community First Aid/CPR course. Since they've never experienced anything more than slight inconvenience/discomfort with earthquakes, its hard to address preparedness without example. Even when we had our rolling blackouts here, everyone was forewarned and not left in the dark more than a few hours. Any insight gained would be appreciated.
Re: Re: Re: blackout bruinsgrad, I sent you two PMs. If I or my agency can be of any further assistance, please let me know. Thank you.
