blackout

The dark Manhattan skyline, seen from Queens, is silhouetted against a pre-dawn sky Aug. 15, 2003. A widespread power outage hit most of northeastern United States Aug. 14, leaving the city in the dark.

Commuters sleep on the steps of the Post Office on 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue in New York during the early hours of Aug. 15, 2003 after being stranded by the city's electrical blackout.

Rebecca Westheuser sheds a bit of light on George Street during a blackout in Peterborough, Ont., Aug. 14, 2003, that covered most of Ontario, and parts of the United States.

Michael Jackson uses a flashlight while shopping in Toronto Aug. 14, 2003, after a power blackout hit much of Ontario and the northeastern United States.

Isabelle Beaudry, a manager at an Irish pub in Ottawa, pours pints by candlelight in the city during a massive power outage Aug. 14, 2003. A widespread power outage hit most of Ontario and the United States as far west as Cleveland Aug. 14, shutting down offices and forcing workers to navigate their way home without traffic lights or transit in sweltering temperatures.

One of the first gas stations in London, Ontario, to get power back is flooded by customers trying to get gasoline and supplies Aug. 14, 2003. Power was restored to London residents by late evening.

The sun rises over the skyline of the Upper West side of Manhattan as seen from Weehawken, N.J. Aug. 15, 2003. A sudden blackout robbed electricity from millions of people across a vast swath of the northern United States and southern Canada on Aug. 14.

A darkened New York City is visible just before dawn through power lines from Jersey City, N.J., shown in foreground, with some lights visible, Aug. 15, 2003.

Rochester Police officer Dave E. Morales lights flares while manning an intersection in the darkened city Aug. 15, 2003.

A taxi moves down Broadway through the heart of New York's Times Square at dawn, Aug. 15, 2003. A massive power blackout left the famed neon lights and most of New York City off the power grid.

A news vendor works by candlelight in New York's Times Square shortly after midnight Aug. 15, 2003.

A woman who declined to give her name sits on a park bench with her sleeping children and husband early morning, Aug. 15, 2003, after she said they could not gain access to their room at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in nearby Times Square.

An unidentified woman is comforted after being rescued from an apartment fire in the Bronx borough of New York, Aug. 15, 2003. Electric service had not been restored in the area following the blackout in the northeastern United States and southern Canada.

View of the Upper West side of Manhattan is seen from a Weehawken, N.J. park Aug. 14, 2003.

The Statue of Liberty is lit but the New York City skyline behind it is mostly dark as seen from Bayonne, N.J.