Massive Power Outage in Florida: What was the Cause? Mayor Says it was Not Sabotage

This afternoon, at about 1 p.m., millions of Floridians were effected by a massive power loss. Some people reported hearing a little popping noise, others nothing. I was in Publix supermarket and all of a sudden it was pitch dark in the store, but within a few minutes, their generator kicked in and some lights came on as well as their refrigeration and usage of the cash registers. Well, that has to be a priority, right?

But nobody knew what happened and I have to admit to being a little upset and worried especially when I first heard how extreme the outage was. Everyone in the store was trying to guess but at that time it wasn't known what had happened. On my way home all the street lights were out and most people were polite on the roads and used the 4 way stop sign rule... well, except for one idiot I encountered.

When I arrived home though my phone was ringing off the hook; everyone was concerned, especially when it sunk in that this was so wide a problem -- my sister in Broward County, my daughter in Ft. Lauderdale with no power!

Then we learned that this loss of electricity was affecting people throughout the state, and still nobody had any idea what had happened. The only phone that worked in my house was my land-line phone which doesn't need electricity. I have battery powered TV and was able to hear the news but at that time they didn't know anything either, then, all of a sudden I heard that most welcome sound of my big TV and the blinking lights came on all my clocks, my stove and VCR's. So, I was a lucky one, without power for only and hour and a half.

Many others are not so lucky as of right now. I learned from the news shows that at one point 700,000 people were affected by the outage.

Then Florida Power and Light announced that they have restored power to more than half of that number. Unfortunately the FPL web-site was not available.

So what happened? Nobody knows for sure, but both of the nuclear reactors at FPL's Turkey Point facility as well as two oil-burning plants shut down when they were tripped off unexpectedly, according to Ken Clark, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's regional office in Atlanta.

According to cbs4 reporter Michael Williams, a major piece of equipment that is used to regulate the voltage usage broke down in one of the substations in the South Dade area of Miami, creating power surge which caused a complete loss of power when they had to shut down Turkey Points Nuclear reactors, which is the major source of power for the whole state. This caused a domino effect, shutting down 8 more plants all around the state -- from Orlando to Cape Kennedy and even down to Key West, where power went out for 15 minutes.

Then Miami Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez came on TV to announce there was no threat of terrorism or foul play. The airports, both Miami International Airport and Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International were not affected by the outage. Neither was the Port of Miami.

There was a short time that Miami Dade's Metrorail and Metro Mover shut down but the Tri-Rail system was not affected.

Emergency Operations Centers were opened for a short time as well. and schools were locked down in Dade county, just to be cautious.

But now the main problem is traffic and the lack of traffic lights especially since rush hour has begun. They are telling everyone to have patience while on the roads and also to make sure to treat intersections without lights as if they are 4-way stops. But, as of 5:50 p.m., there is a huge problem on many of the streets as people just go without any precautions or following that 4-way stop sign request. I certainly am happy not to be out on the roads now.

Just a few minutes ago I heard on the TV that 200,000 people are still without their power and even though the airports weren't effected, they are having very long flight delays due to the extreme weather in other Northern cities. Some flights had been affected in other Florida cities when they lost their power, making flight arrivals and departures delayed, therefore causing problems here in Miami and Ft .Lauderdale.

It's a big mess!

FPL is stating that they are working quickly and that most of the power will be back on in a few hours hopefully all will be well soon.

Patience, everyone, patience.