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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Mon Jul 12, 2004 2:19 pm Blackout Hits Greece Ahead of Olympics |
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Blackout Hits Greece Ahead of Olympics
Monday, July 12, 2004
ATHENS, Greece � A widespread power outage hit Athens and southern Greece on Monday, cutting off air conditioning as temperatures pushed past 104 degrees and causing traffic chaos in the capital a month before the start of the Olympics (search).
The midday blackout, blamed by the government on "mismanagement" of the electrical grid, raised serious concerns about Athens' ability to handle increased power demands during the Olympics, but officials promised the network was ready to handle the Aug. 13-29 games.
Preparations for the Olympics have been plagued by significant construction delays.
Power gradually started returning to Athens after about 20 minutes but was not fully restored to the city until just over three hours after the outage began. Government officials said electricity would be restored to the entire region during the rest of the day. At one point, generators were pressed into service at Olympic venues.
Transport Minister Mihalis Liapis, who was riding on a rail link built for the Olympics from central Athens to the airport, was stranded en route in the worst blackout to hit Greece (search) in more than a decade.
The domino-effect outages were traced to an imbalanced flow of electricity, shutting down three power-generating stations, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Greece's Public Power Corp., an Olympic sponsor, had no immediate comment, but members of the government flooded the media with pledges that the games were in no danger of going dark.
"There is an overabundance of power for the smooth and uninterrupted supply of electrical power to the entire country during the Olympic Games," Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said.
He also said five more electrical substations would be put in operation for the Olympics to lower the chance of power spikes and widespread outages.
The Athens Olympic Organizing Committee (search), meanwhile, also gave assurances that generators would allow the games to continue even with another big outage.
"A similar incident would not affect the competition schedule and the broadcasting of the games," a committee statement said.
The outage began at 12:39 p.m. in Athens � home to nearly 5 million people � and quickly spread as far as Larissa, 155 miles to the north, and the port of Kalamata to the south. It also included some islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas.
It initially was believed the outage was the result of increased demand in air conditioner usage because of the heat wave, the chief cause for most blackouts in Greece. Last summer, Athens was left without power for several hours because of increased air conditioner use.
"The cut was not due a lack of power," Sioufas said, "but mainly due to mismanagement of the high-voltage grid."
The fire department received hundreds of calls about people trapped in elevators.
The blackout also created enormous traffic jams from knocked out traffic signals and stalled electric trolleys. Hundreds of passengers on the Athens subway were taken off cars and had to walk to nearby stations.
The blackout also caused some cell phone networks to overload.
July is traditionally the hottest month in Greece, with highs often hitting 104. The Greek weather service said average highs in Athens next month should be about 90.
Liapis, meanwhile, promised that all public transport projects for the Olympics should be completed and working by the end of July.
The Olympics provided a major incentive to upgrade Athens' transit network, which just a few years ago was anchored by buses and a century-old electric rail.
The 4-year-old subway has been expanded and new rail links have been added, including a tram running from the city center to the seaside, and a suburban rail line. A test run was disrupted by the power outage.
Other projects are also wrapping up after years of delays and headaches for motorists. Widening the route to Marathon � which will be used by Olympics � is scheduled to be finished next week. Also, a widened road opened Monday connecting seaside Olympic venues to the airport.
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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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| Mon Jul 12, 2004 2:26 pm |
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It reminds me of what happened last summer with the blackout
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