Lights flicker to life in the dark continent

Lights flickered back on in the north-east US and Canada today as the biggest power cut in American history stubbornly retreated.

The cause of the huge failure, which affected 50 million people over 9,300 square miles, was still not clear, and officials on both sides of the border were blaming each other.

In New York, millions of commuters faced morning rush hour with no underground train services and no idea when power would be completely restored.

Michigan residents were told they might have to spend the whole weekend with no electricity.

“So be calm, be supportive of your neighbour,” state governor Jennifer Granholm said.

Cleveland faced the worst water crisis in its history as the power cut shut down four major pumping stations for the first time ever.

President Bush quickly ruled out terrorism as the cause of the blackout, but there were few signs that anyone knew exactly what had gone wrong.

US and Canadian officials initially blamed each other, and experts blamed a system of interconnected grids that had not been upgraded to meet demand.

New York Governor George Pataki praised Big Apple residents for pulling together and not panicking.

As they poured out of stalled underground trains, emerged from stuck lifts, began long walks home or bedded down wherever they were, many New Yorkers took the disruption in their stride.

“You can actually see the stars in New York City,” one man said.

About 500 miles away in Lansing, Michigan, student Anne Block said she used what little light was coming through a window to finish a law exam.

“We were taking an exam and boom, the lights went out. But I was determined to finish. I kept writing,” she said. “I wanted an A. There was no way I was going to stop writing my exam.”

Law enforcement agencies were ready for any security problems overnight.

In New York, police helicopters, boats and heavily armed teams of officers moved into place at city landmarks and other sensitive locations.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said officials quickly realised the power cut was not terrorism, but they wanted to make sure no one took advantage of it.

Detroit authorities urged people to stay at home during the night, and some communities declared curfews for under 18s.

The blackouts easily surpassed those in the western US on August 10, 1996, when four million customers in nine state were affected.

A power cut in New York in 1977 left nine million people without electricity for up to 25 hours.

In 1965, about 25 million people across New York state and most of New England lost electricity for a day.

Electric industry and government officials said the US power grid has needed major upgrades for years.

Experts said there were three major obstacles: the expense, environmental opposition and people who did not want power facilities near their back yards.