Large blackout hits parts of Brussels, many without power

[Joanie Baloney]

Source: BNO News

A large blackout has hit parts of the Belgian capital of Brussels, leaving many customers in parts of the city and its suburbs without power, residents say. Only few details were immediately available and the cause is unknown.

Read more: http://bnonews.com/news/index.php/news/id5677

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Just breaking. Not many details.

-JB

[ananda]

1. Boy that city is dark!

Here's an interesting picture.

Link to tweet

[Joanie Baloney]

2. Lots of good photos.

I hope they get it restored soon. Bad things happen in the dark.




-JB

[ananda]

3. Me too.

I wonder if it's a terrorist attack. I'm reading about the city
being on a security alert.

[Crash2Parties]

4. Word in certain tech circles is they are getting hammered by a cyber attack.

[EarthFirst]

5. That's where my mind wandered initially as well... n/t

[dhol82]

6. Me too

I know that going after our electric grid system is a priority for hacking and can create chaos very easily.
Also the reason I get ballistic when congress does not take seriously the need to upgrade the security on the grid system.

[Hortensis]

9. Same here. Most power companies are privately

owned, and I've read that many are run by anti-government conservatives who've bought into the evil federal bit. They refuse to cooperate federal, or even state, government to take steps to protect against terrorism, even knowing it could happen and even knowing that being without power for extended periods could be very dangerous for their customers.

[dhol82]

10. It's not just dangerous for customers

It can cascade and truly create chaos for large segments of the country.
It is a scary scenario.
Remember several years ago when the entire northeast of the United States all the way to Ohio went dark?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2003-blackout-five-years-later/

[Hortensis]

12. Yes. I wish I remember the name of the city, but a few

years ago after a power failure, the city's primary water pump failed--and after that all four backups failed one after another. They were put in in the 1970s or so (the last of the more responsible era of liberal predominance before Reaganism took over), and as people started "cutting waste" to the bone the city diverted money from maintaining them to more immediate concerns. Just one of the problems that could befall only one city.

I also remember the report to Congress that if power went off coast to coast and stayed off at the end of a year an estimated 90% of our population would be dead.

[dhol82]

13. Well, there's something to think about.

[politicat]

11. Is this what you're talking about?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38924387

Because that was almost a year ago.

[Crash2Parties]

14. No; they've been hammered since early January, it's assumed by Russian hackers.

[DFW]

7. Good thing this didn't happen yesterday

or I would have been stuck there!

[moondust]

8. Vlad v. NATO?