Power Failures

Nigeria's notoriously unreliable electricity company appealed to the public not to embark on "an orgy of destruction" if power failures interrupt televised World Cup games. The National Electric and Power Authority, whose acronym NEPA is referred to by Nigerians as "Never Enough Power Anywhere," placed full-page advertisements in newspapers pleading: "Please don't take the law into your own hands. We plan to deliver."

WASHINGTON -- The National Weather Service's website for the Eastern part of the U.S. went down Tuesday as the remnants of Hurricane Sandy continued to pound parts of the region. "The web servers that normally support the eastern part of the United States have experienced a systems failure," said a message at the top of the region's website . "We are currently working to resolve the problem. " Instead of up-to-date weather information, the site posted what it called "temporary information" about weather conditions in the region.

Consumers beware: That jolt of electricity that makes your lights momentarily brighter can wreck some of your expensive electronic equipment, especially home computers. Equally damaging can be a sudden drop in power. Consider what happened recently to one Westwood resident: He returned from work one night to find that a power surge in his apartment building had wiped out his $350 portable CD player and a $70 clock and seriously damaged his VCR, aquarium light, plant light and microwave.

A freakish lightning storm rumbled across Southern California on Saturday, leaving little rain but forcing beach-goers to take cover and triggering sporadic power failures. A few people took their chances and ventured outdoors during a morning of sporadic showers and downpours.

A freakish lightning storm rumbled across Southern California on Saturday, leaving little rain but forcing beach-goers to take cover and triggering sporadic power failures. A few people took their chances and ventured outdoors during a morning of sporadic showers and downpours.

Authorities struggled Wednesday to restore electricity to five Indian states--home to 235 million people--after they were plunged into darkness overnight in one of the biggest power outages in years. Hospital services were suspended, trains stopped running and factories shut down in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa, in the central and western parts of the country. Some water supplies also dried up as pumps stopped working.

A day after an accidental short-circuit cut electricity to half of Los Angeles, the city's top power official acknowledged that he was taken aback by the blackout's extent and promised to find a way to limit such outages -- an effort city leaders estimated could cost millions. Ron Deaton, general manager of the Department of Water and Power, told the City Council on Tuesday the department did a good job when it restored power to 2 million people within 1 1/2 hours.

Thunderstorms erupted over the Southeast Tuesday and hail and high winds raked Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, while severe storms in the Northeast left thousands of homes without electricity. In Quincy, Mass., lightning struck the chimney at Atherton Hough Elementary School, smashed a hole in the roof and cut off power. There were no injuries, but classes were over for the day for the 297 pupils, Rita Fornaro at the school said.

What happens when you flip the light switch? In Chicago these days, you can't be too sure. Dozens of blackouts large and small this summer have outraged residents and businesses, nearly spoiled frozen plant and animal tissue at the distinguished Field Museum of Natural History and made Commonwealth Edison a target for politicians and consumer groups. "I was actually giving them the benefit of the doubt till the last week or so when everything went out downtown.

Heavy rains led to a rash of traffic accidents in Southern California today and triggered mud slides and flooding as the sunniest January on record drew near a close. One woman was killed in an accident in the Los Angeles area, two men died in Orange County and the California Highway Patrol reported scores of minor accidents in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties, as leaden skies dumped more than an inch of rain on the Southland.