Massive power outage hits west Los Angeles, triggers traffic jams

October 8th, 2009 FPL agrees to $25 million penalty for '08 blackoutMIAMI — The Florida Power & Light Company must pay a $25 million penalty for a massive outage that left hundreds of thousands of customers without power last year, according to an agreement announced Thursday. Under the agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, FPL must pay $10 million to the U.S.

October 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Police Tuesday conducted a security drill at a cinema hall and two markets to measure the preparedness level of various authorities in case of any emergency. "A security drill was conducted at Vishal Cinema in Rajouri Garden and at Central Market in Lajpat Nagar and in Najafgarh area," Delhi Police's public relations officer Rajan Bhagat told IANS.

September 30th, 2009 Other earthquakes that have triggered tsunamisA look at other earthquakes that have triggered tsunamis in previous years: — September 2007: A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rattles Sumatra island, triggering regional tsunami alerts and damaging scores of buildings. — September 2007: An earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.4 near Sumatra triggers a wave in the coastal city of Padang.

September 30th, 2009 Calif. residents call for probe into fire responseLOS ANGELES — People affected by the massive wildfire that burned about 250 square miles northeast of Los Angeles are calling for a federal investigation into what they say was a poor initial response to the blaze. Angry residents of the Big Tujunga Canyon area packed a meeting hall Monday night to confront officials.

September 12th, 2009 Power outage delays Montana-UC Davis gameDAVIS, Calif. — The Montana-UC Davis football game has been delayed due to a power outage.

August 29th, 2009 Air traffic communications briefly crash in Calif.SAN FRANCISCO — Air traffic controllers in a major control center in California were reduced to using personal mobile phones to guide dozens of airplanes when the communications system crashed for several minutes Wednesday morning Controller Scott Conde said he was in front of a radar screen at the so-called Oakland Center in Fremont when half the facility lost landline and radio communications, which prevented him from talking directly to planes he was guiding to Fresno and Visalia. Conde said he was reduced to relaying instructions from his mobile telephone to controllers stationed elsewhere, who in turn got in contact with Conde's airplanes.

August 17th, 2009 Man tosses cash onto Los Angeles-area freewayGLENDORA, Calif. — California authorities say a man caused a traffic jam when he threw money onto a Los Angeles-area freeway and people dashed into the lanes to grab the cash.

July 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Mayor Kanwar Sain Tuesday offered public apologies after the season's heaviest monsoon downpour a day earlier left two people dead and exposed the poor civic facilities of a city bracing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Authorities blamed each other for the stinking mess following some seven hours of heavy rains that flooded low-lying areas and numerous roads because of choking drains, causing massive traffic jams across Delhi that continued for the better part of Tuesday.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Delhi Metro accident that killed six people in south Delhi Sunday has brought life to a standstill in the neighbourhood. Areas near the accident site remained without water and power till Monday afternoon as a section of the under-construction Metro viaduct collapsed on a water pipeline.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - It has been quite a battle for Anita Manchanda and thousands of other commuters who had to pass near the site of the Delhi Metro accident in south Delhi Monday, with vehicle movement at a crawl due to the traffic diversions. Most people reached their destination several hours late.

July 2nd, 2009 Rain snarls traffic in Northeast ahead of holidayPROVIDENCE, R.I. — Torrential rains are soaking New England and causing traffic backups and power failures as the holiday weekend approaches.

June 18th, 2009 Power outage darkens Pakistan 'city of lights'KARACHI, Pakistan — A power outage darkened Pakistan's largest city and commercial capital for almost a day Thursday, leaving millions of people without fans or air conditioning during the summer heat, officials said. Aisha Arabi, spokeswoman for the Karachi Electricity Company, said power had been restored to most of the city but warned that sections would face further outages in the near future under a "load sharing" plan to deal with an ongoing power shortage.

June 16th, 2009 LA police corner suspected burglar in storm drainLOS ANGELES — Traffic on one Los Angeles freeway has gotten more snarled than usual as police, hazardous materials crews and firefighters try to coax a burglary suspect out of hiding in a storm drain. Traffic on southbound Interstate 405 was halted for hours early Tuesday.

May 12th, 2009 Power outage blacks out Missouri CapitolJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri legislators have spent about an hour in the dark because of a power outage at the state Capitol in Jefferson City.

April 30th, 2009 Bird loses meal to power line, causing outageSALEM, Ore. — Utility workers suspect an osprey made a mess of its breakfast by dropping a fish on a power line, turning out the lights for folks trying to find their own way to start the day.