'It was just a crazy week': Windsorites reflect on 20th anniversary of 2003 blackout

Instead of celebrating her wedding anniversary in Chicago as she had originally planned with her husband 20 years ago, Sandra Garofalo found herself inside a van — watching a movie with the air conditioning cranked up.

On Aug. 14, 2003, approximately 50 million people suddenly found themselves without power. Triggered by a grid failure, cities went dark, causing widespread disruptions in transportation, communication and daily life.

While power was restored for many within 24 hours, some spent three to five days without electricity. To this day, the outage is considered the worst of its kind in North American history.

Garofalo said she was getting ready to drive to Chicago when her husband phoned her from work in a panic.

"My husband was working at the Hampton Inn on Huron Line. They thought that a transformer had blown since they had no power. So he was dealing with some that," she said.

But Garofalo said she realized something more severe had happened when she went to a nearby TD ATM.

"It was closed. We couldn't get our American money," said Garofalo, who added that the couple was forced to postpone their Chicago trip until after the blackout had ended.

"That night, we ended up spending some time in the van watching a movie, turning the AC on because it was so hot...it was just a crazy week. Everybody was just scrambling, trying to figure things out."

LaSalle resident Peter Sipocz said he was waiting for a few friends to come to his house when the power suddenly turned off.

He said the outage lasted "three or four days" in his house, and it happened at a time when air conditioning was much needed.

"I just remember thinking, 'Good thing we have all this stuff to do outside like basketball and street hockey.' But it was a really hot summer that year,” he explained.

The power went out shortly around 4 p.m. that day. Immediately afterward, Windsor Regional Hospital became a "beacon of light" as it was one of the few places that still had power, according to president and CEO David Musyj.

"Some of the individuals needed access to health care. I recall people needing their oxygen and having to come to the hospital to get that refilled because we were the only ones in town that were in operation," said Musyj.

He added, "When our power does go down at the hospital, our emergency generators immediately kick on. That runs about 30 per cent of our electrical needs at the hospital."

According to Musyj, that allowed vital systems such as elevators and ventilators to continue running. Elective surgeries, however, were postponed.

"We're one of the priority services that the electrical companies service. So even if they have limited supply, they supply hospitals first," said Musyj.

The blackout was caused by a cascading failure in the electricity grid, triggered by overgrown trees coming into contact with power lines, which led to a widespread power outage.