From South Carolina's Home Page as Reported by The Associated Press

Newark, NJ — At First, It was 9/11 All Over Again

Margie Leonard of Newark was trying to get home, but found her car stranded on the third level of a parking lift at the Robert Treat Hotel. With power out, there was no way to lower her car - to the ground, and she stood fuming in the 90-degree heat. “I am (ticked) off, I'm hot and I'm menopausal.” She said her first thought when the lights went off was that the region had suffered a terrorist attack.

That also was on the mind of Linda Perkins, who walked down several flights of stairs from her office in the PSEG building. “There was panic because we thought that it was 9/11 all over again, “she said.

Craig DeFiore's car also was struck on an elevated lift. The Scotch Plains resident said he had no way to get home. “I was fixing my computer, and I thought I screwed something up.”

Connecticut, Massachusetts — Stuck On A Roller Coaster

Kim Hicks got stuck on a roller coaster at the Six Flags over New England amusement park in Agawam, MA. “We were on the Cyclone roller coaster when the power went out,” she said. Luckily it was where it was flat, thank God, not up on top. We sat there about 20 minutes, and they finally came to walk us off.” The park regained power a short time later.

Fire and ambulance sirens could be heard in downtown Stamford. Other patrons also stayed at the pub, which had no power Thursday afternoon, with the lights off and the doors open. Ed Martin of Northumberland, out on the bar's deck, had been a student of SUNY Albany during a blackout in the 1960's. Martin said he got stuck in an elevator about an hour in one of the dormitory towers in that one. “They finally managed to somehow get us out of there.”

Toronto — Going Nowhere Fast

Streetcars preparing to transport workers in the evening rush hour were grounded, sending riders into the street to hail taxicabs. “The streetcar can't go anywhere. You just have to wait,” said Mike Collins, a streetcar driver.

Blackouts were reported in Ottawa in the province's eastern region, Windsor in the west and North Bay in the northern part of Ontario.

The blackout had not spread as far as Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario, suggesting power in the north was sporadic.

New York City — The City That Never Sleeps Goes Dark

At the United Nations, public information officer Lamiae Aidi said a cocktail was in order. “I'm going for a drink. There is no other choice. What am I going to do, go home and light candles?”

A U.N. communications worker, Aaron David, said he was just trying to keep calm. “I was here for 9/11. This doesn't happen every day. Once I find out what's going on, I'll know whether to panic.”

In Times Square, Gabriela Mira waited in line four-deep to use a corner pay phone, rocking her 6-month old daughter in a stroller. “I had to get out of the house,” Mira said. “It was so dark, and everything was off, and I was scared. No air conditioner, the phones — they need electricity. And it's so, so hot.”

New Yorkers escaped silenced subways. Nuclear power plants in four states shut down. “We all are wondering what caused this,” New York Gov. George Pataki said.