Power restored to most areas hit by blackout
Outage that spanned Az, Calif., and Mexico, caused by APS worker making routine repair
A massive power outage Thursday caused blackouts in California, Arizona and northern Mexico, and left an estimated 5 million people without electricity.
By Friday morning, electricity had been restored to most of the affected areas, but utility companies were warning residents to avoid using major appliances, such as air conditioners, due of the fragile state of the power grid, the Associated Press reported.
AP reported that the U.S.-Mexico border was “cloaked in darkness." Police on both sides were deployed to prevent looting.
Agence France-Presse said emergency workers rescued several people from elevators and theme park rides Thursday, while California’s two nuclear units tripped offline automatically.
The blackouts knocked out traffic lights across the region, with San Diego the worst affected city. Authorities there also canceled all outbound flights.
In Los Angeles, trains were halted because of power cuts to lights and signaling.
Authorities said the incident appears to have been caused by an Arizona Public Service Co. worker making a routine repair in Yuma, according to the AP report.
Damon Gross, an APS spokesman said two failures were to blame for the power cut:
One is human failure and the other is a system failure. Both of those will be addressed.
This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.
