Blackout anniversary …

By Charles Sercombe – August 19, 2008

            Last Thursday we tried to post stories from five years ago about the blackout that hit parts of Michigan and several other states, but we ran into a computer glitch.

            So, finally, the problem has been resolved.

            So anyway, last Thursday, Aug. 14, was indeed the five-year anniversary of that event. At about 4 p.m. that day the juice was suddenly cut off.

            An electrical grid serving parts of the Midwest and the east coast apparently became overloaded and knocked out power to about 50 million people.

            In Hamtramck, as elsewhere, the possibility of a terrorist attack being the culprit was the first thing people feared. That wasn’t the case. It turns out our country’s grid system is woefully out of date and overtaxed.

            Fear soon turned into preparing for what could have been days without electricity since it was unknown at the time how long it would be until the power was restored. That led to a rush on bottled water and gasoline.

            Besides having no power, the water system went down for fear of contamination.

            All in all, we spent 30 hours in the dark, so to speak. The power outage lasted from Thursday at 4 p.m. to Friday night at 10.

            Here’s our report of that fateful day as it appeared in the August 21, 2003 issue. Also included is a story of an armed robbery Thursday evening that resulted in the shooting of police officer Brian Misiak. Misiak was shot in the arm and to this day is undergoing surgeries and therapy to bring back usage to his arm.

Lights  out!  Historic power outage puts Hamtramck to the test

By Charles Sercombe - August 14, 2003

            Hamtramck survived, but it sure was uncomfortable on many levels.

            That pretty much sums up the Hamtramck experience during the great Blackout of 2003.

            Like many other people around the country, most of us had a sinking feeling right after the power cut off, along with the water, that a terrorist attack was somehow involved.

            It wasn’t.

            Instead, the power outage is being blamed on a technical breakdown that left 50 million people from here to New York City stranded without electricity.

            Locally, Hamtramck lost power at around 4 p.m. and it wasn’t restored until Friday, some 30 hours later, at about 10 p.m.

            When the lights did return, one could almost hear a communal cheer erupt.

            Later Friday night a number of bars opened and some even still had semi-cold beer on hand.

            Gas stations were immediately swamped with customers, many of whom were riding on fumes. Long lines backed up for blocks around gas stations and the congestion caused tempers to flare.   

             A Detroit police officer in front of the BP gas station on Conant gave up trying to keep order and yelled out to no one in particular: “There are plenty of other gas stations.”

            He then got into his patrol car and drove off while motorists snaked into the station any way they could.

            Much like elsewhere in the metro area, there were few reports of criminal activity. However, on Thursday evening a Hamtramck police officer was shot by a 23-year-old Detroit man with a shotgun.

            The officer survived the shooting but suffered serious injury to his arm. (See accompanying story for more details.)

            There were also reports of gouging by several businesses that jacked up prices for water, batteries and other emergency-related goods.

            At Carolyn’s Things & Stuff on Holbrook, co-owner Louie Picinic said he refused to take advantage of customers.

            “We are all in this together,” Picinic said. “Why gouge? Cutthroats, that’s all they are.”

            Stores reported that within an hour their bottled water had sold out and arrangements for deliveries had to be made.

            While residents stocked up on water and supplies, markets and restaurants took a huge financial loss when meats and other perishable items spoiled and had to be tossed out.

            No one had exact figures on the total economic loss, but it will likely total tens of thousands of dollars in spoiled goods and lost business.

            While no time is a good time for a power outage, Thursday and Friday just happened to be two of the hottest days of the summer so far, with temperatures hovering near 90 degrees and humidity thick enough to form a haze.     

            On top of the lack of electricity, there was also no water service and a warning not to flush toilets for fear of a massive backup because water pumping stations were down.

            When partial water service did return, the public was warned not to drink tap water without first boiling it.

            On Monday late afternoon that warning was lifted and it was deemed that tap water was once again safe to drink.

            Mayor Gary Zych said he will look into seeing whether emergency financial assistance is available for the city as well as for businesses that suffered losses.

            At Maine Street Restaurant, co-owner Mario Lulgjuraj said he had to throw out 30 percent of his meat supply, which totaled about $5,000. He managed, however, to save most of his supply because his freezer effectively kept his supply at a safe temperature.

            By Saturday morning he had a fresh delivery and a packed restaurant that kept busy all weekend.

            While the weekend wasn’t exactly a holiday mood, many residents got a chance to know their neighbors better. A number of households hosted impromptu barbecues where neighbors were invited to bring their perishables to cook up before they spoiled.

            Tim Suliman and his partner Pam Short traded beer for water with a neighbor and hung out on the porch.

            And then, suddenly, they heard music from another neighbor’s house and noticed his neighbor playing a harmonium and his son playing a Bangladesh percussion instrument.

            Suliman and his party walked over and spent an evening listening to traditional Bengali folk songs while the family’s two young girls performed traditional dances.   

            “We got to learn more about our neighbors, and it made a tough time a little easier,” Suliman said. 

Officer shot during blackout robbery

By Walter Wasacz - August 14, 2003

            A Hamtramck police officer was shot late Thursday night while chasing what he thought was a burglary suspect.

            The officer, Brian Misiak, was hit in the arm with fire from a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun. His injury is not life-threatening but so far Misiak has had to undergo two surgeries to repair damage to the arm.

            Misiak and his partner, Scott Zelonek, were investigating a burglary of the Mirage Jewelry store on Jos. Campau when they came upon a man in the area carrying a white bag.

            When the suspect saw the officers, he fled on foot into the neighborhood west of Jos. Campau.

            The officers initially believed the man may have been carrying stolen merchandise in the bag. It turned out it was a shotgun, said Hamtramck Detective Michael Szymanski.

            “Officer Misiak came less than 10 feet from the suspect when the guy spun around and fired at him,” Szymanski said. “We had officers and reserves in the area and placed him under arrest.”

            The incident took place at about 10:45 p.m., when Hamtramck and the entire region was in the midst of a massive power outage.

            Szymanski said the suspect — Sterling Delano Jones, 23, of Detroit — in fact did not have anything to do with the break in at the jewelry store.

            “There was a disturbance at a house on Danforth St. and apparently (Jones) was planning to go there to retaliate,” Szymanski said.

            The suspect apparently decided against going to the house and asked to be dropped off, Szymanski said.

            “The problem for him was he had a shotgun wrapped in a T-shirt inside a plastic bag when he was spotted,” the detective said.

            Jones is being charged with assault with intent to murder and possession of a felony firearm. He was also arraigned on several other charges, including habitual criminal activity.

            Jones has a pre-trial exam in Hamtramck 31st District Court on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond in Wayne County Jail.