rickheel
The Old Bastard
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Joined: Feb 2002
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I Root For: Heels
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Monday, July 12, 2004
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece -- A widespread power outage hit Athens and southern Greece on Monday, cutting off air conditioning as temperatures pushed past 104 degrees and causing traffic chaos in the capital a month before the start of the Olympics.
Cars are stuck at an intersection during a midday blackout in Athens on Monday. The power outage was traced to an imbalanced flow of electricity.
The midday blackout, blamed by the government on "mismanagement" of the electrical grid, raised serious concerns about Athens' ability to handle increased power demands during the Olympics, but officials promised the network was ready to handle the Aug. 13-29 Games.
Preparations for the Olympics have been plagued by significant construction delays.
Power gradually started returning to Athens after about 20 minutes but was not fully restored to the city until just over three hours after the outage began. Government officials said electricity would be restored to the entire region during the rest of the day. At one point, generators were pressed into service at Olympic venues.
Transport Minister Mihalis Liapis, who was riding on a rail link built for the Olympics from central Athens to the airport, was stranded en route in the worst blackout to hit Greece in more than a decade.
The domino-effect outages were traced to an imbalanced flow of electricity, shutting down three power-generating stations, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Greece's Public Power Corp., an Olympic sponsor, had no immediate comment, but members of the government flooded the media with pledges that the games were in no danger of going dark.
"There is an overabundance of power for the smooth and uninterrupted supply of electrical power to the entire country during the Olympic Games," Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said.
“ The cut was not due a lack of power, but mainly due to mismanagement of the high-voltage grid.
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07-12-2004 12:56 PM |
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1125
Heisman
Posts: 5,957
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation: 18
I Root For: Cincinnati, NKU
Location: Cincinnati
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They brought the Women's World cup from China to America...Do the same from Greece to America...Eventhough we are in a war we are still better off than anyother country
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07-12-2004 05:14 PM |
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