San Diego County has received hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure and technology to deal with disasters. But a Red Cross official said the failure during the outage was in communicating with the public in a timely manner.
For a region that's used to fires and earthquakes, much of San Diego County seemed unprepared for the massive blackout that started in Arizona and darkened a large swath of Southern California and Northern Baja California.
1 of 29
Workers serve pizza to customers outside of Filippi's Pizza after a massive blackout hit Southern California September 8, 2011 in San Diego, California.
Sandy Huffaker
2 of 29
Downtown is dark after a massive blackout hit Southern California September 8, 2011 in San Diego, California.
Sandy Huffaker
3 of 29
People waited out traffic during the blackout at Downtown Johnny Brown's on Sept. 8, 2011.
Katie Orr
4 of 29
Traffic in downtown San Diego around rush hour during the outage on Sept. 8, 2011.
Otto Olah
5 of 29
Power outages throughout San Diego County as of 9 p.m. Thursday.
KPBS
6 of 29
SDFD work on getting the woman out of the elevator on Sept. 8, 2011.
Katie Orr
7 of 29
Traffic backed up due to the blackout across San Diego County on Sept. 8, 2011.
Carolina Aravena
8 of 29
Traffic downtown after the blackout across San Diego County on Sept. 8, 2011.
Bruticus
9 of 29
Trolleys around San Diego stopped when the power went out at 3:48 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2011. The MTS said service would be restored sometime Friday, and told passengers to check schedules for buses which would be operating normally.
Jeff Filmer
10 of 29
Flights were grounded at San Diego International Airport while some arriving flights were diverted to other airports during the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Gatto8478
11 of 29
Downtown San Diego during the massive power outage on Sept. 8, 2011.
Brad Umansky
12 of 29
As the power outage on Sept. 8, 2011 went into the night, residents in San Diego relied on candlelight.
Leah S.
13 of 29
A long exposure from the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011 by San Diego resident Andrew DaRe.
14 of 29
Traffic on 1st Ave. in downtown San Diego right after the blackout at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2011.
Katie Orr
15 of 29
Cars were all leaving downtown during the blackout.
Sole Junkie
16 of 29
Trolley service was stopped when the power went out on Sept. 8, 2011. Here, a trolley near San Diego State University is stopped on the tracks.
Sandy Coronilla
17 of 29
A Vons grocery store in La Mesa closes because of the power outage. Employees were sent home and grocery carts were lined up to keep people out.
Angela Carone
18 of 29
Claudia Bateman is a resident of The Springs in La Mesa, a low income housing facility for seniors. Air conditioning went out during the blackout, and a generator powered auxiliary lighting. Bateman says she planned to spend the evening sitting by the fire entrance knitting.
Angela Carone
19 of 29
The view of a darkened East County from the top of Mount Helix.
Joseph Porteous
20 of 29
Shoppers pick up supplies at a 99-cent store during the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Digitaria
21 of 29
The night sky from University Heights during the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Andy Trimlett
22 of 29
Neighbors and friends took advantage of the blackout to grill food and relax under the stars. Here, neighbors gather in University Heights on Sept. 8, 2011.
Andy Trimlett
23 of 29
Mike Niggli, the president and chief operating officer of SDG&E, speaks at a press conference during the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Erik Anderson
24 of 29
Mayor Sanders speaks at a press conference on Sept. 8, 2011 during the blackout that left all of San Diego County, parts of Orange and Imperial Counties, areas in Arizona, and northwest Mexico without power.
Erik Anderson
25 of 29
A family sits out on the porch during the San Diego blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Nathan Gibbs
26 of 29
Almost the entire city was dark during the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Nathan Gibbs
27 of 29
Normal Heights during the San Diego blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Nathan Gibbs
28 of 29
Jayne's Gastropub in San Diego is lit by candlelight during the blackout on Sept. 8, 2011.
Nathan Gibbs
29 of 29
Cyclists on the road during the blackout in San Diego on Sept. 8, 2011.
Nathan Gibbs
The power went out around 3:30 p.m. Within the hour, police were out in force trying to control the traffic as all of the traffic signals were out. Most major media in San Diego County were also hit, making it extremely difficult to broadcast information on television or the radio.
"For me, this was what I call a perfect storm," said Rick Hinrichs, managing director for disaster services at the Red Cross in San Diego.
He also said the outage could not have come at a worst time.
"We were hit by something that was sudden. It disrupted communication, it wasn't expected, and it created a whole lot of general uncertainty as to what was happening,” Hinrichs said. “And the timing for this was also perfect in that it occurred at around 3:30.”
This is the time when kids get out of school and rush-hour traffic begins.
Hinrichs said at first, the Red Cross was as unaware as the public about the reasons for the blackout. San Diego County has received hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure and technology. But Hinrichs said the failure, this time, was in communicating with the public in a timely manner.
