Yes, here it is, interesting case studies of real, past, technological disasters:

Catastrophic Technological Failures

-- Runway Cat (Runway_Cat@hotmail.com), February 05, 1999

Answers

Many thanks for Catastrophic site advice. Keep running and keep well.

-- Watchful (seethesea@msn.com), February 05, 1999.

It will be very interesting to see how the site developes as more is completed. Very well done! I wonder if he's going to address Y2K?

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), February 05, 1999.

Thanks RC.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), February 05, 1999.

Wow!!!! What a fascinating site!!!!! I highly recommend clicking on the case studies (near the bottom of the home page) and reading through the writeup on the 1965/1977 blackouts. A must read for anyone worried about Y2K and electric utilities. And good comparison, too, on the reaction of New Yorkers in 1965 versus 1977. (Next year, I imagine it will be 100 times worse than in 1977.)

As we continue to get all this great news about how everything is going to be okey-dokey with Y2K from The Powers That Be, looking at a well researched case study of the complexity of how we get our power is real sobering. It really proofs out the "nobody knows" of Y2K, because honestly, nobody does! Consider this excerpt from the blackouts case study:

On July 10, 1977, Con Ed chairman Charles Luce told the Subcommittee
on Energy and Power of the U.S. House of Representatives that he
could "guarantee" that there was no likelihood of a recurrence of
the 1965 blackout. Three days later, a series of lightning strikes,
equipment failures, and operator errors disrupted Con Ed's power
connections to the surrounding grid and left the utility's internal
generating capacity nearly two million kilowatts short of demand.
The result was a 25-hour city-wide blackout and a night of
lawlessness that cost Con Ed, other businesses, and the city
government an estimated $1 billion.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), February 05, 1999.

http://www.mpelectric.com/storms/index.htm - site on GeoMagnetic Storms. Touches upon the Quebec and Western Region failure during Solar Max's. Reassures that they have learned how not to let it happen again.

-- Mitchell Barnes (spanda@inreach.com), February 05, 1999.

Ok Jack, tit for tat, here is one of my favorite quotes.

"The only Physics I ever took was Ex-Lax". Direct quote from the author of the California Nuclear Shutdown Initiative.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), February 05, 1999.