6. March 11th, 1999 Southern Brazil Blackout – 97 Million People Affected
On March 11th, 1999 lighting struck a substation in Bauru, Sao Paulo causing most of the circuits at the station to trip. This caused a chain reaction that tripped most of the power plants in the area including the world’s biggest power plant (at the time) Itaipu. The Southern third of Brazil was left without power as the grid fractured and only some parts of the power grid were able to function. 11 states were affected by the blackout, including the areas of Sao Paulo and Rio. Power was restored to most areas after just four hours.
The blackout caused chaos as officials warned citizens to stay indoors until power was restored for their own safety. But people took to the streets instead causing numerous traffic accidents and some people getting trapped in elevators. Subways were stopped with more than 60,000 people on board. Traffic in the major cities clogged up the streets as traffic signals no longer worked, the tunnels were closed in order to prevent assaults. 1,200 police officers were sent out to the streets in order to prevent looting and try to maintain order.
Many people blamed a power shortage in the country for the blackout as the government had imposed energy rationing in order to combat the power shortages and prevent large-scale blackouts like the ones that California was known for. However, the energy rations had been eased prior to the blackout because the water levels had been rising which increased the power generated by the hydroelectric power plants.
Experts who investigated the blackout found that Brazil’s energy infrastructure was very vulnerable. Not only did it depend on water levels it had no alternative power transmission routes and there was no safety net to prevent blackouts if the water levels dropped or failure occurred at one power plant.