2:04 PM
When Something Big happens, first I go to the major media and then I turn to Metafilter--a mix of FUD and on-the-spot information about today's Great Eastern Blackout. Apparently everything has come to a halt in NYC, and many of those not trapped in elevators and subways are leaving the city on foot (as shown at right and in these photos.)

UPDATES: Via boingboing, the link to an instant phonecame blog of pictures from folks in blackoutland . Via Instapundit, a map of North American power grids; it's pretty easy to see which ones have failed this afternoon (Also via IP, the FUD-but-likely-true comment "If it isn't terrorism, I bet al Qaeda is going to school on it.") Over on the Yeti, Matthew Baldwin fears he may be at fault. On the ground update and a few great pictures of the exodus by MeFi user Mo Nickles over on his site World New York.

While early reports say it was only a grid failure and not a terrorist attack, a MeFi user points to this Frontline report on the vulnerability of the power grid and the effects an attack might have on the country--as demonstrated today, to a degree.