Well, the power outage has been interesting, to say the least, here in the NYC area. And it seems that people have been handling it in stride. No reports of any appreciable violence or looting. More often than not, stories of people helping one another out.
As for all the people on the roadways, they were all just walking home to the outer boroughs. Some across the Brooklyn Bridge, others across the Manhattan bridge, and so on. The only people who appeared to be in any peril were those on the upper floors of high-rise buildings (it's a long walk down), those on the subways, or people in elevators.
The more interesting story seems to be the passing of the buck on who was responsible for the power outage. WHERE DID THIS START? And why is the system this vulnerable, and in some cases antiquated?
As for the terrorism word being thrown around...who's to say it wasn't, at least initially? Did anyone really know? And after September 11th, which was so terribly unthinkable, who wouldn't jump to that conclusion? Especially in light of recent threats and warnings.
If anything, there was a positive outcome to this. It showed that the people of New York can rise to the occassion again. The people knew what to do in the event of an emergency, and handled themselves brilliantly. They helped out their fellow New Yorkers, and stood together in the face of adversity. Even though it stunk to have the lights and air conditioning out for a little while, it's challenges like these that make me proud to be a New Yorker.