Across the United States, from the biting cold of New York City to the windswept shores of Hawaii and the bustling neighborhoods of San Diego, residents have faced a weekend of widespread power outages, leaving thousands in the dark and grappling with extreme weather conditions. The events of February 7–9, 2026, underscored the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to both natural forces and the unexpected, as utility companies scrambled to restore electricity and keep people safe.
In Brooklyn, New York, the trouble began late Saturday night. According to CBS News New York, power went out at 11 p.m. on February 7, plunging hundreds of customers in Bushwick into darkness just as an extreme cold warning gripped the city. Con Edison, the local utility, reported that by Monday morning, about 15 customers in Bushwick were still without electricity. But the problem was hardly isolated—184 residents in Jamaica, Queens, and 183 in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, were also reporting outages as of February 9.
Con Edison explained that the outages stemmed from a unique and challenging culprit: a mixture of snow and road salt had seeped into underground equipment, causing malfunctions. In a bid to prevent more widespread and prolonged outages, the utility made the difficult decision to temporarily shut off power in certain areas. As a result, roads around Schaefer Street and Central Avenue were blocked off while crews worked around the clock to fix the issue.
All this unfolded as New York City endured some of the coldest temperatures in recent memory. An extreme cold warning was in effect until Sunday afternoon, February 8, with subzero wind chills expected to persist into Monday morning. The city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, responded by expanding shelter options throughout the weekend. Nearly 65 shelters, including dozens of warming buses, were opened to provide relief for those without heat. Mamdani himself visited one shelter in Manhattan, later sharing on social media, “It is one of the coldest days that New York City has seen in a long, long time. It's actually colder today in New York City than in parts of Antarctica.”
The harsh reality of the cold was all too apparent for many. The Coalition for the Homeless reported that 17 New Yorkers had died over the previous two weeks due to freezing weather. For those caught in the outage, the experience was harrowing. Sade Logan, a Bushwick resident, told CBS News New York, “This is the first time I experienced this, and it was ridiculous. With my kids also, they were scared, and we couldn't see anything. It's bad, really bad.” Lauren Wise echoed the sentiment, saying, “Unfortunately, I have no electricity or heat right now. So it says it's about 40 degrees in my apartment since last night.” Another resident, Angus Lin, described the confusion and fear: “All of a sudden, it was really cold, and I didn't know what was going on. I was like, what the heck? I found out the lights were off. I was like, wait, that's not something else is going on here. The radio wasn't going on, then I realized pretty much the whole block lost power.”
While New Yorkers shivered, a very different weather emergency was unfolding thousands of miles away in Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric (HECO) warned customers to brace for potential extended overnight power outages as powerful winds and heavy rain battered the islands. The Hawaii News Now First Alert Weather Team declared February 8 and 9 as First Alert Weather Days, highlighting the risk of heavy rain, thunderstorms, and damaging winds.
West Maui bore the brunt of the wind, with gusts reaching upwards of 70 miles per hour. Leeward Oahu wasn’t far behind, registering gusts up to 50 miles per hour. Despite the daunting conditions, more than 150 HECO employees and contractors were on the ground, having restored power to over 45,000 customers in the previous 24 hours. However, safety concerns forced crews to suspend work whenever high winds made it dangerous to operate utility bucket trucks.
The impact was widespread. In Upcountry Maui, about 1,300 customers remained without power overnight as gusts continued to exceed 30 mph. On the island of Molokai, crews worked to repair a damaged utility pole in Kaluakoi, with restoration estimated for early Monday morning. Meanwhile, on Hawaii Island, a motor vehicle accident in Mountain View and Kurtistown left about 2,500 customers without electricity, with restoration efforts delayed until it was safe for crews to proceed. Oahu, too, saw significant disruption, with approximately 14,200 customers in various locations without power as of February 9.
Local officials and Hawaiian Electric urged residents to prepare for the possibility of extended outages and to prioritize safety. The cascading effects of the severe weather were felt across the islands: schools, state offices, and university campuses closed, while roads like the Hana Highway were restricted to local traffic due to fallen trees and landslides. Water conservation was also requested as power disruptions threatened pumping stations and critical infrastructure.
On the mainland, the weekend’s power woes extended to Southern California. At least 1,200 San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) customers in Spring Valley lost power on Super Bowl Sunday, February 8, just after 5 p.m. PST, according to the company’s outage map. Restoration was initially expected by 7:30 p.m., but as crews assessed the damage, the timeline was pushed back to 11 p.m. The cause? Equipment damage that required urgent repairs. SDG&E provided no further details about the nature of the damage as of the article’s publication, but the outage served as a stark reminder that even routine events like the Super Bowl can be disrupted by unexpected infrastructure failures.
For many, the timing of these outages couldn’t have been worse. In Brooklyn, the cold was not just uncomfortable—it was deadly, especially for the city’s most vulnerable residents. In Hawaii, the threat came from above, as relentless winds and rain made even basic restoration efforts risky and unpredictable. And in San Diego, the disruption of a beloved American event highlighted how modern life’s conveniences can be upended in an instant.
Utility companies in each region faced unique challenges. Con Edison battled the rare combination of snow and salt corroding underground systems. Hawaiian Electric’s crews navigated treacherous weather, forced to balance urgency with safety. SDG&E, meanwhile, raced against the clock to restore power in time for one of the year’s biggest television events, all while details about the damage remained scarce.
As the country recovers from a weekend marked by outages and extreme weather, the resilience of both utility workers and affected residents stands out. Whether huddled in warming buses in New York, navigating closed roads in Maui, or waiting in the dark in San Diego, Americans once again demonstrated their ability to adapt and endure when the lights go out.