SOUTHERN BRAZIL MARCH 11, 1999

In 1999, approximately 97 million of the 160 million people living in Brazil lost power in what was
the biggest blackout ever at the time. A bolt of lightning struck an electricity substation, which in
turn shut down Itaipu, which was the largest power plant in the world.
1,200 military police officers were placed in Rio to avoid looting, while city tunnels in So Paulo
were closed to prevent assaults. 60,000 subway riders were heavily inconvenienced. To make matters
more complicated, the power system of Brazil was privatized days before the event. Mines and
Energy Minister Rodolpho Tourinho assured that this had nothing to do with the outage, saying, "A
lightning bolt is an exceptional fact, there is no reason for doubting the reliability of the Brazilian
electrical system."