On August 14, 2003, the single largest blackout in North American history occurred. The blackout caused 50 million people to lose power in eight US states and southeastern Canada. Although it took months to diagnose the actual cause of the blackout, it was eventually traced back to a FirstEnergy powerplant in Eastlake, where a high-voltage power line brushed up against an overgrowth of trees causing the line to shut down, which, due to a failed alert system, caused a domino effect of power lines switching off. All in all, 11 people died and around $6 billion in damages were reported, prompting the creation of a joint energy task force between the US and Canada to minimize future blackouts.