Iraq's Electricity Situation Improves in Parts

Nov. 2, 2003 -- -- After initial power problems, ABCNEWS and Time news teams found improvements in northern and southern Iraq, but continued trouble in Baghdad and central Iraq.

Northern Iraq: Better

Central Iraq: Worse

Southern Iraq: Better

Our surveys on electricity matched what the Coalition Provisional Authority is reporting: improvements in most of the country, except central Iraq. More areas of the country have electricity, and overall production has exceeded prewar levels.

In Baghdad, electricity remains below prewar levels and officials warn that things could get worse before they get better.

Iraqis also cautioned us against reading current levels as a "success" — given that we began our surveys after the brutal summer heat, when electricity needs were considerably greater.

ABCNEWS' Bob Woodruff and Vinnie Malhotra were stunned to encounter not a single power outage during their travels in southern Iraq.

In the holy Shiite city of Karbala, they were also reminded of the extent to which Saddam Hussein had used electricity as a political lever. "Technically it [electricity] is better than before the war, and politically it is 1 million times better," a Karbala resident told them. "Because before, when the light went out you knew it was for political reasons -- to punish us for being Shia."

Editor's Note: This is not a full-fledged, comprehensive poll. But as ABCNEWS and Time review the reporting, research, and surveys completed on the ground, this may be one of the most comprehensive reporting efforts undertaken since the beginning of the Iraq war.