The power plant's backup diesel generators and their fuel supplies were destroyed by the tsunami.

WSJ: GE Steps Up Aid in Reactor Crisis

Meanwhile, crews restored backup power, but problems keeping the reactors cool forced plant officials to take the drastic step of flooding them with seawater.

FORBES: Fukushima's Last Stand: All But 50 Workers Evacuated

Electricity dropped out at a nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, said fire spokesman Ed Bradley, but backup generators sprang into action.

CNN: 650,000 without power as blizzard heads out to sea