A pair of e-mail messages from the city manager report a massive power outage this evening, affecting “just about everything west of Louisiana Avenue.”
The problem has been found to be a squirrel in the Substation. The squirrel started a fire which destroyed a switch that ties two different 69 kV bays together and will have to be replaced before either can be restored.
The power went off just before 5:00. Crews are on scene and getting parts together, but power restoration on the west end is anticipated to take until 8:30 tonight.
Two operators and four lines are currently being used to handle calls, but because several thousand homes are without power, the lines are nearly constantly busy. (Reduce the load on the phone lines by spreading the word!)
