Alma Schrader among those without power Friday morning

A broken insulator left hundreds in Cape Girardeau without heat and electricity Friday morning, including Alma Schrader Elementary School.

Principal Ruth Ann Orr said custodians noticed there was no power in the building when they came in at 6 a.m. Friday. Although power was restored to the school before classes began, she said the outage left some areas of the school without heat.

Heat was restored to most of the classrooms early Friday, she said, and space heaters were placed in other rooms. Orr said the building never got very cold and it was "business as usual" for the students and staff at Alma Schrader.

According to an Ameren spokesman, nearly 750 customers were without power at the peak of the outage. The earliest calls about the power outage came just after 2 a.m., and the outage lasted for five hours and three minutes. The Ameren spokesman said insulators can be damaged by weather or because of the age of the equipment.

Pertinent address:

1360 Randol Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.