NEWSLINE: SNAKES TO BLAME IN POWER OUTAGE

A snake was blamed for a major power outage in Cape Girardeau Thursday night after it apparently shorted a breaker at Union Electric Co.'s viaduct substation in the south end of town.

A.D. Cox, UE's district superintendent, said a large segment of the city was blacked out from about 10 to 10:15 p.m.

"One of our service crews was dispatched to the breaker and was able to find the short in about 15 minutes," he said. "I guess it could have been a lot worse."

Cox was unable late Thursday to determine how many homes and businesses were affected by the outage, but all of the area south of Broadway from the Mississippi River to west of Kingshighway was blacked out.

Much of the area north of Broadway also was affected by the outage, including neighborhoods along Cape Rock Drive. Only the city's far west and north ends apparently were unaffected.

The blackout was the second of the day in Cape Girardeau, and the second apparently caused by an animal.

About 40 homes in the Lexington Street area were without power for about two hours Thursday morning when a squirrel came into contact with a primary power line in the 1600 block of Lexington, shorting it out.

Virgil Chirnside, UE's district manager, said the outage occurred about 8:45 a.m. "A squirrel got into our line where it dips down to go underground and caused it to burn into the line," he said.

The outage affected homes served by underground electric cables. Ironically, the neighborhood was spared the second outage Thursday.