Squirrel causes Cape power outage

Thanks to a flash-fried fur ball, about 4,500 Cape Girar-deau AmerenUE customers were without electricity for more than an hour Monday morning.

AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said a squirrel shorted out a 34,000-volt circuit at an Ameren substation at 880 N. Main St. The animal came into contact with the lines at 10:24 a.m., knocking out power for customers in northern and eastern Cape Girardeau. According to Cleary, power was restored by about 11:45 a.m.

KFVS12 and five radio stations were intermittently off the air when their generators quit during the outage.

Radio station KRCU was also knocked off the air as the entire Southeast Missouri State University campus was without power. Patty Lasher, a student worker at the station, said she went to the station early because the outage interrupted her viewing of Animal Planet in her room at Myers Hall. When she arrived at 11:10 a.m., the staff "had the door open to let some light in," Lasher said. "Other than that, there was really nothing going on. Not much we can do without power."

Patrons and workers at businesses on the east side of Main Street also opted for natural light, taking to the sidewalks to wait out the outage.

"There was nothing else we could do," said Marcellus Jones, manager at Buckner Brewing Co. He said the darkness inside left restaurants incapacitated for a few early diners.

Up the street, the windows and skylights of the Marquette Tower enabled workers in the state agencies to go about a bit of their business. Janel Wilburn with the Workforce Development Career Center said they continued helping customers throughout the outage. As for the workers in the back without their computers, the loss of power gave them a chance to practice their handwriting as they filled out forms and reports.

Workers at the Cape Girardeau Police Department were still able to file their reports via computer. Their generator kicked in after they lost power at 40 S. Sprigg St. However, department officials said they only received four or five phone calls regarding the outage. They estimated they were on generator power for at least 30 minutes.

One affected party that wasn't around to see the lights come back on was the unfortunate cause.

"The squirrel will not repeat the experience," Cleary said.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137