Tree causes short power outage

About 500 people lost electricity Tuesday in Cape Girardeau after a tree landed on a power line in the woods near Dennis Scivally Park.

The power went off a little before 10 a.m. Tuesday and it was fixed by about 11:10 a.m. Jean Mason, manager of the Southeast Missouri division of AmerenUE, said the outage mostly affected people living in the area around Cape Rock Drive and Holloway Street.

Mason said the power outage was surprising because Tuesday was a clear day with little wind. However, she said the tree that caused the outage was rotten and just "gave up" when it fell.

"Utilities are constantly battling with limbs and lines and trees and things, but for a whole tree to fall over, that's pretty rare," Mason said.