Squirrel knocks out power to 4,400 Duke customers, three schools

Via The Tribune Star…

An ill-fated squirrel wreaked havoc at the Allendale substation Friday, causing a major electrical power outage that affected 4,400 customers and three schools.

To complicate matters, schools had early dismissal and alternative schedules Friday because of teacher in-service. Dixie Bee Elementary and Honey Creek Middle School ended up serving cold lunches, including peanut butter sandwiches, because electrical power was not restored in time to prepare a hot lunch, said Superintendent Dan Tanoos.

Tanoos went to a Wonder Bread store to purchase bread and personally delivered some to Honey Creek School to ensure there was enough to feed students. Another employee took bread to Dixie Bee.

At each school, assembly lines of cafeteria workers quickly prepared sandwiches to feed students before they went home.

The outage also affected Terre Haute South Vigo High School, but power was restored there in time to prepare the regular lunch, Tanoos said.

“It was not a normal situation, but staff all kicked in to do their job,” Tanoos said.

The outage began shortly before 10 a.m. and affected 4,400 residents, businesses and schools. It included South Vigo High School and extended south to Youngstown subdivision across from Ivy Tech, said Rick Burger, Duke Energy spokesman.