What was responsible for the power outage that left more than 8,700 residents in the Montrose and Rice University areas in the dark for hours on Tuesday night? A cat.
A CenterPoint representative tells CultureMap that a curious cat was culpable for the power outage, as it had climbed on top of a breaker at one of their substations. (Update: CenterPoint confirmed in an email the cat did not survive.)
The widespread power outages not only left thousands of residents in the dark, but a number of intersections were clogged due to inoperative traffic lights.
Many people were also left in darkness at a Rice University basketball game, which caused a significant delay. The university's power went out at 6:45 p.m., just before tip off with the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, and was not regained until an hour and a half later.
CenterPoint said that while they have "made substantial investments on equipment designed to prevent animals from getting into our electric facilities," it still occurs from time to time.
Tuesday's outage, which left thousands of CenterPoint customers without power, was caused by a curious cat. (File photo)
