Lightning was the culprit as some areas of downtown Columbus and a housing subdivision were without power early this morning, while surrounding areas did not report any major problems.
Thunder and lightning, and heavy rain, hit Columbus after midnight.
Columbus Light and Water Department General Manager Todd Gale said lighting struck a transformer in the Katy Hill subdivision, behind the Columbus Country Club on Military Road, at approximately 1:30 a.m.
“The transformer caught fire, which is something that happens when it is hit by lightning. This is what C.F. Harris, my electrical supervisor told me. Mr. Harris also told me that at the same time lighting struck power lines downtown,” he said.
Gale said all power has been restored, including traffic lights along Main Street.
Customers of 4-County Electric Power Association did not experience any problems.
“We had no problems from last night,” said 4-County spokesman Brad Barr.
Ed Hattaway, General Manager of Starkville Electric System, said there were a few outages in different areas of the city.
“It was very few, and scattered about the community. All power has been restored,” he said.
David Ellis, a lineman with West Point Power and Light, said his department did not receive any calls about power outage.
“I was on duty last night, and I did not receive any calls. We did not get any this morning, either,” he said.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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