Construction Accident Leaves Campus Buildings in the Dark

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A severed underground power line caused the electrical outage

Construction workers at the Founders Hall site on McIlroy Avenue accidentally cut a high voltage power line at about 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 24. The cut knocked out electricity to more than 30 buildings in the central core and parts of the south side of campus, including several residence halls.

Most buildings had back-up generators to provide emergency lights, but the outage resulted in several faculty members canceling classes and students, faculty and staff leaving the darkened buildings. A number of people were stuck in elevators for a short period of time until maintenance workers in their buildings could get the elevators to the nearest floor to be safely unloaded.

Facilities management crews were able to restore power to most of the campus by 10 a.m., and full power was restored to the last buildings at 10:10 a.m.