ORLANDO, Fla. — Faulty equipment – and a slithering snake – caused a power outage in central Florida that left 4,000 residents in the dark.
Progress Energy officials say a faulty underground cable line sparked the initial power failure Monday. As crews repaired the damaged equipment, a snake crawled into the switch and shorted the circuitry.
Residents and businesses near the Orange-Seminole county line were without power for about two hours. The power failure did not affect all 4,000 customers at the same time.
A Progress Energy spokeswoman says although most power outages are caused by weather, it’s not unusual for animals including snakes, frogs, raccoons and squirrels to get into equipment and cause problems.