Squirrel causes power outage in US, leaves 45,000 in darkness

A squirrel caused a massive power outage in California as the rodent scampered into a substation and cut power, leaving about 45,000 people in darkness.
The squirrel entered the substation in El Cerrito caused the outage that deprived much of the East Bay of power for two and a half hours, according to utility company PG&E.
JD Guidi, a PG&E spokesman, said the animal -- which died -- had impacted the equipment that triggered a massive power failure at 8:03 PM local time on Monday, leaving 45,000 people to be without electricity.
Power was restored around 10:30 PM. The affected cities included Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, Kensington, Richmond and San Pablo, the Berkeleyside reported.

The outage caused the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) public transportation system to skip Berkeley altogether until power was restored. There also were reports of people briefly getting stuck in elevators. But some Californians used the outage as an excuse to take to the great outdoors.