A blackout on The University of Memphis main campus that plunged15 buildings into darkness for about three hours Thursday wascaused by a fault in two underground cables, Physical Plantofficials said Monday.
Although power has been restored, The U of M Physical Plant isstill investigating the cables. Until a cause has been pinpointed,further blackouts may occur, said James Taylor, Physical Plantelectric shop supervisor.
Although crews restored electricity to all affected buildings by3:30 p.m. Thursday, a second blackout, occurring nearly two hourslater, left the engineering complex and the McWherter Librarypowerless until 1:15 p.m. Friday.
U of M students working in campus computer labs lost theirwork.
"The outage affected our ability to help students at the end ofthe semester, which is a stressful time," said senior journalismmajor Candice Curtis, who was tutoring students in the EnglishLearning Center at the time.
To prevent future blackouts, Physical Plant crew members havereplaced approximately half of the faulty cable, Taylor said. Theother half will be replaced as soon as new cable arrives.
One of the problematic high voltage cables lies between thePanhellenic building and the McWherter Library, and the other islocated between the Theater and Communications Building and theengineering complex, said Drew Schmitz, Physical Plantcommunications specialist.
Although some students experienced serious setbacks fromThursday's blackout, most voiced only minor complaints Monday.
"I was in Dr. Carol Rambo's class on Thursday," said JaimeJones, senior sociology major. "She had to cancel class because ofthe power outage. I was so mad because I love her class."
Mechanical engineering major Dustin Denzin said Thursday'sblackout prevented him from buying a chicken sandwich at the TigerDen, which temporarily closed Thursday until power wasrestored.
"I got a sunburn from standing outside," Denzin added. "Itwasn't serious, though. It cleared up in about a day."
