Thousands of Memphians, including University of Memphis students living on campus, shared one thing last night — darkness.
Nearly 9,000 people were left without electricity at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
There were multiple reports of hearing a loud explosion before losing power.
City workers were doing maintenance when the power went out, said Richard Thompson, senior communications specialist at Memphis Light, Gas and Water.
“Last night we were performing some maintenance work when we lost eleven circuits at Substation 42 located on Southern Avenue,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the power was out for less than an hour.
Many students in dorms across campus sat in the dark waiting to finish homework. One Rawls Hall resident and U of M freshmen, Antoinette Randolph, 19, from Chicago, said the power outage shocked her.
“I was on my laptop in my dorm when the lights all of a sudden started flickering,” said Randolph.
“Unfortunately I got shocked by my laptop seconds after the lights went out – I couldn’t help but to scream.”
Randolph said her computer still works despite the power surge.
Shortly following the power surge, students received a Tiger Text that said electrical power was out on both main and Park Avenue campuses.
Students saw multiple fire trucks and police cars scattered across campus.
“I was in the art building with several other students when it happened,” graduate art student Lacy Mitchum said. “One person called the cops to report the outage. It was kind of confusing because nobody knew what was going on, the only thing left to do was leave.
