Victoria Bresnahan – News Editor
Power outrages occurred campus-wide Thursday evening due to heavy rain and thunder storms. Buildings such as Engleman Hall, Morrill Hall and the Adanti Student Center lost power.
According to an SCSU inclement weather closing email, power was restored to the academic side of campus around 6:05 p.m.—about 38 minutes after the initial loss.
Robert Sheeley, associate vice president for capital budgeting and facilities operations, said in a written statement to the Southern News, a UI transformer on Crescent Street was struck by lighting and tripped the university’s main switchgear.
“For safety reasons our switchgear perform exactly the way it is designed,” Sheeley wrote. “We reset our switch and power was restored.”
Rachel Schaffer, a sophomore, early childhood education major, said she was in the Wintergreen parking garage when the storm started.
“We did not know the power went out until we got to student center,” said Schaffer, “and the gate was halfway down. We were like ‘wait is it closing?’ and someone said the power was out.”
