In Decatur, Alabama, a power outage spread across a large part of the city after a snake made contact with energized equipment at a substation.
Decatur Utilities said that the actions of that single reptile left more than 10,000 customers without electricity.
Here's what to know
As WAFF reported, although the outage initially involved customers served by the Decatur Primary Substation, Decatur Utilities said the problem was ultimately tracked to the Cedar Lake Primary Substation.
There, crews found that "a large snake" had gotten into the facility and touched live equipment, setting off the disruption, according to WAFF.
With power out, officials told drivers to treat intersections without working traffic signals as all-way stops unless Decatur Police were directing traffic.
More background
A single electrical substation can serve thousands of people, meaning even a relatively minor equipment issue can cause problems that ripple across an entire community in a matter of moments.
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The outage affected more than 10,000 utility customers and reached a "large portion of the city," affecting travel conditions on public roads, per WAFF.
What's being done?
After tracing the outage to Cedar Lake Primary Substation, crews shifted restoration work toward rerouting electricity and handling repairs.
As restoration continued, crews were rerouting power toward the Decatur Primary and Trinity substations, and moving customers onto other available parts of the system to restore service more quickly, WAFF reported.
The situation is an example of the growing number of human-wildlife interactions taking place around the world. As development increasingly expands into wildlife habitats, the animals that call those areas home do not simply disappear. This has led to a greater number of human-wildlife encounters as animals traverse the land while partaking in natural activities like searching for food and water.
When wild animals come into contact with sensitive infrastructure, it can lead to widespread problems like the power outage that the residents of Decatur experienced.
Where can I learn more?
Other wildlife-related outages and snake encounters show how quickly animals can disrupt infrastructure and daily life.
• In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, a snake reached substation equipment and cut power to 6,500 overnight.
• In Wisconsin, a raccoon tangled with substation equipment and knocked out power for 5,200 customers.
• On Guam, the brown tree snake has been blamed for repeated blackouts and bird losses.
• Snakes entered local communities in Delhi, India, during monsoon season as residents reported more encounters.
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