Power restored for thousands after squirrel takes substation offline in Greenville

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Thousands of people were without power in the western part of Greenville on Thursday morning after an incident involving a squirrel.

Duke Energy reported more than 7,000 customers without power around the White Horse and Welcome communities.

Multiple traffic lights were out in the area of Anderson Road, White Horse Road and Academy Street.

According to Duke Energy, the outages were caused by a squirrel coming into contact with equipment at a substation, taking it offline. Power was restored around 10 a.m.

Duke Energy said the squirrel did not survive.