Power Outage Puts Out Most Traffic Signals

Update 8:37 a.m.: It seems a squirrel is to blame for the outage that left 2,700 Vienna residents without power this morning.

The animal's trek across a transformer in Vienna this morning caused power to go down around 7:30 a.m. Dominion Power representative Le-Ha Anderson said crews are currently working at the substation as well as several other locations in Vienna. Customers can expect to have power by 9:15 a.m., she said.

Crews are rerouting electricity to customers from a different direction so that power is restored more quickly and customers do not have to wait until final repairs are made, Anderson said.

Residents without power are encouraged to call Dominion Power's hotline at 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357) to report outages.

Update 8:24 a.m.: At this point, the lights are out from Nutley Street to Follin Lane, Murray said.

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Update 8:20 a.m.: A staff member at Vienna Elementary School said the school, and block, has power. She said "the outage seems patchy -- some blocks are affected and some aren't." Louise Archer Elementary also has power.

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A transformer blew at the substation near Town Hall around 7:30 this morning, putting most of the traffic signals through the center of town out of service.

Vienna Police Officer Bill Murray said police are posting generators at intersections as quickly as possible.

All repairs should be finished in about an hour and a half, Murray said.