Snake Responsible For Power Outage Overnight

It was a snake.

A power interruption that affected some 4,500 Ameren custormers in the area was caused by a snake that slithered into a substation about midnight. The power was out on the west side of Effingham, as well as in Teutopolis, Montrose, Sigel, Shumway, Beecher City and the Lake Sara area.

Ameren officials said they had service restored at 12:49am, but some rural customers had no power for up to two hours. The spokesperson said any affected co-ops might have had separate situations that led to lengthier outages.