In an unprecedented incident, a snake cuts off electricity to thousands of homes after touching an electrical transformer

Arab Weather - In an unusual incident, a snake caused a power outage for more than 11,000 people in Virginia, USA. According to Dominion Energy officials, the incident occurred on Saturday, August 10, when the snake slithered into a high-voltage area and touched an electrical transformer, causing power outages in the areas of Killen Creek, Downtown Newport News, and Christopher Newport University.

Snake cuts off electricity to thousands of homes after touching electrical transformer

The outage began at approximately 9:15 p.m., initially affecting more than 6,000 customers. However, Dominion Energy crews were able to restore service to all affected customers by 10:30 p.m., about an hour and a half after the outage began.

The type of snake responsible for the incident has not yet been determined. However, Eastern garter snakes and Eastern rat snakes are common in Virginia. Similar incidents occurred in Tennessee in May, where gray rat snakes caused several power outages after entering substations and electrical equipment.

• unprecedented incident

In Tennessee, Middle Tennessee Electric described the incidents as “unprecedented” and “extremely rare.” Larry Rose, the company’s communications and marketing director, explained that advanced substation equipment typically prevents animal interference, adding that one manager noted that such incidents were rare in his many years of service.