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Residents in Odessa, Missouri, found themselves without electricity on Wednesday (July 6) after an animal got into a power substation around 1 a.m. and damaged the equipment.
Utility company Evergy said the animal made contact with a live power line and sent a massive surge throughout the system. While a nearby substation identified the surge and isolated it from the rest of the grid, it still caused about a mile of transmission lines to catch on fire.
Residents had to battle high temperatures as the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for the area.
"It's miserable," Nancy and Michael Morris told KHSB. "We woke up at about three o'clock, and it was extremely warm."
To stay cool, they sat inside their car with the air conditioning on full blast.
City officials told residents that several cooling centers had been set up to give residents a place to relax until the power was restored.
"It's really good that we can come in here and cool off. Outside it's really hot, so it's really good that they are doing this," eight-year-old Emily Vance told KMBC.
By 9:30 p.m., the equipment was fixed, and the power was turned back on.
"Thank you all for your support and patience today. We appreciate it more than we can explain. It was a long day, but this amazing community once again rallied to support each other. This speaks volumes about our town," the city wrote on Facebook.