Sunday, July 17, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | An hour in the darkPower failure disrupts Fayetteville business districtBy LEE WILLIAMS Hundreds of people in downtown Fayetteville were left in the dark Tuesday morning after equipment at a Georgia Power substation failed. The blackout rendered traffic lights useless at major thoroughfares such as Ga. Highway 54 East and West and Ga. Highway 85. Some of the Fayetteville Police Departments top brass were called out to direct traffic at the busy intersections around the square. The Fayette County Courthouse, City Hall, and Publix on South Glynn Street, just to name a few, were affected by the blackout. We had some equipment failure downtown in Fayetteville, said Konswello Monroe, a Georgia Power spokeswoman. The breakers went out at the substation, but all the customers have been restored. The blackout was short-lived, according to Lolita Browning, another Georgia Power spokeswoman. In downtown Fayetteville, 1,900 customers were affected, but that was only for 40 minutes, Browning said. On Tuesday, Fayette County received rainshowers that might be attributed to Hurricane Dennis. Browning could not say for sure if that caused the equipment failure. It could be weather-related or a squirrel could have gotten into it, Browning said. The blackout didnt last long, but it had a lasting effect on businesses who lost hundreds in the short time span. Fayette Beauty Academy students and customers were left in a lurch when the blackout occurred. We were in class, so the students had to come out of class because it was dark, said Brenda Brown, the financial aid director. Customers started to come in and we didnt have any power so we had to turn people away. The blackout certainly affected the beauty schools bottom line. That day we did $26, Brown said. We did very, very bad. On Thursday, business was beginning to pick up again, but it wasnt enough to make up for Tuesdays loss. Today is the best day weve had since then, Brown said Thursday. Today, weve been off by $45. Brown is hopeful next week will be more lucrative for the business just north of the square on Hwy. 85. Shoppers at Publix on the south end of town were affected by the blackout. It didnt hurt the stores profits, Manager Mike Butler said. But supermarket employees still had to scramble to close up refrigerators and cover all refrigerated foods to prevent spoiling, he said. It wasnt too bad because it was in the early morning hours, Butler said. We were only out for 40 to 45 minutes. Shannon Williams, a stylist at Salon Bryant on N. Glynn St., wasnt too thrilled about the blackout. Her customers werent either. She said the blackout had a negative impact on business. It was only off for 30 minutes, but it ended up affecting my whole day because we ended up having to reschedule people for the next day because we didnt know how long the power was going to be off, Williams said. A lack of power made it difficult to cut hair, give customers a hot wax, style hair with a curling iron, or blow dry hair. This was a problem, she said. Most people who come in want it washed and dried the same day, Williams said. Most people dont want to leave with a wet head. |
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