Massive SMUD Power Outage Cripples Downtown Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Downtown Sacramento was near successful acheronian Tuesday aft a monolithic powerfulness outage near homes, authorities buildings and businesses powerless.

And a mandatory evacuation was enactment successful spot for 1 elder lodging analyzable connected I street, deemed unsafe with nary powerfulness for its occurrence suppression system. Officials said astir 150 seniors were successful request of shelter.

READ MORE: City Hall Acting As Shelter For Downtown Sacramento Residents Evacuated Due To Power Outage

The outage was caused by a occurrence astatine a downtown SMUD substation Tuesday morning.

Toby Todd is 1 of the hundreds forced from her downtown elder apartment.

Sacramento occurrence declared her gathering a hazard due to the fact that of the powerfulness outage — leaving its occurrence suppression strategy inoperable.

City leaders were scrambling to crook metropolis hallway into a structure for the residents.

“They came astir asking america did we person oxygen and worldly similar that,” Todd said. “So I conjecture metropolis hallway is wherever we’re going to go.”

All crossed downtown, businesses were forced to close. Old Sacramento looked similar a shade town, its Christmas histrion sitting successful the dark.

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“It’s conscionable bittersweet that it’s truthful quiescent present close present and truthful empty,” Old Sacramento nonmigratory Tom Staniosis said.

The powerfulness went retired astir noon, forcing the downtown venue called The Bank to cancel a 100 idiosyncratic vacation party. The nutrient had conscionable arrived.

“So we person to propulsion distant each of our nutrient that we’ve conscionable had delivered for today’s and tomorrow’s events,” The Bank’s Colleen Story said.

Sacramento’s region and national courthouses were besides forced to close. Hundreds of cases acceptable for hearings and trials, postponed.

SMUD de-energized the powerfulness for the downtown country aft a occurrence broke retired astatine a substation connected H and 6th earlier noon.

A Sacramento City Fire probe showed determination is nary grounds of arson oregon transgression intent.

Now a metropolis waits for erstwhile the downtown lights tin crook backmost on.

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“So each beauteous overmuch we tin bash is wait, and wait, and wait,” Todd said.

Steve Large