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Power Restored at UT Campus, KUT Back On Air

Employees wait for power to be restored in Communications Building B on the UT Campus
Photo by Crystal Chavez for KUT News
Employees wait for power to be restored in Communications Building B on the UT Campus

Update at 9:40am: Apologies for the ill-timed site maintenance, our hosting service chose the wrong time to take the site offline.  Power has been restored to the UT campus and KUT is back on the air.  Thanks for bearing with us while we dealt with the situation.  UT says the cause was an animal getting into the switching gears at the University power plant.

Update at 8:12 am:  University of Texas spokesperson Rhonda Weldon tells KUT that power is slowly coming back on. The Trinity Garage, for example, which was affected by the outage already has electricity again.

Weldon says 30 to 40 buildings across campus lost power. At the AT&T Conference Center, one or more people had to be rescued from an elevator. Weldon wasn't sure yet exactly how many people were involved.

She says she hopes to have a cause for the outage later this morning. In the meantime, all classes and activities will proceed as usual today.

Breaking news: Power is off on part of the University of Texas campus and KUT is off the air. We are making calls. Stay tuned for details.

Update at 7:48 am: We are working to determine the extent of the power outage.

Rhonda Weldon, spokesperson for University of Texas, tells KUT, "They're looking into it." She wasn't yet aware of the extent of the outage.

KUT Morning Edition producer Crystal Chavez says she's sitting in the dark right now. She walked to the Carothers Dorm dorm on Whitis Street, and they had electricity in the lobby.  Crystal says some students were in the Communications Building studying for finals. One student told her the outage was ruining her test preparation because she couldn't use a particular piece of software she needs for her class.

Are you affected by the power outage? Let us know how in the comments section below. You can also let us know through our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.