Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 6:05 AM

Storms knock out power, phone lines

Classes were canceled Monday for Gause schools due to a power outage caused by early morning storms, but students will return Tuesday, officials said.

It was unclear how many residents and businesses were without power and for how long, but officials in Milam County said the lights were back on by the afternoon.

In College Station, about 3,400 customers lost power at about 4 a.m. Monday. College Station Utilities officials said the problem stemmed from an insulator at the city's Greens Prairie substation, but all power was restored by 5:30 a.m., most even earlier.

Another problem hit when the phone line at Utility Customer Services was overloaded by those reporting outages, prompting officials to set up alternate numbers for customers.

If the phone outage continues into Tuesday, city officials are asking customers needing to reach the utilities department to call 764-3478, 764-3469, 764-3477, 764-3545, 764-3525, 764-3593 or 764-3549.

Officials from Bryan Texas Utilities said some minor outages were experienced in various locations through the city, but that the power was back up early.

---

Notice about comments: Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here. The Eagle is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friend's recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality, and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up!