Brief power outage affects 5,500

"Believe it or not, that's not that uncommon," said Duke Energy spokeswoman Angeline Protogere. "A squirrel interfered with some of the equipment," she said. The squirrel caused a power shortage at one of the substations located at 401 S. Main St., Protogere said.

The power shortage occurred just before 9 a.m. Many facilities restored power within about an hour. The shortage affected nearly 2,000 people in Kokomo and nearly 3,600 in the surrounding area. In total, 5,564 lost power.

In the meantime, local law enforcement is trying to get stop signs to the traffic lights that are still out, Police Sgt. Jeff McKay said. Anytime a traffic light is out, McKay said the intersection should be treated as a four-way stop.