Merced power outage affects 2,000 customers

A power outage over the weekend in Merced affected about 2,000 homes and businesses and was caused by a “large bird,” Merced Irrigation District officials said.

The outage occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday and lasted about an hour, MID spokesman Mike Jensen said. It was caused by a large bird that came into contact with MID electrical equipment at the substation near Cooper Avenue and Highway 59.

Several businesses along Olive Avenue were affected hours after the initial outage – including Walmart, Lowe’s and Target – but it was unclear if they closed.

MID crews responded and restored service in less than an hour by diverting power around the damaged equipment, officials said.

This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Merced power outage affects 2,000 customers."