Power outage News

Tampa - Students in three Florida schools got a brief reprieve from taking scheduled state tests after a squirrel knocked out power. In addition, hundreds of other customers in the vicinity lost electricity for a period of time.

As Hurricane Sandy continues to churn closer towards the United States, authorities along the east coast are issuing evacuation orders and residents are bracing themselves for the "megastorm" some forecasters are already calling "historical".

New Delhi - Considering India's status as an aspiring economic superpower, it came as a shock to many people across the world when hundreds of millions of people were left without electricity in northern and eastern India last week, after a massive power failure.

While 600 million people in India suffer without electricity, hundreds of miners are trapped underground. Officials are attempting a rescue operation.

More than 900,000 homes remain without power Wednesday in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. States hit hard by last week's storm are still struggling to restore power to Americans hoping to ring in Independence Day with some positive news.

Temple City - Many residents in Temple City are still without power, nearly a full week after violent windstorms wreaked havoc on the region. An investigation is being launched in order to find out the reason for the delay of power restoration to the community.

Greenbelt - A "dramatic" solar flare has erupted from the sun, which has created spectacular images captured by NASA's observatories. Scientists believe it won't have a significant impact on Earth, but some communications satellites could be disrupted.

Sacramento - Almost 900 Sacramento Municipal Utility District customers have had their power restored following an outage that lasted almost 30 minutes.

Springfield - A botched demolition in the US toppled a nearly 300-foot smokestack being demolished at an old Ohio power plant in the wrong direction, knocking down two 12,000-volt power line, sending spectators scrambling for cover Wednesday.

There is growing anger among poor black communities in South Africa against the ruling ANC-government. A five-hour battle erupted on Christmas Day in downtown Pretoria after the electricity fell out in the low-income Schubart Park tower blocks..