Ameren Missouri shut off power to more than 1,300 customers in the downtown area Wednesday morning as a precaution after a contractor damaged an underground gas main.
Power was out from about 11:35 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. after a third party contractor - not affiliated with Ameren - was boring in the area of Jackson and East High streets and hit a gas main at about 9 a.m., causing substantial damage.
The scent of gas occasionally wafted through the air near Adams Street, where the road was blocked off while crews searched for the origin of the leak.
For public safety, some buildings in the area were evacuated. Gas and electric service were shut off to more than 1,300 customers in the immediate area as crews assessed the damage.
At 12:10 p.m. power was fully restored when the area was determined to be safe.
Vital services such as 911 never were without power due to emergency generators.
Buildings without power included the Jefferson Building, the News Tribune's downtown office, the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, Hawthorn Bank and many High Street businesses.
The Cole County Sheriff's Department and Jail at the corner of East High and Adams streets did not lose power, as backup generators kicked in immediately, Sheriff Greg White said.
The Capitol retained electrical service during the outage.
Jefferson City Fire Department reported only one elevator rescue, which occurred at the library.
Some business owners were shocked at the sudden blackout.
Lisa Gill, Downtown Book & Toy assistant manager, couldn't believe the blackout was happening when the lights vanished around 11 a.m.
"When it happened I thought to myself, 'Is this my imagination? Is this real and actually happening?'" Gill said.
However, once she looked outside and saw other business owners peek around High Street, she was relieved to find Downtown Book & Toy wasn't the only one with electricity issues, Gill said.
The annual downtown sidewalk sales were starting at the time of the blackout but didn't cause much panic for employees and store owners.
At Carrie's Hallmark, many of its transactions are done physically with tax sheets, employee Courtney Siebneck said. Even if customers could only pay with credit, the store did its best to accommodate them by holding their purchases until the power was restored, she said.
Tolson Drug closed its store during the blackout since the store relies heavily on its IT system to distribute prescriptions to customers and for other purchases, Stahlman said.
However, if there were an extreme case where someone needed their prescription immediately, Tolson Drug has a back-up system in place to give them what they need.
Hawthorn Bank was more than prepared for the blackout due to continually dealing with short outages within their system and set procedures.
The blackout amounted to no more than a "slight inconvenience" for the day, said Gary Collins, senior vice president of Hawthorn Bank. The bank followed its usual procedure to secure the facility and contact other branches to make sure it's not a systemwide issue, he said.
"I mean, now that we have cellphones it's easier to still contact everyone, and you can even use mobile banking now," Collins said.
For Gill, she'd never experienced anything like this in the six years she'd worked in downtown Jefferson City but was thankful customers were patient and had a good attitude.
"I was nervous because with the sidewalk sales starting and it being a one-time opportunity for us, we would miss those who come out specifically for the event," Gill said.
YoYums hadn't even opened its doors yet when the power went down, employee Elizabeth Conner said. Although, she said it was terrifying opening the yogurt shop alone in the dark.
Customers had just started lining up outside the door when the power came on, so after a few minutes of waiting, customers were able to eat their frozen yogurt, said Rosie Swillun, another YoYums employee.
The power returned just in time for YoYums employees Connor and Swillun, who were both afraid if the power was out any longer, they'd have melted yogurt and spoiled fruit to handle.
The blackout also provided a nice break for a few businesses, and many went out for lunch early, like Leroy Stahlman, Tolson Drug pharmacist.