Oh, The Irony: East Austin Sweetly Sweats in Blackout on Scorching Day

Well, isn't this just perfect. Over 7,000 East Austin residents got a taste of the apocalypse on one of the hottest days of the year, all thanks to a power outage that lasted from 5 p.m. until around 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Because who needs air conditioning when it's only a casual 107 degrees, right?

The power-nap affected areas east of Interstate 35, stretching as far west as Airport Boulevard, and from South Lakeshore Boulevard up north to East 11th Street. Austin Energy spokesperson Matt Mitchell was kind enough to confirm the obvious: it was hot, and the power went bye-bye.

Our esteemed Mayor Kirk Watson graced us with his presence on X, stating that the outage was due to "high energy usage causing substation equipment to trip offline." Thanks for the technical jargon, Kirk. Mitchell, ever the faithful sidekick, confirmed this to the American-Statesman.

Incase you were wondering, no, this wasn't the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' fault for once. Just our local grid being a drama queen.

But fear not, sweaty citizens! The city's cooling centers at Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center and Pan Am Recreation Center gallantly stayed open until 11 p.m. Because nothing says "we care" like extending the operating hours of underfunded rec centers during a heatwave.

Stay tuned, folks. The hilarity of our crumbling infrastructure is bound to continue.