Dylan Bettencourt
For an entire hour, more than 10,000 homes were left in darkness when a single snake caused a blackout in the Japanese city of Fukushima.
The incident took place on 29 June when the snake was roaming the Koriyama substation, according to Japan Today.
Unfortunately for the snake, it ran into trouble and an investigation discovered its burnt remains at the substation.
The homes were left without power for only an hour following the incident, which saw fire engines called to the substation.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company explained that the outage is likely due to the snake slithering over a live wire. The unexpected energy surge from the electricity coursing through the snake’s body onto the live wires automatically shut down the entire system.
However, the workers managed to restore the electricity within an hour.
The blackout however could not have come at a worse time for the city, who are in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave.
Tokyo recorded its ninth consecutive “extremely hot day” on 3 July with temperatures hovering around the 35 degrees celsius mark.
Temperatures in the city are the highest recorded since the summer of 2015.
Japan’s power grid has as a result been under pressure to keep up with the demand of homes using air conditioners, according to The Washington Post.
The Japanese government was warned that the country could face power shortages if the grid remains under pressure.
The government has urged locals to conserve power during peak times during the late afternoon to relieve grid pressure.
In 2011 an earthquake caused a massive malfunction at the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant. The plant has been decommissioned.
Image source: @Science
