AUSTIN, Texas — While some parts of the U.S. are beginning to experience fall-like temperatures, in Central Texas, highs are still reaching the triple digits. On Wednesday, during the city's hottest day of the summer so far, some East Austin residents lost power for around three hours.
But that wasn't the only outage. Austin ISD closed its Central Office Thursday and again Friday after the building lost power at approximately 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. Austin Energy confirmed the issues at AISD's headquarters were separate from the outage that impacted thousands in East Austin.
In a message sent out to families, AISD said the building's backup generator didn't work like it was supposed to, failing to provide an alternative power source. As a result, all employee onboarding meetings and badging services will be pushed to a later date. Central service calls are also unavailable until the issue is resolved.
Those in need of help with in-person enrollment could receive assistance in school buses that were parked outside the Central Office from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday. The office is located at 4000 S. Interstate 35 Frontage Road.
The monthly school board meeting scheduled for Thursday was moved to the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center, located at 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd.
Power outages in East Austin
On Wednesday, Austin Energy worked to return power to East Austinites impacted by an outage.
Most impacted residents were without power for around three hours as the city tied its record for the ninth-hottest day ever, with a high of 109 degrees.
After speaking with Austin Energy, Mayor Kirk Watson said the outage "was related to high energy usage causing substation equipment to trip offline."
Power was restored at approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday for most, but it's unclear whether a similar issue could happen again as high temperatures continue for the rest of the week.