A fault in underground distribution lines caused power loss for about 7,000 residences and businesses in the area surrounding the intersection of East University Avenue and Waldo Road Friday, according to Gainesville Regional Utilities spokesman Dan Clark. Clark said faults on underground lines are rare because compared to above-ground lines, they are safer from storms and trees bumping into them.
The outage occurred between about 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
"If we could schedule the outages," Clark said, "that would be a perfect time to do it."
He said that it didn't cost the company extra money to fix the fault because people were already on the clock.
Mher Kalifa, manager of Food Max on East University Avenue, said the power was out for more than an hour and estimated the store's loss at $200 to 500.
"That's our busy time," she said. "We lost a lot of business."
The Walgreens on East University Avenue lost power for about 45 minutes, but manager Karl said the store did not suffer a significant loss.
"Fortunately with a company like Walgreens, there's a store within 2 miles in every direction, basically," he said.
