Heavy rainfall left 2800 Austin Energy customers without power, disrupted traffic in West Campus and resulted in event cancellations across the city Tuesday. 

Near campus — on West 24th and Nueces streets — a tree fell on a beige Toyota Camry in traffic at around 5:30 p.m. Police surrounded the area and blocked off half of the street with cones.

Officer Robert Snider, present at the scene, said it is possible that the car would be left on the street all night.

“It’s not the only tree that has fallen,” Snider said. “It depends on how busy the city is. We can’t clear it until the city crew comes out.”

Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said the energy provider is moving steadily and quickly to make repairs to restore power.

“Repairs are needed at an estimated 60 locations and we have 10 repair crews out right now and about half a dozen tree trimming crews,” Clark said.

Clark attributed the number of power outages to tree limbs weighing heavily on power lines. The vast majority of outage locations affect one to eight residents per site, according to Clark. Austin Energy expects power to be restored to all residents by Tuesday night.

Not everyone in Austin was put out by the storm, though. Nutrition sophomore Isabel Cruz said she enjoyed the unexpected rainstorm.

“Even though I didn’t have an umbrella, I walked out of class and it made me feel motivated and fresh,” Cruz said. “It just put me in a very
contemplative mood.”