An American flag, previously flown atop WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, was the unexpected cause of a significant power outage across the city and neighboring areas this past weekend. High winds from a storm dislodged the flag, sending it directly into critical high-voltage power lines. This incident marked a unique moment in WWE's extensive 73-year history, as inadvertently causing a mass power outage had not previously been among the many events associated with the sports entertainment giant.
\nThe widespread power disruption in Stamford was attributed to this unusual event involving the WWE headquarters flag. The chain of events began on Saturday evening, when inclement weather conditions swept through the region.
Stamford Deputy Fire Chief Matt Palmer confirmed specific details regarding the incident's onset. He stated that the American flag was blown free from WWE headquarters a little before 9 p.m. on Saturday evening, a direct result of storm winds. Following its detachment, the flag came to rest on "high-voltage wires" situated near the Stamford Train Station.
The flag making contact with these crucial power lines was immediate and evident. Deputy Fire Chief Palmer noted that the incident triggered both the extensive power outage and observable "arcing" at the point of contact. Despite these electrical disturbances, Palmer clarified that when the fire department arrived on the scene to assess the situation, no active fire was detected. The dislodged flag, which was later described as "severely damaged," remained entangled in the overhead wires. It required professional intervention, and it was not until the following morning that the flag could be safely removed from the power lines.
The initial scope of the electrical disruption was substantial, impacting thousands of local residents and businesses. Stamford utility spokesman Kaitlyn Woods confirmed the immediate consequences of the flag's entanglement:
Around 5,000 Stamford customers lost power upon the flag making contact with the wires.
Woods further detailed the varied experience of those affected by the outage, indicating a swift restoration for some, but a more prolonged ordeal for others:
3,000 of those customers were able to get power back within 20 minutes, but others weren't so lucky.
The complex and sensitive operation to remove the flag from the live electrical infrastructure also led to further complications. During the process of safely extracting the flag from the high-voltage lines, an additional power outage was inadvertently triggered. This secondary disruption extended beyond Stamford, affecting customers in the adjacent town of Greenwich, Connecticut.
By early Sunday evening, an outage map showed there were still at least 6,700 combined outages between Greenwich and Stamford. However, quick work by utility crews led to the numbers decreasing to the hundreds within the span of just one hour. The extensive restoration work continued throughout the night and into the early hours of Monday morning. By Monday morning, a look at the Eversource power outage map confirmed that almost all outages had been taken care of, bringing an end to the unfortunate accident and restoring full power to the affected communities.
