Was it Mary Poppins?
It might sound unlikely, but an umbrella is blamed for a power cut in Alexandra yesterday.
It left 1645 homes without power, had residents scratching their heads and caused a social media storm.
And all along, the culprit was an umbrella which an Aurora Energy spokesman said made contact with power lines in Fox St.
The cut happened at 12.40pm, and power was restored to most homes by 1.20pm. The last houses were back on the grid by 4.10pm.
Power was also cut to about 30 households on Monday in the Springvale-Golden Rd area near Alexandra.
A bird strike was to blame for that cut.
Firefighters were also called to Dunstan Hospital in Clyde last night after a power pole fell shortly after 9 o'clock.
Power contractors dealt with the wires, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said.
