Outage affects more than 900 Florida Power & Light customers in Bradenton 

A power outage affected more than 900 Florida Power and Light customers in Manatee County on Wednesday night, according to the electricity company.

The outage was reported shortly after 8:30 p.m. and blacked out customers along Cortez Road West between 51st Street West and 26th Street West in Bradenton. Several businesses along the stretch of Cortez Road between 26th Street West and 51st Street West appeared to have been affected.

Damaged equipment caused the outage, according to to Florida Power and Light. A technician was to be dispatched to the area as soon as possible, and electricity was expected to be restored by 10 p.m. Wednesday.

A total of 918 customers were initially impacted, the company said. Shortly before 10 p.m., 542 customers in the area were reportedly still without power.

A traffic light was out at intersection in the 3400 block of Cortez Road West around 8:30 p.m., according to Manatee County Emergency Operations Center. Fire units responded and cleared the intersection, and no other issues were found in the area. The cause of the outage was unknown.

This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 9:35 PM.