By Kari Lucin, staff writer

Lightning struck a lightning arrestor at 10:07 a.m. Tuesday, causing a power outage for about 1,000 people on the west side of Albert Lea.

The outage only lasted one hour and 10 minutes before Alliant Energy replaced the lightning arrestor, which absorbed the electrical discharge from the lightning strike, protecting the system from surges, said Alliant Energy spokesperson Scott Drzycimski.

Restoring power after an outage can take time because the power company must physically look at the entire line before it gets re-energized, preventing dangerous situations like electricity running through a downed line.

The Children’s Center was one of the businesses affected by Tuesday’s outage, but because the building has many large windows as well as emergency lighting, kids’ routines didn’t change much.

Though a few of them were afraid at first, it became a sort of game for

the kids in the gym, who put their hands up and started running around and screaming, said Kristin Houg, Children’s Center executive director.

&8220;One said it was nap time,&8221; said Amanda Culvertson, head teacher.

The center’s administrative staff members were affected more than the kids and teachers, because the center was down to a single phone line. Even lunch time stayed on schedule.

A few requests simply were not possible to fulfill, however.

&8220;Turn the music on!&8221; said Aaron Farris, 3.

&8220;We can’t,&8221; said his teacher, Trisha Whelan. &8220;Sing for us!&8221;