HAMMOND – A power outage knocked out power nearly city-wide Friday and caused traffic lights at most intersections within the city to go out.

Entergy told WBRZ, a large bird somehow flew into the substation serving the city, knocking out power to large feeder lines. Some 22,000 customers lost power.

As of 5 o’clock Friday, most the city had power restored but the resulting impact on traffic was expected to be felt into the evening.

WBRZ traffic trackers reported gridlock on all major streets in Hammond.

JUST IN: No working traffic lights in the Hammond area after a bird knocked out power. Use caution & treat intersections as a 4-way stop. pic.twitter.com/4IPtRg7xwA

— Jordan Whittington (@jwhittingtonBR) January 18, 2019

The police department dispatched all available officers to as many intersections as they could, a city spokesperson told WBRZ.

The bird died as a result of its collision with the power lines.

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