What was responsible for the power outage that left more than 8,700 residents in the Montrose and Rice University areas in the dark for hours on Tuesday night? A cat.

A CenterPoint representative tells CultureMap that a curious cat was culpable for the power outage, as it had climbed on top of a breaker at one of their substations. (Update: CenterPoint confirmed in an email the cat did not survive.)

The widespread power outages not only left thousands of residents in the dark, but a number of intersections were clogged due to inoperative traffic lights.

Many people were also left in darkness at a Rice University basketball game, which caused a significant delay. The university's power went out at 6:45 p.m., just before tip off with the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, and was not regained until an hour and a half later.

CenterPoint said that while they have "made substantial investments on equipment designed to prevent animals from getting into our electric facilities," it still occurs from time to time.