(ABC 6 News) – Power returned to three Mason City public schools just before 1 p.m. Wednesday — just as buses arrived to pick up students at John Adams Middle School, Mason City High School, and Mason City Alternative School.

Mason City operations staff said a tree on private property near the intersection of 4th Street and Birth Drive fell and took down a power pole, causing the outage that affected more than 1,500 people on the east side midday.

Mason City operations staff said the street was closed for part of the day while Alliant Energy staff put a new power pole up and city staff cleared the debris from the roadway.

Alliant Energy representative Morgan Hawk said Wednesday afternoon that of the 1,500 customers affected, a “large majority” had power restored by 12:40 p.m.

At about 3:20 p.m., Alliant knew of 14 customers who still did not have power. The utilities provider estimated that power would be restored to those residences by 4:30 p.m. April 17.

Hawk said Alliant’s outages map would have updated information throughout the day.

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(ABC 6 News) — Multiple schools are canceling classes for the rest of the day due to a power outage in Mason City.

In a Facebook post, Mason City Community schools made the following announcement:

Due to the power outage on the east side of Mason City, Mason City High School, John Adams Middle School, and Mason City Alternative School will dismiss at 1:00 PM today.
Students at MCHS who do NOT ride the bus will be dismissed at 12:20 PM.
Any students at JAMS, MCHS, and MC Alternative who ride a rural bus route, will have to wait for their normal Wednesday bus pick up time.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation!

North Iowa Area Community College is also being impacted by the power outage. Classes for the rest of the afternoon have been canceled. The STEM Festival scheduled for this evening in the NIACC Activity Center will go on as planned.

According to Alliant Energy’s outage map, more than 1,500 people are without power on the east side of Mason City. The outage started around 11:30 a.m.