HOUSTON, Pa. — Officials at the Meadows Casino & Resort in Washington County explain they had to close for several hours Friday and Saturday because a power outage knocked out surveillance cameras -- which are required for the casino to operate legally.
Officials said the power was cut when a high-voltage power line hit another, causing a power surge that knocked out the casino's surveillance system about 6:15 p.m. Friday.
An estimated 1,300 players were evacuated from the casino. All but 385 didn’t cash out, and another 37 can’t be identified, officials said.
Meadows Vice President Sean Sullivan said if you were there Friday night playing slots when the power went off and haven’t been contacted by either email or a phone call, you should go to the casino and see an attendant.
“The system and the way these things work now, they’re members of our club. So, we want to minimize the trouble because people came to have a good time,” Sullivan said.
Although the power line was fixed about 8:30 p.m. the casino didn't reopen until about 3 a.m. Saturday, which is when the surveillance system was running again.
State regulations do not allow casinos to operate without surveillance cameras, so the facility had to evacuate patrons until the cameras were fixed.
WPXI
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