HUNTSVILLE — Thousands of customers in North Alabama were without electricity Tuesday when a severe thunderstorm system moved through the area.

Huntsville Utilities reported 26,000 customers lost power due to several outages in its service area.

The utility said five major substation breakers and 16 smaller substation breakers were without power. Crews also responded to downed poles and trees, as well as tree limbs in powerlines.

Athens reported utility poles down in many areas with several circuits out through the center of Limestone County from downtown to county line. Some 12,000 customers were impacted.

Outages in Decatur affected about 1,500 customers and Scottsboro reported several outages.

The outages occurred around 5:15 p.m. when a cluster of severe thunderstorms pushed southeastward across North Alabama. The storms brought winds with gusts of between 60 and 70 mph.