Log Truck Crash Leads to Power Outages

By: Chip Scarborough - Email

Updated: Fri 10:30 AM, Feb 15, 2013

As many as 100 households were without power on Thursday evening after a log truck hit a power pole.

Power poles and power lines covered Highway 11 and 80 on Thursday night after investigators say a log truck hit a pole around 4 p.m. as it was turning from Highway 11 and 80 onto Will Garrett Road, causing a major mess in the process. Thankfully, no one was injured.

"I looked out the window and I see the power lines are down," nearby resident Bill McElroy recalls. "There's a white van that's up under the power lines."

McElroy told Newscenter 11 the van actually backed into another vehicle, trying to escape the power lines. He says it was that accident that alerted him to the problem and not the log truck hitting the pole.

"The boom was the van backed up into the pickup behind him," he says. "Because it wouldn't get out of the way is what the man said when I came out here."

At one point, we spotted as many as 16 Mississippi Power trucks on the scene, working to restore power to those 100 households impacted by the accident.

Traffic had to be rerouted on a portion of Highway 11 and 80 because of the crash. Area residents were left in the dark for their Valentine's dinner.

As of 9 p.m. Thursday night, Mississippi Power was still working to restore power to customers.

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