Crystal River ,FL :Thousands suffers from without power for hours after car hit and damaged utility pole on Monday ,June 1st 2015

More than 1,000 Duke Energy customers were without power for seven hours late Monday night into early Tuesday morning after a car hit and damaged a utility pole in the Crystal River area.

Citrus County Sheriff’s Office personnel assisted Florida Highway Patrol troopers late Monday night at the crash scene on West Fort Island Trail near West Dixie Shores Drive, where a driver lost control of a car and hit a power pole, according to the sheriff’s office. The car subsequently caught fire.

The driver suffered minor injuries, but downed power lines and damaged equipment left roughly 1,100 Duke Energy customers in the area without power for about seven hours, according to Duke Energy Florida.

The outage was reported to the power company 20 minutes after midnight on Tuesday.

“If a power pole needs to be replaced, it’s a rather lengthy process,” Duke Energy Florida spokeswoman Suzanne Grant said. “It can take between four and six hours, and the repair process is lengthened in the dark — we have to take additional safety precautions.”

Grant said some customers had power restored before repairs were completed.



Source :
Car crash leaves thousands without power for hours