Tree falling causes neighborhood blackout

A tree was blown down Friday morning, May 20, 2021, in the 2300 block of Forest Avenue. The property owner, Samuel Dawson, said that sewage lines had been uprooted with the tree and that the electricity was turned off for the whole neighborhood until the tree could be removed to assess damage. Staff photo by Kelsi Brinkmeyer
A tree was blown down Friday morning, May 20, 2021, in the 2300 block of Forest Avenue. The property owner, Samuel Dawson, said that sewage lines had been uprooted with the tree and that the electricity was turned off for the whole neighborhood until the tree could be removed to assess damage. Staff photo by Kelsi Brinkmeyer

TEXARKANA, Ark.- Sixty-six residents living near Forest Avenue were left without electrical power for nearly seven hours Friday, after a tree fell, striking and breaking two utility poles Friday morning.

Peter Main, a spokesman for the Southwest Electric Power Company, said the residents were without power from about 10:16 a.m., to 5 p.m., while work crews replaced the two down two utility poles and broken power lines.

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AP

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One of the local residents, who asked not to identified, said she was outside when she heard what sounded like a small explosion from a nearby transformer on another utility pole.

"I heard what sounded like a boom then I looked up and saw some smoke coming from the transformer on a pole across the street from me," she said.

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