Over 300 Elizabeth Borough households without power after dump truck hits power poles

ELIZABETH BOROUGH, Pa. — West Penn Power confirmed roughly 340 customers were in the dark after a bizarre incident on Monday morning.

“People come flying around here and hit that all the time,” said Nicole O’Keefe, who lives just off McKeesport Road.

According to Elizabeth Borough police, just after 5 a.m., a dump truck hit an overpass, forcing his back door to swing open and his load to begin spilling out onto the road. The driver told police he didn’t know, and continued along McKeesport Road into Elizabeth Borough, that’s when the first item flew out the back of the truck and sheered the first power pole across from the BP gas station taking out power in that area.

Then the driver hit another power pole a little further down the road at Chicago Avenue. In total, the driver hit three poles before finally stopping at a nearby grocery store.

Nicole O’Keefe lives next door to her in-laws and said while the crash outside her home didn’t wake them, the power outage did.

“I woke up because our bedroom light randomly came on, so I went downstairs where everything except our microwave came back on. I thought the washer was gone at first too, but then my husband said it was just one of the breakers,” O’Keefe explained. “My father-in-law said this morning all their lights were on, so all their light bulbs blew except for one in their kitchen. They have no light either.”

But she said luckily, her big-ticket items were spared and no one was hurt.

“They said you can call and make a claim for homeowners’ insurance, so I mean it is what it is, at least no one was hurt so that’s all that really matters,” O’Keefe said.

Elizabeth Borough and Elizabeth Township police are investigating this incident.

Customers with damage can file a claim by calling 1-800-686-0021.

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