Moore Avenue in downtown Mount Airy resembled a war zone, or one hit by a tornado, Wednesday afternoon after a tractor-trailer snagged a utility line and then caused interconnected poles to snap and fall into the roadway.
An estimated $300,000 to $400,000 in damage resulted from the incident that downed about five utility poles altogether in the Moore Avenue/City Hall Street area along with lines, which were left sagging along the two streets. The roadway also was littered with fallen transformers and other fixtures.
Although one parked vehicle reportedly was crushed by a pole along the way, no injuries were caused to persons in the area.
The chain-reaction of destruction occurred about 3 p.m. Wednesday after the driver of the tractor-trailer from the Holland transport company had made a delivery to Sarah’s Beauty Boutique at 150 Moore Ave., according to city Fire Chief Zane Poindexter.
This required backing the trailer into a narrow driveway leading to the entrance of the boutique that is set back from the sidewalk along Moore Avenue.
As the truck left that location and headed onto City Hall Street nearby, the utility line somehow became hooked onto the trailer portion and while the rig progressed north along that street, the succession of connected poles and lines came crashing to the ground.
A huge amount of police and fire personnel then converged onto the scene, accompanied by the streets being closed to traffic to allow crews from Duke Energy and Pike Electric to clear the debris and make repairs. A number of trucks from those two companies were at the scene along with sizable numbers of personnel.
Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers also was drawn to the area, many wearing stares of disbelief at what they were witnessing.
Electrical service was disrupted to the immediate area of the incident.
The name and address of the driver involved were not readily known.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com