HOUSTON – All power poles are back up after a car crash resulted in widespread power outages in northwest Harris County Tuesday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
HCSO and the New Waverly Fire Department responded to reports of a crash with parties trapped and live lines down at Veterans Memorial between Beltway 8 and Gears Road at around 11:30 p.m.
Deputies said when they arrived in the 11000 block of Veterans Memorial, they located a Nissan 370 that struck a power pole, which caused seven power poles to tumble down across the roadway.
According to deputies, A 20-year-old driver was coming from the gym when he crashed into the pole. He sustained minor injuries. The falling power poles and live wires caused four other vehicles to be trapped, investigators said.
Update: all the power poles are back up. Now stringing the cables. Traffic flowing without any issues, moderate traffic. Completion still expected at or around 2pm. #HouNews https://t.co/07tesl7Ouo
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) March 29, 2023
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that poles were splintered, lines collapsed, and ceramic coils busted in the crash. With power lines falling across the roadway, all lanes were shut down.
Residences and businesses located east and west of where the crash occurred experienced power outages. Authorities said some strip malls also lost power.
According to HCSO, all vehicles in the adjacent apartment complexes to the east of the roadway had their driveways blocked until CenterPoint was able to get the poles back up. Gonzalez said traffic was flowing without any issues and completion of the repairs was expected to be done around 2 p.m.