More than 1,000 downtown and East Columbus residents were without power for about an hour and a half Friday night, with a few without power until Saturday morning, as crews with the Columbus Light and Water Department rushed to repair damage from lightning strikes.
Dozens of city blocks near the city”s center and some in East Columbus lost power between about 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday after lightning from a severe thunderstorm struck a power pole near the intersection of Main Street and 22nd Street, said CL&W General Manager Todd Gale.
“After the lightning hit the pole, it caused the lines to go down across most of the downtown area and even into parts of East Columbus,” Gale said Saturday morning. “The storm also caused three strands of wire to go down near Cady Hills (near the intersection of 10th Street and Main Street.)”
While CL&W crews had restored power to most customers by 8 p.m. Friday, some were without electricity until Saturday morning, Gale explained.
“We had crews out until about 2 a.m. this morning before we called them back in at about 6 a.m.,” Gale said. “I believe they had the last customer back on at about 9 a.m.
“Different areas are tied into different circuits, so that”s why there were a few blocks still with power while areas around them had no power,” Gale added. “All in all, I”d say about 1,000 customers were affected by the outage.”
Although no major damage was reported during the storm, members of the Columbus Public Works and the Lowndes County Road Department worked to clear more than 10 trees downed across busy city and county roads, like Ridge Road and Highway 45 South.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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