More that 5,000 households are out of power across the North Fork and Shelter Island after a box truck on Route 48 in Southold struck a transmission pole.
“The pole split and fell across the roadway, bringing down the high-tension wires,” said Southold Town Police Chief Steven Grattan. “The driver suffered minor injuries and was transported to the hospital. Route 48 is closed, eastbound and westbound, with detours at Ackerly Pond Land and Tucker’s Lane.”
Transmission lines move electricity long distances to substations, while distribution lines move electricity from substations to homes and businesses. When a transmission pole is taken out of service, it usually causes more widespread outages, according to a source who spoke on background.
“We are aware of the outages,” PSEG wrote in an emailed statement. “There was a motor vehicle accident impacting a transmission circuit, while additional scheduled maintenance outages were ongoing. We are actively working to restore the power back as quickly and safely as possible.”
PSEG said they are “aware of the outages” and “are actively working to restore the power back as quickly and safely as possible” in an emailed statement.
The PSEG outage map shows an estimated restoration time of 1 p.m.
This story is developing and will be updated.