A tractor-trailer truck struck a low-hanging power line and brought down a utility pole Friday morning in the Knightville neighborhood of South Portland, leaving several hundred residents and businesses without power, many until just after noon.
The truck, which was making a delivery to a business in the area, hit a wire near the corner of C Street and Waterman Drive just after 8 a.m. The driver was unaware that his trailer caught the wire and kept going, which brought down a pole and several additional lines.
Numerous businesses in the Mill Creek Shopping Plaza lost electricity and traffic lights in the area also stopped working.
Sgt. Paul Lambert said he had most of his officers in the area directing traffic.
“It was a little hectic for a stretch,” he said.
Traffic lights were restored by midmorning, but many businesses, including Shaw’s and McDonald’s, were still closed past noon.
CMP officials said about 900 customers lost power, but 600 customers had their power restored just before 9 a.m. The other 300 got power back at 12:10 p.m., a CMP spokeswoman said, after a utility pole was replaced.
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