By Alex McCuaig

Power outage

Truck downs power lines in Redcliff

Nov 28, 2019 | 5:13 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – Electricity was cut off to 500 customers this morning after a semi-truck knocked down a couple of power poles along Broadway Avenue Thursday morning.

The incident occurred just before 6 a.m. causing power to be disrupted for more than four-and-a-half hours.

The city’s manager of electrical distribution says such incidents can cause extended power disruptions when they occur in built up areas.

“It’s a tremendous amount of effort,” said Jeff Sandford of re-establishing connections. “You’re not just dealing with the fact everything is broken but you’ve got to deal with the weather, the environment and then the fact all that other infrastructure – vehicles, buildings – is already in place.”

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Sandford says crews will work to safely secure an area before crews move in to replace damaged electrical networks and re-route power.

He stressed individuals who come across downed power lines remain a minimum of 10 metres away for their own safety.