Gusting winds knocked down five electrical poles in the 1400 block of Vine Street on Thursday afternoon, causing 400 power outages to Poplar Bluff businesses and residences.
Outages were reported at 3:01 p.m. according to Lyndell Coleman, Municipal Utilities electric distribution superintendent.
As far as the cause, he said, “Wind is the only thing we can think of.”
Poplar Bluff Police Chief Mike McClain said the Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport recorded 29 mph winds at the time of the damage. The 1200 lbs. transformers atop some of the poles were likely a contributing factor to their demise, Coleman noted.
“Three had transformers, which made them a lot (heavier) — once they got going, they were going to go,” he said.
Some of the poles snapped in half, which appeared to drag other poles down from the base.
Most of the outages were fixed within 40 minutes. Nearby Arby’s was expected to get its electricity back by 4:30 p.m., but Dexter BBQ, Skate City and some Vine Street apartments would be out for “quite a while,” Coleman said.
Municipal Utilities and the Poplar Bluff Police Department responded to the scene.