Earlier today, darkness enveloped much of the quiet town of Northborough, Massachusetts. It was not due to a natural disaster or a planned maintenance event, but rather a sudden car crash on Church Street that set off a chain reaction of power outages across the region as reported by Northborough Police Department.
According to NBC Boston, the Massachusetts Emergency Management agency's power outage map showed that around 5,000 customers, or 53% of the town, were initially affected. As of 8:40 p.m. that same day, the number of residents without power had fortunately been reduced to around 2,500, or 37% of the town.
Numerous traffic lights became inoperative, putting road safety at risk until power could be restored. Church Street was temporarily closed between upper and lower Pleasant Streets due to the ongoing situation. Emergency responders were quick to act, urging residents to avoid the area if possible and to be sure to safely navigate uncontrolled intersections.
Even the Northborough Police Department's main business phone line fell victim to the widespread power outage, forcing them to rely on their emergency backup line to handle non-emergency matters according to Northborough Police Department.
