A car slammed into a utility pole in downtown Columbus at about 7 a.m. Thursday, knocking out power to a few hundred people and leaving downed wires in the area. Police shut down westbound Nationwide Boulevard as crews responded to the scene.
No injuries were reported in the crash, according to The Columbus Dispatch. A Columbus police dispatcher told the newspaper the crash happened around 7 a.m. Downed wires in the area prompted the road closure.
Power Outage Hits Hundreds Downtown
The collision cut electricity to a few hundred people in downtown Columbus, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The road was expected to remain closed until AEP crews could repair the damage.
Residents and businesses looking for updates on restoration can check the AEP Ohio Outage Map or use the utility's own outage status tool for current information on the downtown service area.
A Familiar Scene on Columbus Streets
Thursday's crash follows a similar incident last month, when Columbus police responded to a car that crashed into a utility pole on West Mound Street in the South Hilltop at 7:47 p.m., according to abc6onyourside.com. In that case, one adult was transported to Grant Medical Center in critical condition while a second person was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, and westbound lanes of West Mound Street were shut down at Columbian Avenue.
Thursday's downtown crash did not produce any reported injuries, a notable contrast to the Hilltop incident. For now, the closure of westbound Nationwide Boulevard and the outage affecting downtown customers remain the immediate fallout from the morning collision.
