Lacombe loses power when truck hits lines

Heavy rains caused problems in Lacombe Tuesday when a U.S. Postal Service truck snagged low-hanging cables, knocking out power and snarling communications in the surrounding area.

It happened about 4:30 p.m. at U.S. Highway 190 and Maine Avenue. Rain and wind had pounded the area for most of the day, causing the giant utility poles at the Bayou Lacombe bridge to lean and dropping the lines low over U.S. 190.

A passing mail truck caught the lines, which also carried phone transmission cables, and pulled the pole the rest of the way over. The pole on the opposite side of the highway broke in two, and the taught line tore the bed and lift gate completely off the truck.

Nearly 50 percent of residents in the Lacombe area lost power, including two out of three fire stations, as well as the communications tower that handles radio transmissions. Complicating the matter further was the emergency generator failing to fire up.

“We didn’t even realize the radio was out,” said Fire District 3 Chief Chuck Flynn. “Someone happened to send us a text message.”

According to Cleco spokesperson Robbyn Cooper, more than 800 customers were affected by the accident, and Cleco crews were able to fully restore power within about an hour and a half by rerouting the power flow. It took another day for complete repairs to be made.

This type of outage, while not rare, does happen on occasion, Cooper said.

“The equipment is secured very well, and the poles are set quite deeply into the ground, to meet public safety standards,” she said. “Most power outages are storm-related, but once in a while there will be an incident of this sort, when a car hits a pole or a truck is too tall for clearance.”

Members of the Louisiana State Police Troop L and the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office responded to help clear the accident and assist with traffic control.

“It happened right at quitting time, so things got a little messy,” said Flynn. “The only other way across bayou is Krentel Road, so people had to go that way, then go back on I-12 through Mandeville, and that’s a pretty good hike.”