MIAMI – Traffic came to a standstill in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood Thursday afternoon after a dump truck brought down three power poles, leaving a trail of damage and widespread power outages.
The crash happened around Northeast 82nd Street and Second Avenue around 1:30 p.m., when witnesses say the truck’s mechanical arms became entangled in power lines, snapping three poles and plunging the area into darkness.
“There was a loud boom, and suddenly the power went out,” said a local business owner.
6 p.m. report:
Witnesses say a dump truck was heading west on Northeast 82nd Street toward Interstate 95 when chaos unfolded.
“Like a big boom, the lights just all went out,” one witness recalled.
“You could see the power lines on the back of the trash truck. All of the power lines were down. Insane, right? Like, how does that even happen?” a person asked.
Video from Sky 10 flew captured downed power lines and heavy traffic as rush hour compounded the chaos.
Miami police directed traffic while Florida Power & Light crews worked to safely remove the damaged poles and restore electricity.
The incident affected at least a dozen businesses, leaving them without power, according to authorities.
Representatives from Great Waste, the company operating the garbage truck, arrived at the scene to assess the situation. Witnesses reported that the driver appeared uninjured.
Authorities are urging drivers to avoid the area while cleanup and repairs continue.
They also said it could take up to 10 hours for power in the area to be restored.