Power was restored by 8 a.m. Tuesday to nearly all of the estimated 40 homes that lost service after an oak tree split in half Monday night, creating a domino effect of five utility poles snapping.
The tree break, at Surrey Lane and Westwood Road, resulted in outages on those two streets as well as Churchill Road and Beaver Drive. The Fire Department was called at about 9:15 p.m.
“We’re pretty happy with how the crews responded; they did an outstanding job in restoring the power by the time most people would start working,” Shrewsbury Electric and Cable Operations General Manager Michael Hale said Tuesday.
The severity of the tree taking down the first utility pole resulted in a cascading effect, Hale said.
It’s unusual to have to repair five utility poles at once. However, Hale said, this was the second time it’s occurred in three months.