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Part of South Williamsport left without power, road temporarily closed following early morning crash

By PHILIP A. HOLMES and MATTHEW COURTER 2 min read

Part of South Williamsport was without electricity for much of Monday following a single-vehicle crash in the 1600 block of Riverside Drive about 5 a.m., according to borough Fire Chief Jeff Trammell.

A woman traveling west on Riverside Drive lost control of her vehicle, which first struck a road sign and then hit at least two utility poles, both of which were sheared off, Trammell said.

Poles and live wires came down in the street.

“The vehicle was totaled,” Trammell said.

The driver reportedly took off running, but was nabbed and taken by ambulance to UPMC Williamsport to get medical treatment, officials said. Borough police were leading the investigation into the crash.

Riverside Drive between Maynard Street and West Southern Avenue was closed for an extended period of time, as debris and vehicle parts were strewn across the roadway.

“It sounded like a bomb went off. It shook my whole house” Betsy Stevens told the Sun-Gazette.

Stevens was watching T.V. in her living room when the crash occurred.

“I could hear the sound of the tires, and I could smell the smoke,” she said.

One of those tires, dislodged from the vehicle, smashed into the side of her home, Stevens said, showing a photo of the tire against her property.

Stevens said the collision caused a water pipe to burst in her basement, and was awaiting the water authority to shut off service to her home.

“I literally just dried up a foot of water that was in my basement from the last two floods, and now it’s already flooding again, right by my water heater and my furnace,” Stevens said.

Stevens was one of several left without power following the crash.

Roughly 110 homes and businesses were without power as a result of the crash, a PPL Electric outage map showed.

PPL crews were on the scene for quite a while making necessary repairs.

Starting at /week.