Semi snags lines, shuts down power

Two drivers were stuck in trucks for an hour, and about 75 homes and businesses lost power for a few hours after a semi tractor-trailer pulled down power lines in Bellevue Wednesday.

No one was injured.

It happened just before 11 a.m. near Georgia Avenue and Galvin Road. The semi snagged a Cox Cable line attached to Omaha Public Power District power poles, said Jeff Hanson, an OPPD spokesman. Three poles fell down. A fuse blew. Seventy four area locations, mostly residences, lost power. The electricity was back on by 5:35 p.m., Hanson said.

The power lines fell across the semi and a postal truck, said Jack Syphers, a Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department spokesman. The drivers did what you're supposed to do in such a situation, he said. They stayed inside their vehicles, didn't touch any metal and waited until authorities made sure the power lines were dead.