Accident causes power outage

About 50 Progress Energy customers lost power Thursday night when a driver struck a power pole on State Road 64 near Avon Park High School, after he reportedly tried to avoid hitting a dog and lost control.

Leah Bickley, a Progress Energy spokeswoman, said Friday that the power went out at about 8:20 p.m. Thursday and repair crews were dispatched immediately.

The damaged pole was replaced and most customers' power was restored at about 10 p.m., with the remaining customers restored by about 1:30 a.m. Friday.

Progress energy has about 53,000 customers in Highlands County, Bickley said.

Avon Park police investigated the crash, but were not able to provide additional information by press time because the report was not completed.

Leisure Lakes lightning strike

LAKE PLACID - A Leisure Lakes Acres woman reported Friday that her home took a direct lightning strike at about 5:10 p.m. Thursday.

Rosie Earp, reported equipment inside the two bedroom home, located in the 3000 block of Northern Boulevard, sustained damage to her telephone and two televisions.

"We had a lightning storm and it made a direct hit to a wire (in the porch wall) that it split the wire right in two," said Earp on Friday. "(She and her husband Joseph) were standing six feet from it when it hit. I was barefooted on a wet floor."

The force of the bolt was so strong it kicked a plug to her washer and dryer out of the wall, she said.

Earp said she has three weather radios in the house tuned to the National Weather Service in Ruskin, but none went off until the storm had reached Hardee County.