Early Morning OKC Crash Leaves Thousands Without Power

An early morning crash leaves thousands without power.

Oklahoma City Police say the outages were caused by a drunk driver hitting a power pole.

Around 2 a.m. Thursday, Shanience Carolina was at work.

"It was quiet, and then we heard a loud bang and then another loud bang, and then our lights started flickering on and off," said Shannon Carolina.

At Northwest 10th and Meridian Oklahoma City, police say a man drinking and driving veered off the street.

"The car hit a power pole and then rolled several times before coming to rest," said Gary Knight with OCPD.

 "It was like a loud boom, and then another loud boom, and I guess the second loud boom was the vehicle actually stopping," said Carolina. 

Carolina says her store's generators luckily kicked on. While other businesses and homes were affected in the area, OG&E says 5,000 customers had to have their power restored this morning.

The man who hit the power pole is booked out of custody.

"The driver was transported to an area hospital where he was admitted. He was pretty banged up," said Knight.

Once the man is released from the hospital, he will go to the Oklahoma County jail on DUI charges.

"I was hoping everyone was okay because it was pretty bad, and the noise we heard inside of our building, which is noise-proof, just about was crazy," said Carolina. 

Police say, luckily, no one else was hurt. The man is expected to be okay. His name has not yet been released.

All the power in this area has since been restored.