Truck crashes into power pole, leaving Bennet without power and closing school early

Bennet, Neb. (KLKN) — A truck crash knocked out power to the town of Bennet on Friday, causing Bennet Elementary School to dismiss students early on an already hot afternoon.

A one-ton pickup left the roadway and struck a power pole a few miles south of Bennet Friday morning, according to Nebraska City Utilities.

“We had a one-ton pickup truck leave the roadway and take out one of our west-line poles that currently feeds Bennett,” Nebraska City Utilities’ Stuart Abbott said.

The power went out around 11 a.m.

At Bennet Elementary School, the outage left classrooms dark and school leaders facing the possibility of being without power for several hours.

“We decided once we found out it was going to be several hours because we were completely dark,” Superintendent Michael Hart said. “No lights, nothing.”

Staff first made sure students were fed before preparing for an early dismissal at 1:30 p.m.

Cars filled the driveway outside the school as parents arrived to pick up their children. Staff checked students out as they left with their families.

“We thought, okay, out of an abundance of caution, we’re going to just close the school early, get everybody home safe,” Hart said.

The outage also came as temperatures climbed Friday afternoon.

Hart said the building remained relatively cool around the time of dismissal because staff kept doors closed and limited the number of people going in and out.

“But if the power’s off for much longer, yeah, it’s going to get hot,” he said.

Utility crews spent the afternoon working to replace the damaged pole.

“We got crews on site and material headed out here from Nebraska City to try to get power restored,” Abbott said.

Hart thanked parents and the Bennet community for their flexibility as the school adjusted to the outage.