10/16/20 UPDATE: Power was restored in the South Natick neighborhood in the wee hours of Friday. Naturally we had just done a huge grocery shop that day and so had a fridge and freezer full of perishables. We kept the doors shut tight during the outage and the ice cream stayed solid. Phew.

The stay-at-home crowd in South Natick got a rude awakening Thursday afternoon when a car slammed into a utility pole on Rte. 16 near South Lincoln St., and wiped out power across the neighborhood.

The crash into one pole resulted in a second one being yanked down as well. Power is out because a transformer on the second pole was knocked off during the incident.

The accident had ripple effects across town, as traffic backed up and was rerouted on major roads including Rte. 16, Pond Road and Union Street. One neighbor came scooting down to check out the scene on a golf cart.

Eversource is on the job, and they were talking of restoring power tonight, though it’s unclear how soon it will really be back. One neighbor was scrambling out to buy a generator. Here’s hoping they won’t need it.