Internet and phone service was out for a vast portion of the Keys throughout Thursday morning after a garbage truck knocked down lines on Plantation Key in Islamorada.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office’s Corey Bryan says the truck was pulling out when it hit the lines near the Sands of the Keys, MM 86.4, bayside, around 8 a.m. John Ribble, who works at Sands of the Keys, says he was told excess wire blew down just enough from the storm that the truck unknowingly yanked it down when it was pulling out.
Utility crews from AT&T and Comcast were on the scene throughout the morning as they moved the downed wires from the road and restored them. Some 10 trucks were on the scene as traffic slowly moved past the scene.
Internet and cellular service began to return to customers from Islamorada south to Key West around noon. In all, the work took around four hours to restore phone and internet service.
