By DINA ARÉVALO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
Police are on the scene of a one-vehicle accident in Port Isabel.
The incident occurred just before 3 p.m. when a man traveling eastbound on the 1400 block of Highway 100 lost control of his Chevy Silverado pickup truck, drove over the curb and struck a power pole near a bus shelter. The incident took place in front of the small shopping plaza in front of the Port Isabel Walmart.
The driver was soon assisted by a bystander who was a nurse, said Port Isabel Chief of Police Robert Lopez. Preliminary reports indicate the driver may have been suffering a medical emergency when he lost control of the vehicle, the chief said.
The driver, 22-year-old Ray Cruz, of Brownsville, was transported from the scene by ambulance. Nobody else was injured in the accident.
Shortly afterwards, smoke could be seen emanating from the utility pole and power fluctuations and outages were reported nearby. As of 3 p.m., Port Isabel fire fighters were awaiting the arrival of AEP to cut power to the poles before they could respond to the smoking structure.
Officials had diverted traffic from the rightmost lane of eastbound Highway 100. But at approximately 3:30 p.m. another unrelated accident happened nearby.
According to an eyewitness, a motorist pulling a fifth wheel trailer lost one of the wheels on the trailer and remained stuck in traffic in the westbound lanes of Highway 100 near the location of the first accident. The eyewitness reported that officers had responded to assist that motorist, as well, and had begun diverting westbound traffic to a single lane, as well.
Motorists are urged to drive with caution as crews continue to respond to both scenes.
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