Manholes Spout Flames After Omaha Explosion

A powerless street in Omaha, Neb., was lit up Sunday morning when an underground explosion sent flames spouting through a series of manhole covers.

Two underground explosions – at least one of which came from a blown transformer, according to WOW-TV in Omaha – blew off manhole covers and sent up smoke and fire. Photos taken at the scene have since gone viral, lighting up Reddit and occupying social media.

Roughly 2,000 people in the area were without power, but the Omaha Public Power District said that by Monday that number was down to less than 100. At its worst the outage left 3,000 people in the dark.

Among them was Dakota Braun, who was stuck in the elevator in her apartment building.

“I had no idea what floor I was on,” she said. “There was probably about five minutes where the lights were off and it was pitch black. All by myself, never been stuck in an elevator before. It was really scary, actually.”

The picture below first surfaced on Reddit. The uploader wrote: “My friend took this picture with her phone from her downtown apartment. Yes, those are flames shooting out of the manholes down the middle of the street…Electrical fire sparked it.”