Feature Lead
NEW YORK – A squirrel stopped the commute of 47,000 people Monday afternoon when it climbed up the Metro-North Commuter Railroad power lines and set off an incredible chain of events.
While the squirrel was scampering around atop the lines, he unwittingly got himself electrocuted. The resulting power surge of the lone squirrel’s adventure weakened an overhead bracket, leaving a dangling live wire in an oncoming train’s path.
The wire became entangled with the passing train and ultimately caused the entire web of wires to be ripped down at high speeds.
The resulting incident left thousands of people stranded and waiting in Manhattan. The commuters all had to change their plans seeing as how the entire system was down until early Tuesday morning when crews finally got the power up and running.
No injuries were reported except for the loss of the adventurous squirrel.
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1 comment:
Your lead gets my interest, like a good lead should, but it loses momentum in P2.
Because your lead ends with "an incredible chain of events," I think you need to get to that more quickly. Maybe even play it up...something like:
The squirrel caused a power surge that weakened an overhead bracket. That left a live wire dangling in the path of a passing train, which tore it down and took other power lines with it.
The result: The trains couldn't run and thousands of commuters couldn't get home.
9/10
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