FAIRHOPE, Alabama - Dozens of onlookers watched anxiously from store fronts and sidewalks on Section Street in Fairhope today, looking toward the Morphy Avenue intersection where a city utilities worker was electrocuted while working on a power pole there.

Shops up and down the block were darkened by a power outage shortly before noon that sent people outside. Sirens followed, with some law enforcement and emergency vehicles weaving through traffic south on Section Street, and others approaching Morphy Avenue from other directions.

Police cordoned off several blocks around the intersection and traffic is now being rerouted from that intersection while the damaged power pole and lines are being worked on, according to the latest reports.

The employee, whose name has not been released, was airlifted to a Mobile emergency room, and an official statement from the city is expected soon regarding his condition.

Shortly after the accident, emergency technicians worked on the employee who was laying on his back in the parking lot of a church at that corner.

Many of the people watching from nearby sidewalks all had a similar pose— with their hands lifted to their mouths or their foreheads.

Further details will be released as they become available.