More than 3,400 homes in East Long Beach and Lakewood were without power Wednesday morning when a power pole broke near Bellflower Boulevard and Harvey Way.

The outage started just before 11 a.m. with “equipment problems,” according SoCal Edison spokeswoman Mary Ann Milbourn.

Power lines had fallen onto the street on Bellflower Boulevard, blocking traffic both ways. Long Beach police and Lakewood Sheriff’s deputies were assisting with directing traffic.

The outage reached the Long Beach City College Liberal Arts campus, which had to close its bistro for the day, according to an email sent out to the campus.

Milbourn said the power company was working on switching some customers to other sources to get them power sooner. Some customers reported their power was back on by about 12:15 p.m.

All customers should expect to have their power restored by early evening, according to Milbourn.

She reminded residents to stay away from downed power lines and call 911 immediately to report one.