So— the electric crew that stopped them were not burned up? That IS strange. Electric “polls” and all the poles that were downed when the electric lines fell? Why were the poles down blocking a road? How is that possible without trees to pull them down? This is a bizarre story for certain.
The power poles are typically made from Pressure treated Southern Yellow Pine. They tend to be top heavy because the transformers, cross arms and wires attached to them. So, when you get hurricane force winds they will break.
This is a major infrastructure flaw/issue for an island that is routinely subject to tropical storms and high winds. In other parts of the world countries that are typically in the line of these storms use steel reinforced concrete utility poles. Those poles will survive higher winds. They also cost more money.