- MLGW
Nearly 43,000 Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) customers lost power after a cluster of thunderstorms traveled through the Memphis area yesterday.
Between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Thursday (June 5th), 42,797 homes and businesses throughout Shelby County experienced power outages after harsh winds associated with the thunderstorms damaged utility poles and power lines.
By Friday afternoon, MLGW crews had restored power for more than 34,000 customers. But there are still more than 7,000 customers without electricity.
MLGW President Jerry Collins said the area’s biggest circuits serving the highest number of customers were restored first. Circuits serving a smaller amount of customers are next in line.
“What we’re down to now are hundreds of small outages that affect one, two, three, four, five customers,” Collins said. “That’s going to take longer, because it’s a much slower process. We should have everybody back in business by Sunday midnight.”
Customers without power today and into the weekend are encouraged to stay hydrated and to seek shelter temporarily elsewhere, if necessary. MLGW recommends customers to keep survival kits ready for power outages and other service disruptions. These kits can include things such as bottled water, canned food, prescription medicines, flashlights, a radio, batteries, and a first-aid kit.
Considering that thunderstorms are in the weather forecast for Friday as well as scattered showers this weekend, restoration efforts could be slowed. Collins, however, assures that MLGW will do its best to fully restore power expeditiously.
“We have all crews working, and we have eight crews in from out of town to help us,” Collins said. “We’re going to go as fast as we can and try to get power restored just as quickly as possible for all the remaining customers.”
To report an power outage, customers should call (901) 544-6500.
Outage numbers can be tracked via MLGW’s outage map at mlgw.com/outagemap.
