Severe thunderstorms have left thousands of Mississippians without power. The weather struck Simpson County early last Friday morning leading to severe damage and power outages throughout the county. Emergency Management Coordinator John Kilpatrick said that damage from the recent storms is still being reported throughout the county. He said the Harrisville Fire Department received damage to the roof of their fire station but was still able to remain operational.He explained as of Monday two house fires have occurred because of the storms and were a complete loss. One was due to lightning striking the home and the other occurred after a power line fell close to the home resulting in a fire. These two families are the only people to report being displaced at this time. Kilpatrick explained that nine homes have reported major damage and several others have experienced minor damage.
Kilpatrick shared that citizens can self-report home and structure damage through the MEMA Website at www.msema.org/contact/crisistrack. The self-reporting tool is used to assist counties with damage assessment and data collection. It is not an application for financial assistance and is not an emergency service. If there is an immediate or life-threatening emergency citizens should call 911.
Kilpatrick said, “Entergy is sending multiple people out to start getting power back on, and Southern Pine is working with others to do the same.”
Approximately 998 Entergy customers in Simpson County are without power. The following is a statement released by Entergy on Monday at 2:30 p.m.:“We were again hit with another round of weather this morning, causing new outages in addition to the existing outages from previous storms this week. Restoration continues and as of 2:30 pm, we have 27,273 customers without power.We currently have a work force of over 2,300 workers engaged in this restoration effort including line workers, damage assessors, vegetation crews and support personnel.
Damage assessment is ongoing, and this workforce is diligently working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible through these storms. Thus far, our crews have found 222 damaged poles, more than 239,000 feet of downed power lines, 136 damaged cross arms and 69 damaged transformers.The storm damage to our system is extensive but progress is expected in the restoration efforts with no immediate weather impacts forecasted during the day today. However, possible weather is forecasted for evening hours. As we continue in both damage assessment and restoration efforts, restoration may carry over into Wednesday evening for many of our customers. As we continue to complete our damage assessments, restoration times will be updated.”
Southern Pine Electric has worked equally as hard to restore power following the first round of storms last Friday. Following Friday there were 40,000 southern pine customers without power and as of Monday that number has been reduced to 3,200. Approximately 951 Southern Pine Customers in Simpson County are without power as restoration efforts continue.
When asked of ways the public could help Kilpatrick said, "Just check on your neighbors and check on the elderly, and if anyone needs assistance, please let us know."
The Simpson County E-911 Office number is 601-847-3434.
