Insights > Entergy Mississippi offers tips to help customers to be prepared, stay safe in winter weather

Entergy Mississippi offers tips to help customers to be prepared, stay safe in winter weather

By: Mississippi Editorial Team

01/15/2024

Ice and freezing rain accumulations in Como, Mississippi in 2023.

As extreme cold affects the state this week, Entergy Mississippi is working hard to make sure customers can stay warm and safe. Snow, freezing rain, and/or accumulations of ice are possible for many parts of our service area today, followed by an extended period of extremely low temperatures over the next few days. Power restoration during extreme cold can take longer due to increased demands on equipment, people and resources. We have crews available and equipped to respond to outages across our service territory as safely and quickly as possible. Safety is our core value and always comes first.

We want you and your family to remain safe with any preparations and precautions, especially for anticipated freezing temperatures and potentially dangerous surroundings outside – whether on the road or if the weather in your area brings icy conditions. Make last-minute preparations, if it is still safe to do so, like a family emergency plan, a kit of the basic supplies needed in an emergency, and home prep. Find more information here.

Customers should stay aware and stay safe.

Hazards are all around us following severe winter weather – from downed electric lines and equipment or personal generator risks. Follow these tips to stay aware and safe during this winter storm:

• Be sure to report any outages to Entergy. You can report an outage quickly and easily through our digital options – using either our free mobile app, online at myEntergy.com, or by texting OUT to 36778.
• Please be aware the restoration process can be hampered by the surge of instantaneous electrical demand from appliances (heating units, water heaters, etc.) commonly known as cold load when service is restored to your location, potentially overloading protective devices on Entergy’s electrical system. To help mitigate this problem, Entergy encourages you to turn off or disconnect any electrical heaters or electrical appliances that can easily be turned off until power is restored, and gradually power them on once power has been restored to your location.
  
• If you use a generator during a power outage operate it safely in accordance with the manufacturers’ standards. Incorrectly connecting a generator to a home or building’s electrical system can create a danger for utility workers and the public.
• Local warming shelters have opened up across the state. Check with your local government and municipal websites for updates in your area.
• Entergy Mississippi strives to provide the most up-to-date information about outages. The best way to get information is via Entergy’s View Outage page on our website. Other ways to stay informed:
• Download our app for your smartphone at entergy.com/app or visit Entergy Storm Center to stay informed on our restoration progress.
• To ensure you receive notifications from Entergy, customers are encouraged to verify their contact information in their myEntergy account.
• Sign up for text alerts. From your cell phone, text REG to 368374, or visit entergytext.com.
• Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @EntergyMS.
• Follow updates in your local news media, like radio, television, and newspapers.
• Customers with special needs or medical circumstances are encouraged to plan for other accommodations, in the event of an outage.

Our winter weather restoration process

As the winter storm impacts Mississippi, we will restore power as quickly as it is safe to do so. We deploy scouts to assess damage in all affected areas. It is on these assessments that we base our estimated restoration times. We will communicate these estimates with you, updating as new information becomes available. While we are assessing damage, our crews simultaneously restore service where it is deemed safe.

Freezing rain, which is expected for much of our service area, is very unpredictable. It sticks to power lines in a very small temperature range (2 or 3 degrees, just below freezing). During freezing rain events, variations in rainfall amounts can result in severe damage in one area while nearby areas are only slightly affected.

Accumulation of freezing rain, ice and snow puts extra weight on power lines which can cause them to fall or stretch, possibly creating power interruptions. Because of last year’s historic drought, many trees and tree branches may be extra brittle even before taking on the weight of icing. While Entergy Mississippi manages growth of trees and bushes near electrical equipment, 1/8 inch of freezing rain accumulation can coat small limbs and lines, breaking the weakest limbs that are overhanging services and lines and causing outages. If outages do occur, we ask for your patience as our crews work in frigid and dangerous conditions to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.

Stay safe

Entergy Mississippi urges customers to keep safety first. Here are some tips to keep you safe while we restore your power:

• Live wires can be deadly. Stay away from downed power lines. Call 1-800-9OUTAGE or 1-800-968-8243 to report downed or dangling power lines, damaged or downed poles or other damaged equipment.
• Do not trim trees or remove debris on or near downed power lines. Only power company crews or their contractors should remove trees or limbs touching power lines. Again, stay away from downed power lines.
• Keep away from the immediate areas where crews are working. There is always the danger of moving equipment and the possibility of construction materials, limbs or overhead wires falling to the ground.
• If you plan on using a generator for temporary power, get a licensed electrician and disconnect from the utility electric system before hooking up to your main electric panel. 
• Do not run a generator in a confined space without adequate ventilation. Use them only outdoors, following all manufacturers’ safety guidelines.
• Turn off any electrical appliances that can easily be turned to the off position until power is restored.
• Try to stay off the roads in affected areas. More traffic in bad weather leads to more accidents, including more injuries and fatalities as well as accidents that can damage electrical poles and other equipment, creating outages and impeding the ability of crews to access and repair damage and slowing restoration.  

For preparation tips and cold weather updates, visit entergy.com/cold.

For additional inclement weather tips and storm updates, visit entergy.com/stormcenter.

Tags

Mississippi  Storm Center  Winter Weather 

Mississippi Editorial Team