Insights > Entergy Mississippi Storm Update – 9/3/21 @ 10 a.m.

Entergy Mississippi Storm Update – 9/3/21 @ 10 a.m.

By: Mississippi Editorial Team

09/03/2021

Entergy Mississippi crews have made significant progress restoring power after two severe weather systems struck our service area earlier this week. As of 7 a.m., about 4,000 customers remain without power, down from a peak of about 46,000. Approximately 3,500 of those outages are from Hurricane Ida and the remaining 500 are related to Wednesday’s thunderstorms. 

Crews are currently working as safely and quickly as possible to restore power outages that resulted from both storms. Thunderstorm damage is heavier and in more difficult-to-reach areas in rural Hinds, Holmes and Attala counties and the Vicksburg area. Restoration efforts also continue in the southern part of our service territory, including Amite, Pike, Walthall and Wilkinson counties which sustained the most severe damage from Hurricane Ida.

We expect the majority of customers affected by both storms to be restored by tonight, though some customer outages may carry over to Saturday. Some individual cases may take longer to restore due to difficult circumstances of the outage. If you don’t see us working near you, keep in mind that we may be working on another part of the electrical system that you can’t see but is needed to get power to you. Our work must take place in a certain order, determined by a restoration plan that considers how electricity flows to your neighborhood. Trucks and workers will return to your area as soon as possible to complete the restoration work.

When power is restored, customers should look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or notice the smell of hot insulation, turn off the electricity at either the main fuse box or circuit breaker. You may need a licensed electrician to assess your equipment and assure safety.

So far, damage to our equipment from Ida includes 163 broken poles, 752 spans of wire down, and damage to 59 cross arms and 45 transformers. Much of the equipment is located off-road in difficult-to-reach areas and will take time to repair.

• A span of wire measures about 250-300 feet in length. The current number of spans down is equivalent to about 39 miles of wire.
• Under ideal circumstances, a crew can replace a broken pole in about three hours. The number of broken power poles found in this storm could take crews more than 489 hours to replace.

Restoration work is proceeding as safely as possible. Crews continue to take additional safety measures required for COVID-19, including social distancing. We ask customers to do the same. For their safety and yours, please stay away from our work zones.

We know you want to know when power will be restored in your area. More specific assessment and restoration information is available on View Outages by selecting “For Important Storm Information Please Click Here” in the red bar at the top of the page.

You can also use these tips to stay safe and keep in touch:

Safety

• 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, 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.
• Keep away from the immediate areas where crews are working. There is always the danger of moving equipment and the possibility of construction materials or 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 home main electric panel. 
• Do not run a generator in a confined space without adequate ventilation.
• Avoid using candles or other flammable devices to warm your home. 
• Do your medical needs require electricity?  If so, make sure you have a plan in case of a power outage. Learn more: www.entergystormcenter.com.
• Check on seniors, who can be particularly susceptible to extreme temperatures. 
• 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.

Stay in touch

• We want to keep you informed and in control so here is the best way to get information about outages in addition to the View Outage application:
• Download our app for your smartphone at entergy.com/app or visit entergystormcenter.com to stay informed on our restoration progress. Android users who have difficulty accessing the app on their smartphones can get information from the mobile version of our site at entergy.com.
• Sign up for outage text alerts. From your cell phone, text R E G to 36778, or visit entergytext.com.
• Follow us on Twitter.com/EntergyMS and Facebook.com/EntergyMS.
• Follow updates in your local news media, like radio, television and newspapers.

We appreciate your patience as we work to safely restore power. For more tips and storm updates, visit www.entergystormcenter.com.

Tags

Mississippi  Storm Center  Hurricane Ida 

Mississippi Editorial Team