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Insights > How to respond to a supercell: Superb restoration
How to respond to a supercell: Superb restoration
03/25/2025
Crews put safety first, make significant repairs in amazing time
Mississippians braced for the possibility of a supercell thunderstorm well before March 15, and so did Entergy Mississippi by putting crews on standby across the company’s 45-county service area. Preparing for the worst while hoping for the best is a constant in our storm readiness plans. The preparation proved to be needed, since the tornado outbreak spawned 18 twisters over two days in the state, according to the National Weather Service.
The deadly weather event slung debris across several rural communities, damaging the electric grid and causing power outages in its path. While the peak – r most number of customers without power at once – reached 9,200, the supercell caused more than 23,900 power interrupts in total. The hardest hit areas in the company’s footprint were Elliott and Tylertown – both are served by local Entergy offices that had gone years without seeing the level of destruction to the distribution system that occurred.
“Hurricane Katrina was the last time I’ve seen damage this bad near McComb,” said Mark White, a line supervisor who has been with Entergy for 35 years. The McComb office serves Tylertown, so White and his crews were part of the first to respond after two tornadoes came through on that fateful Saturday. The National Weather Service rated them as EF-3 and EF-4.
“It passed the same circuit on Nat G. Trout Road four times. You could tell just by the pattern of the damage,” line supervisor Robert Bell said of the tornado’s path in Elliott.
In total, Entergy Mississippi recorded damage to 316 distribution poles, 57 transformers, 224 crossarms, and 27 miles of wire. “The pole count alone is five times as many than any other storm we’ve recently tackled,” said Joshua Vance, senior manager, operations and construction. “Originally, reports reflected fewer damages, but upon debris removal and gaining access to the heaviest impacted areas, we identified additional facilities that needed repair.”
Transmission equipment also took a big hit, as winds twisted 34 structures to the ground, including five steel poles that had recently been replaced and six large steel lattice towers. “All of this was crumbled to the ground in a mangled mess. The debris ranged from trees to vehicles and pieces of houses that were thrown onto our transmission lines,” said Matt Doss, manager, transmission lines.
With devastation all around, more than 860 workers, including linemen, tree trimmers, contractors and personnel focused their attention and restored power to a vast majority of the impacted customers by Sunday, March 16, and all customers who could safely receive power by Wednesday, March 19.
Meeting the challenge
The weather brought special challenges that crews conquered as swiftly and safely as possible.
“The storm systems came through at staggered times, creating a situation where we had to wait until it was clear to send our teams out,” said Vance.
Often following severe weather, continued high winds keep crews from safely using bucket trucks. Fortunately, once both systems passed, clear skies and minimal wind allowed them to spring into action. But not before meeting a second challenge – debris-filled roads.
They met it by working with community support organizations, law enforcement, emergency management, and other first responders to gain right-of-way access and ensure the workforce and the public were carefully navigating the hazardous areas.
Crews made significant repairs in amazing time throughout this restoration effort. The concentrated damages allowed crews to focus on entire lines.
“In just one day, they set 125 poles in the Elliott, Indianola, and Tylertown areas. That’s fantastic work that was done diligently and, most importantly, safely,” said Vance.
“We made sure we had enough people ready to help on the larger projects, and we had some really great guys alongside our crews – some from Illinois and Kentucky,” said Bell, who works out of the Grenada office that serves Elliot.
Crews restored power to all substations the day after the storm hit – a huge accomplishment given the damage. “We had one crew replace three destroyed structures. This line was patrolled within hours of the storm passing. We had the design done overnight and material along with a crew arriving very early the next morning to start work. The team did excellent work to prioritize the customer outages and respond accordingly,” said Doss.
Resources are key
Whether it’s manpower or machinery, having the right tools and the right skills on deck is key to a swift restoration.
A new Entergy-owned helicopter was called to action early Sunday to perform its very first patrol flight. Along with another contract helicopter, crews simultaneously patrolled damage. These helicopters were crucial to transmission crews because obstacles prevented an efficient ground patrol in some areas.
While having a bird’s-eye view helped in some parts of the state, water navigation was needed in others. “We enlisted the help of the game warden, who brought us a boat to pull wire across the Bogue Chitto River. It’s not common at all, but it was right where the tornado came through,” said White.
On land, cranes, bulldozers, backhoes, and track buckets were scattered across the state, helping teams access a variety of difficult terrain where bucket trucks alone couldn’t go.
Rebuilding with customer focus
The crews focused on customers throughout the restoration process, rebuilding with stronger materials and standards that are more stringent than ever.
While power has been returned to all customers, crews haven’t stopped working. The restoration process is still ongoing. Transmission teams continue to repair some structures that were damaged, while power is safely rerouted on the grid. Despite the size of the structures, destructive nature of the damage and complexity of the restoration, all but one transmission line was restored by Thursday, March 20.
“As our region faces more frequent and more damaging storms, our crews have the opportunity to continue building on our strong storm response skills,” said Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO. “I’m extremely proud of the teamwork displayed throughout this restoration effort. Not only was it done safely, but it was done with the customer at the top of mind.”
