In the wake of a severe storm system that tore through the Memphis area last night, thousands find themselves grappling with the fallout, as power remains elusive for many and debris-littered streets speak to the storm's ferocity. Local Memphis reports that the tempest, which began to manifest its wrath initially with large hail near Wynne and Forrest City, progressed to unleash wind gusts that approached 70 mph in the Memphis metro area and DeSoto County, leading to a Tornado Warning just before 10:30 p.m. and resulting in substantial damage across southern DeSoto County, including uprooted trees and battered homes.
Following the inclement weather, the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors issued a Declaration of Emergency, says Action News 5. The county, now in the throes of recovery, has witnessed extensive destruction—damaged power lines, roadblocks imposed by fallen trees—prompting emergency crews to mobilize in an effort to restore normalcy and clear the way for the safe passage of its citizens, additional resources have been requested to buoy the response.
Reflecting on the severity of the situation, Robert Foster, a supervisor for District 5, attested to the direness with a statement on Facebook, affirming the emergency declaration and the closure of schools today for safety, as reported by FOX13 Memphis. Reinforcements in the form of Northcentral Electric Cooperative's crews and vegetation management workers are committed to addressing power outages; their nocturnal labor intensive as they confront over 10 outages impacting approximately 1,200 customers, "We will work through the night," they assure, aware of the scattered nature of the outages and anticipating restorations to trickle in predictably, yet slowly.
Thousands remain without power after a powerful storm swept through the region. In DeSoto County, over 7,000 Entergy Mississippi customers were still in the dark as of midnight. A similar number were affected in Memphis and Shelby County, where MLGW is working to restore service. Outages have slightly decreased.
