Following severe thunderstorms in the Mid-South area, over 5,500 residents found themselves without power Tuesday night, with Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) working diligently to resolve the issue. Updates from FOX13 Memphis pinpointed Downtown, Germantown, and South Memphis among the most affected regions. With the storms causing considerable damage, including downed trees, the repercussions of the weather event were felt widely across the area.
At their peak, the outages affected over 5,000 customers, but by 5:30 a.m. the following day, MLGW managed to reduce that number to about 900 outages, as reported by Action News 5. Not limiting their efforts to repair, MLGW's live outage map was consistently updated for the public, and residents were reminded to report issues such as gas leaks or downed power lines to the relevant emergency numbers for swift action.
Compounding the outages, the storm also disrupted road traffic by bringing down trees and utility lines, prompting the Germantown Police Department to alert drivers to anticipate storm damage on roads. Some affected areas included Germantown and eastern Shelby County, where "trees are down and blocking the roadway at 2010 Allen Court and Forest Hill Irene Road at Dogwood Road," as stated in a post from the police department covered by a report from Local Memphis.
Despite severe weather conditions causing inconveniences, there was a slight relief as no injuries were reported when a tree fell onto a car at Central Avenue and East Parkway South in Memphis. In the wake of the storm, schools in the Helena-West Helena district, reporting a "water issue," managed to address the problem swiftly, with repairs completed by 2:45 a.m., allowing schools to open as normal, information which was disclosed by Local Memphis. MLGW has been contacted for an estimated time for complete power restoration, but they have yet to provide a timeframe.
