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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Amid the thaw, residents await power, assess damage from ice storm

Icy shards continued to rain down from trees and power lines on Sunday throughout Memphis and Shelby County as temperatures again pushed above freezing and tens of thousands of residents held on to hope that they soon would have their power restored.

As of 5:40 p.m., Memphis Light, Gas & Water’s power outage map showed 80,493 customers without power from 4,380 total outages. The percentage of customers with power was 80.86 percent.

And, in a social media post on Sunday Evening, Memphis-Shelby County Schools Supt. Dr. Joris M. Ray said, “Due to ongoing power outages and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our students, educators and families, all District schools will be CLOSED on Monday, February 7. All before/after-school activities are also cancelled.”

In an early afternoon news conference on Saturday, MLGW CEO J.T. Young said crews were working 16-hour shifts with many customers still “days away” from having their power restored.

At its peak, the outage from the ice-heavy storm that socked Greater Memphis knocked out power to about 130,000 customers forcing many to seek shelter in sub-freezing temperatures with family, friends and/or available warming and respite centers.

As of 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service for Memphis reported temperatures across the forecast area in the 40s, with daytime temps projected to climb into the lower 50’s by Tuesday and push a bit higher later in the week.

Icy scenes such as this still were the norm throughout much of Greater Memphis on Saturday and into Sunday. (Photo: Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell/The New Tri-State Defender)

Meanwhile, residents such as Chaundra Thomas spent the weekend scrambling to cope.

“I went to the house, and everything is a mess. Water is all over the floor, and all that meat is spoiled. I just went grocery shopping at Sam’s,” said Thomas, whose family stayed downtown in a hotel.

“We couldn’t stay in that cold house. I was hoping our lights would be back on by Saturday. Now, we see on the news that it won’t be three days to get everybody’s power back. We can’t pay for a hotel indefinitely. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

In Whitehaven, Brenda Sims and her husband returned home on Saturday to check on their dwelling after getting word that a tree had fallen on it.

“Our neighbor called and told us the tree in the back yard had fallen on the house. I was hoping it wasn’t that bad, but it is pretty bad,” she said.

The damage included a big hole in the wall, the roof smashed in and tree branches filling the den.

“I pray we don’t get rain or another ice storm. We don’t have any way of keeping precipitation out. Hopefully, insurance will get right on it. They will pay for a hotel while repairs are being made. Thank God for that.”

While power had been restored to many Cordova residents seeking restoration by Saturday, Sherry Gibson was not among them.

“My mother is 89, and she stays with me,” said Gibson. “Our power went out about one in the afternoon. We drove around for hours looking for a hotel room. But every hotel we stopped in was closed because they had no power. The hotels that were open were filled up.

“I finally found a hotel room downtown. I have some anxiety, wondering when our power will be back on. Our hotel stay is a big expense I was not anticipating.”

MLGW projected 90 percent of the area’s outage is expected to be resolved by Monday night. Tracey Lane was hoping to be within that 90 percent.

“We had candles at the house, but it was just too cold. I have three children and a dog, and I had to drive around to find a hotel that accepts pets. It was a nightmare.”

Laurin Griffin, who lives in Midtown, near North Parkway and Decatur, feared she might be among the last to have power restored.

“Trees and utility wires are so tangled up, it’s going to be hard to get it all sorted out. We’ve got big branches all across our yard on my street,” said Griffin.

“I’m on a fixed income. I don’t know what I’m going to do about cleaning up. I’m staying with a friend and her family. I thank God for them, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I may just have to get a hotel room if my power is out this week. We’ll see what happens Monday night.”

Reporting trouble

  • Electric outage: MLGW, 901-544-6500.
  • Downed power lines and other such emergencies, 901-528-6500.

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